Secondary Traumatic Stress Among Domestic Violence Advocates: Workplace Risk and Protective Factors

• NCJ Number: 228970
• Journal: Violence Against Women Volume: 15 Issue: 11 Dated: November 2009 Pages: 1358-1379
• Author(s): Suzanne M. Slattery; Lisa A. Goodman
• Date Published: November 2009
• Length: 22 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study identified workplace factors associated with secondary traumatic stress (STS) among domestic violence advocates.

Abstract

Domestic violence advocates who provide a broad range of services to battered women and their children, work in a broad range of settings, and do a broad range of advocacy activities and can be affected by STS, whose symptoms parallel posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Three of the most important workplace contributors to STS are social support, clinical supervision, and access to power. Shared power, experiencing respect, and equality in the workplace, emerged as the only workplace variables to significantly predict STS beyond individual factors. Data for this study were gathered from a convenience sample of domestic violence advocates, with 70 percent of participants meeting the criteria for clinical levels of PTSD. Tables, appendix, notes, and references