Week 3: The Dangers of Nonempathic Response
You may have heard the story of the French royal who, when told that her people had no bread, said, “Then let them eat cake.” Such a statement signifies the gap between the royal’s circumstances, where a luxury like cake was readily available, and the people’s poverty and hunger. And it shows an absence of empathy, of seeing outside one’s own experiences.
As exemplified here, the helping skill of empathy is important not only in one-on-one interactions but in larger events in a local, national, and global context. You have likely seen images or videos in the media or experienced firsthand the empathy of strangers in challenging times—or noticed a lack of it.
In this Assignment, you analyze a current or historical example where empathy was not present and consider what could have been done differently.
To Prepare
- Using the Walden Library or internet sources, research a current or historical example where leaders or decision makers did not demonstrate sufficient empathy or empathic skills related to trauma, culture, and confrontation.
Write a 2-page paper analyzing a current or historical example where leaders or decision makers did not demonstrate sufficient empathy or empathic skills related to trauma, culture, and confrontation. Be sure to do the following:
- Describe the event.
- Provide specific examples that illustrate the absence of empathy-related skills.
- Explain what leaders or decision makers could have done differently. Justify your response.
- Explain the potential consequences of a human services professional practitioner displaying a similar lack of empathy. How might that impact the service user they are working with as well as the larger society?
- Use the Learning Resources to support your analysis.
Tutorial for The Dangers of Nonempathic Response
