You are so right on the mark. The jobs in social work can cause "burn out", and when staff get to that point they have a choice to make. Drop out of the game, fight within the system to change it (which usually leads to unemployment) or succumb to the hardening of their own personal convictions of the heart that eventually comes. Unfortunately most case workers are complacent in their choice to stay because they feel they can't walk away from a steady income that not only provides their needs but offers benefits, security and the prestige they feel by having control over others. Also, they know if they leave that position the system will simply fill it with another.