Abstract
The impact of child maltreatment is far reaching, affecting the abused child, the family system, and the professionals tasked with providing support during the moments of crisis. As child protective investigators (CPIs) provide care and support to others, they are at high risk of experiencing secondary traumatic stress and/or burnout, both aspects of compassion fatigue. Researchers suggest that work climate, utilization of resources, and worker characteristics can impact CPI compassion-fatigue level. Drawing on extant literature, this study examined three research questions and seven hypotheses aiming to explore the relationship between work climate, resource utilization, CPI characteristics, and CPI compassion-fatigue level. This dissertation research used a cross-sectional study design that included collecting data from 165 CPIs using three instruments: (a) CPI demographic form, (b) Professional Quality of Life-5, and (c) Safety Attitudes Questionnaire. Descriptive, nonparametric, and regression analyses were conducted on the returned surveys of 165 Florida-based CPIs. Results of data analyses indicated that statistically significant inverse relationships exist between the independent variable, compassion fatigue, and the dependent variables of teamwork climate, CPI supervision utilization, CPI age, and CPI trauma history (verbal abuse). The study presents implications for addressing compassion fatigue in CPIs from a public-affairs, a practice, and a research perspective.
Notes
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Graduation Date
2019
Semester
Summer
Advisor
Leon, Ana
Degree
Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)
College
College of Community Innovation and Education
Degree Program
Public Affairs; Social Work
Format
application/pdf
Identifier
CFE0007654
URL
http://purl.fcla.edu/fcla/etd/CFE0007654
Language
English
Release Date
August 2019
Length of Campus-only Access
None
Access Status
Doctoral Dissertation (Open Access)
STARS Citation
Holliker, Shannon, "An Exploration of the Relationship between Work Climate, the Utilization of Support Resources, and Compassion Fatigue Level in Child Protective Investigators" (2019). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 6506.
https://stars.library.ucf.edu/etd/6506