Compassion Fatigue and Burnout: Ongoing Challenges for Community Based Victim Service Advocates

• In Event: Poster Session

Abstract

Working with crime victims can be a very rewarding yet very difficult job. Secondary traumatic stress (STS) represents an ongoing occupational hazard for community based victim advocates (VA) who are vicariously exposed to incidents of sexual assault or domestic violence (Baird and Jenkins, 2003). The effects of STS can result in negative psychological conditions such as compassion fatigue and burnout for both professional and volunteer advocates and present an overall organization challenge for agencies. Compassion fatigue creates difficulties in addressing the needs of victims, often manifesting in reductions of empathy, hope, and compassion. Left unaddressed, compassion fatigue results in a diminished quality of life for advocates and can lead to professional burnout. Mitigating factors, prevention, and the need for continued research are discussed.

Author

• Juan Miguel Lopez, Boise State University