Family violence therapists: Personal and social resources, role competence, secondary traumatization, and burnout

The study examined the relationship between personal resources (self-esteem and mastery), social resources (social, colleague, and managerial support) and perceived role competence on the one hand, and secondary traumatization and burnout on the other among family violence therapists. The research population consisted of 143 social workers employed at family violence prevention centers and at battered women's shelters in Israel. The findings revealed that self-esteem, mastery, social support, and colleague support correlated negatively and significantly with secondary traumatization and the burnout. The findings further revealed that knowledge/ problem solving ability and influence, which are components of role competence, correlated negatively and significantly with secondary traumatization and burnout. Finally, managerial support did not correlate significantly with secondary traumatization and burnout. A high intercorrelation was found between secondary traumatization and burnout.