“Savior complex” refers to a pattern of behavior where an individual seeks to save others in an often overbearing, unwarranted, or uninvited manner. Religion has been deeply intertwined with charity and social work, laying the groundwork for modern social work practices. However, this foundation has its flaws that need addressing. As time has evolved, social media has shed light on the inner workings of these organizations’ social work. While the intentions are generally positive, the approach frequently fosters a savior mentality. For instance, an NPR article titled “Volunteering Abroad? Read This Before You Post That Selfie” highlights that Western volunteers often portray themselves as saviors to people in low-income countries. This mindset, along with a disregard for the privacy, customs, and social dynamics of the communities, is not only encouraged but also applauded by religious organizations. It allows volunteers to view their work as “God’s work,” perpetuating the notion that the community receives help not because they deserve it, but because it is divinely sanctioned.
Before deciding on a journey in social work, everyone should pause and ask themselves: “What is my motivation behind wanting to participate in social work? Will I feel the need to receive individual recognition or feel superior? Am I willing to ensure that there is a partnership and not a dependency on me?” This self-reflection is crucial in challenging the savior complex and fostering a more egalitarian approach to social work.
To remedy this mentality, the first step is acknowledging the issue, whether intentional or not. Pioneers like Robert Hunter, Mary Richmond, Jane Addams, and Ellen Gates Starr recognized this. Reframing our perspective on social work participation begins with setting aside our individual desires and cultural biases. Instead, we should allow the populations we serve to guide us in understanding their needs. The objective shouldn’t be limited to providing temporary relief. Organizations should aim to establish systems that foster independence from permanent reliance on charity or social work.
Additionally, a change in perspective at an individual level is essential. We are not “saving” the communities we serve. We might not change the circumstances they face, and while individual efforts are significant in driving systemic change, they alone cannot effect complete transformation. Public praise or a need for recognition should not be the motivation behind our work. Being placed on a pedestal for our efforts undermines the true essence of service.
Mary Richmond and Jane Addams’ work was remarkable for its time. Due to the new ideologies they introduced, social work began to evolve into what it is today, paving the way for the advocacy movement for those in unfavorable socio-economic statuses. However, their focus was limited mainly to the experiences of white, middle-class women, while other, even smaller, and more oppressed demographics were almost non-existent in their work. Social workers today can take these foundational ideas and expand upon them, adjusting and molding them as needed for the communities they serve and the modernization of the social constructs around them. Anyone, especially social workers whose job is to serve their community and assist with resources in a practical way, needs to understand their community. Today, the communities most in need are not predominantly white, middle-class women. This changes the way problems should be approached.
This involves recognizing these intersecting inequalities and actively working to dismantle them through policy, advocacy, and direct service. It also involves understanding that race, gender, class, and sexuality do not exist independently of each other but are intertwined. There is no real way to separate one from the other.
It is of the utmost importance to be humble enough to recognize that how we grew up and dealt with hardships is not the same as someone from a different cultural or economic background. An effort must be made to see things from someone else’s perspective; this is not always easy. In my personal experience, when going to counseling over the years, I have noticed a trend in how my culture as a Hispanic woman is often misunderstood or outright not understood by Caucasian counselors, especially men. They have a hard time understanding the dynamics within the culture. They will give suggestions that might work within Caucasian dynamics but don’t make sense in my community, rendering the advice and tools well-intentioned but ultimately useless.
This is not to say that simply recognizing flaws in our approach is enough. There needs to be a conscious decision to self-reflect regarding our own identities and biases and how these might impact our practice. Actively participating in dialogue with peers who are not of the same background as you, listening to their clients about what their dynamics are, and working together to come up with solutions is essential.
Most importantly, after observing, listening, and learning, the final step is to advocate for policies that address intersectional inequalities. Pushing for lasting change that would positively impact not only the client but all demographics in need. I understand that this aspect can be difficult, especially if advocating and changing laws/perspectives means that the social worker will no longer be in a privileged position. But understanding that no longer being in a privileged position does not mean they will now be in an oppressive position. Simply, they will be on the level with the other party. Social work should not be a blanket, attempting to cover the needs of everyone with a single solution. Social work should be tailored and adapted to individual needs and solutions that will work for the individual we are working with.
What does it mean to “help”? According to Google, the definition is to give assistance or support to someone. One might think there are no pitfalls to framing social work as merely helping the community it serves. However, we must ask, “What type of ‘help’ am I offering?” Does the social work being offered align with the help that is actually needed? I like to remember when English settlers first came to this country. The Indigenous people helped them by saving them from starvation. In turn, the English settlers “helped” them by bringing “civilization” to them, which was not only unneeded, unwanted, and unwarranted but also detrimental. It served no real purpose to the Native American population. It only served the English settlers; it became a way to take advantage of them, destroy their homes and livelihoods, and justify the murdering and abuse of their people, all under the guise of “helping.”
The help we offer MUST ensure a positive outcome. We need to ensure that the help we offer doesn’t solely rely on us giving it. It needs to be balanced in that we should not become their only source of relief. This reliance on one person or one system doesn’t serve the community. We must also ensure that the ‘help’ we offer doesn’t play on stereotypes or is based on prejudice. Instead, why not reframe the context and view it as a collaborative effort between the two parties with the same end goal?
*** Pictures off Google***
Sean McCrossin
This was a lot a lot of good insight Sarai. I believe you summarized the chapter well and added in plenty of your own thoughts as well. People seem to get this sort mindset of a “savior complex” all the time. From the beginning of history and even now. It’s how a lot of villains are made; their arrogance leads to such a deluded state that they are steadfast on insisting that what they are doing is helping and many people want to remain this way. However I also think a lot of people, especially with education on this level such as your blog can help reshape a lot of people’s minds and ideas.
Sarai Gomez
For sure! As I mentioned in my blog, it can be difficult to receive social services, in my case, counseling with someone who doesnt understand the dynamics of my culture. I mentioned this to my counselor and she asked me why I kept seeing her, a white cic woman. My reply was that the more educated a person is the easier it was for them to accept different perspectives, have less prejudice and overall provider better care. Sure, its an extra hurdle to get over but its not impossible. The social worker simply has to be willing to make an effort.
John Da Broi
Hi Sarai,
I like how well you interpreted the chapter of the reading, especially saying that people do seem to feel like this weight of the world is upon them and they are the only ones who seem to be able to lift it without needing the help of others. I think going into social work you need to know that there are people to assist you in completing your task you don’t and shouldn’t need to take the weight of the world on by yourself. Also usually when more people work together you get more ideas and better options for how to complete the task so maybe your idea isn’t the best but you can learn from others how to make it the best.
Neveah Reese
This entire blog truly highlighted the important questions social workers and those planning to join the field need to ask themselves. Working on my BA in child development and family studies, many of the services we give and the responsibilities we take on in that field align closely with social work (because they are!). With that, your blog reiterated many of the key aspects I was taught to remember when working with diverse children and families. For instance, constantly checking biases, not assuming needs based on stereotypes, and treating each case with individuality. When settlers came and colonized they assumed what was helpful. When in reality, they were causing terror and chaos. Although typically in a smaller scale, this situation can repeat itself when social workers assume what a person or family needs.
With that being said, looking deep and deciding why you are here is so valid. Do you want gratification? Do you consider yourself a “people person”? Do you like to see people smile? Did you experience something that has made you passionate on social work issues? There are so many reasons as to why people choose this career, but if you aren’t committed in the right ways it won’t be helpful to you or the community. We are here to help yes, but listening, planning, strategizing, getting creative, and most importantly, working as a team are some other crucial things we do when we do “help”. Things are ever evolving in the world of social work, but our purpose and missions should always remain the same.
Thank you for this insight Sarai!
Mel Maendel
Hi Sarai
asking ourselves these questions and using self-reflection to make sure we are choosing social work for the right reason are very important just like you said. If we choose to join social work for power seeking and to get praise in the end of the day, we will miss the important cues in our work. We won’t be able to connect to the people and communities. If we don’t as you said humble ourselves, people have a way of sensing that. Then we will not be helping the person at all just making the disconnection between the community and social workers greater. I also really like how you organized this blog and incorporated all the information in a very easily understandable and powerful way. I found you asking questions useful and helpful for reflection and seeing it in a new light.
Maren Chaffee
Sarai, your blog resonates deeply with me, especially in my role as a Behavioral Health Case Manager. I approach each individual from a place of understanding where they are and what they want to address. Oftentimes, unexpected factors arise during my work that prompt adjustments to the client’s treatment plan as part of the step-by-step process of psychoeducation post-stabilization. All of this is being mindful of cultural understanding and meeting the client where they are at. I see many of your points reflected in my daily work, and they reaffirm the importance of approaching each person with empathy and flexibility.
Jaelynn Anderson
Hi Sarai, I was looking at the NPR article that you mentioned and found it hysterically accurate. There are so many pictures and videos of people doing good deeds on the internet these days (whether they are doing it for religious reasons or not), but it makes you wonder how the others feel in the photo. Did they want their face plastered all across the internet, especially when they are in such a vulnerable state? I was also taking a look at how our pioneers viewed helping others in marginalized communities. To me, they didn’t have a “savior complex.” They had an understanding of what their communities needed at that time and sought change. Like how Addams and Star founded the Hull-house which helped the immigrant children and their families with childcare and kindergarten. They did advocate and revolutionize social work as you said in your blog post. It’s extremely inspirational, but it makes you wonder if they were limited when thinking about helping their community. One of many limitations could’ve been how they were going to make money. But then that goes back to the origins of social work and what it means to be a social worker.
Ben Woods
Sarai, I think you hit the nail on the head in talking about what social work should be. I wanted to shine some light on what you said, “Public praise or a need for recognition should not be the motivation behind our work.” That’s huge! We are in it for the wrong reasons if that is our “why.” I would feel terrible if I needed help in a situation and a “selfie” got taken of whoever was helping me out with the purpose of public recognition. My problems don’t need to be shared with the whole world! I really like how you said that social work shouldn’t be a blanket attempt to help everyone’s needs and that it should be fluid and tailored to whoever needs help. Not every person is going to be in the same situation and have the same needs! Social work and other similar lines of work require a selfless person who truly cares about their community and wants what’s best for people. Great post Sarai!
Robi Naranjo
You broke this down so good, you are a really great writer and thanks for your insight! The savior complex is a real thing and It comes with the territory, people with different motivations are going to be attracted to these types of jobs and I love how you wrote about being able to check your motivations, because a lot of good intentioned bleeding hearts have done much harm and just being aware of our own motivations can deter that and being in tune with people and communities and seeing what they want and need can prevent that in the future hopefully.