Abstract
Segal, Gerdes, Lietz, Wagaman, and Geiger bring to both research and practice a timely and significant contribution to our current understanding of empathy founded in cognitive neuroscience and applicable to a variety of pressing social issues. Because empathy has such a varied history in the literature in terms of how it has been understood, defined, and measured, Segal et al. take more than half the book to delve into its various iterations.
The first chapter of six gives readers a thorough overview of the definitions of empathy, beginning as far back as the turn of the last century when it was first coined from the Greek word empatheia, meaning “in passion” or “in suffering.” The chapter describes the five facets of empathy, which encompass both how one receives and responds to outside stimuli. The authors also describe what empathy is not. Their explanation adds fodder to the ongoing debate of the costs and complications of charity work and the pitfalls of doing for, not with, others. They conclude the chapter by making the connection from the personal to the political—a welcome and familiar frame.
Chapter 2 describes what is known from cognitive neuroscience in accessible language and diagrams. The authors are careful to not overreach in terms of what is known from the study of the brain, yet shed light on physiological and cognitive processes that seem to explain how we make sense of the world around us and how that influences how we respond. The third chapter brings in the practical implications by exploring why empathy is important. Segal et al. make the case that empathy is of fundamental importance if we are to understand what makes a society function or not. They explore the topics of altruism, cooperation, morality, and justice as well as violence and antisocial behavior.
Chapter 4 follows with an exploration of why empathy is not simply enacted and what barriers exist to its full utilization. In a thoughtful discussion of group differences, identity, power, and social stigma, the reader is able to have some semblance of understanding of the underpinnings of atrocities that result from a lack of empathy such as genocide, apartheid, and slavery. The authors generously add a section at the end of the chapter, ensuring that empathy is malleable and making the case for further study of how empathy is understood, measured, and enacted.
The second to last chapter is where the authors explain the link between interpersonal empathy and social empathy. Connected closely to relational feminism, this ethic of caring for others, Segal et al. argue not only applies to one-on-one relationships but has also been shown to translate to larger systems. In a quintessentially social work illustration, the authors make the case that the way in which individuals experience empathy for other people through interpersonal perspective-taking, often facilitates a deeper understanding of the broader social contexts in which people experience inequality, injustice, and oppression, thus social empathy.
In the final chapter of the book, Segal and her colleagues describe the measures that they have developed, tested, and utilized over time—the Empathy Assessment Index, the Social Empathy Index, and the Interpersonal and Social Empathy Index. They encourage the wide use of these measures so that by their replication and testing in a variety of settings, we can continue to develop and learn about empathy and its power to build real connectedness. These tools will undoubtedly be useful in social work research and are indeed beginning to appear in the literature.
The major contribution of Assessing Empathy is decidedly its implications for social justice, making it a solid text for social work education. It will make a fine complement to course readings especially in curriculum on social policy, particularly in light of the current divisive political climate in which it often seems difficult to understand where others are coming from and to really “put oneself in another’s shoes.” Segal et al. lay out a framework from which we can build, measure, and assess processes, programs, and pedagogy that support the development of empathy. This, according to the research they have concisely and aptly provided in Assessing Empathy, will do well to move us toward a more just society.