Helping Profession Hazards for Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault, and Stalking (DVSAS) Service Providers: A Focus on Workforce Well-being
Abstract
The prevalence of domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking (DVSAS) places tremendous stress on survivors as well as the growing body of helping professionals providing services. According to the Centers for Disease Control, there are 20 victims of intimate partner violence per minute in the United States (CDC, 2010). To date, no research has examined DVSAS leadership’s awareness of the work related hazards facing staff and volunteers or their recommendations regarding mitigating these hazards. The current study utilized a qualitative and phenomenological research design through on-site interviews with Directors or their designees from 10 of 27 certified DVSAS programs in Oklahoma. Results indicated Directors are aware of secondary trauma, burnout, and compassion fatigue and desire staff training to mitigate the inherent helping profession hazards. Directors reported a need for more staff training and that volunteers received any training. Directors expressed a critical component to workforce well-being was to “practice what we preach”, but all Directors reported several obstacles to overcome including funding deficits and lack of resources occurring simultaneously with increased request for services. These inherent helping profession hazards in conjunction with difficult service dynamics can dramatically increase the risk of secondary trauma, burnout, and compassion fatigue. Discussion concludes with implications for prevention and intervention.
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- OSU Theses [15752]