Anat Ben-Porat

Implications of Treating Family Violence for the Therapist: Secondary Traumatization, Vicarious Traumatization, and Growth

Our study dealt with the positive and negative implications of working with victims of family violence on therapists in terms of secondary traumatization, vicarious traumatization, and growth. In addition, we examined positive and negative changes that the therapists experienced in themselves, their lives, and their families as a result of their work. The research population consisted of 143 social workers employed in the field of family violence, and 71 social workers who were not employed in that field. Comparisons between the two groups were conducted for all of the research variables. The two groups did not differ significantly in levels of secondary traumatization. However, significant differences were found in levels of growth, as well as in levels of positive and negative changes that the participants experienced in themselves, their lives, and their families.

Burnout among trauma social workers: The contribution of personal and environmental resources

Summary In recent years, there has been increasing research interest in the negative consequences for therapists of working with trauma victims. In that context, burnout is a major concept used in the literature. One of the main questions examined in the literature relates to the factors that contribute to burnout. This question is particularly relevant to therapists working with trauma victims, but has hardly been examined among that population. To fill this gap, the present study sought to examine burnout among therapists working with trauma victims. In addition, we examined the contribution of the therapists’ background characteristics as well as the contribution of their personal resources (mastery, self-esteem, and role competence), and environmental resources (social and colleagues support). The study was conducted among a sample of 214 social workers who work with trauma victims at social services in Israel. Findings The research findings indicate that the participants’ levels of burnout were average. In addition, the therapist’s age, past exposure to trauma, self-esteem, and mastery, as well as influence (as a component of role competence) contributed significantly to burnout. Applications The study sheds light on the negative consequences of therapeutic work for therapists, and on the factors that lead to those consequences. The findings indicate that the impact of the therapists’ personal resources was more significant than that of environmental resources.

Vicarious post-traumatic growth: domestic violence therapists versus social service department therapists in Israel

In recent years, there has been growing interest in the implications of treating victims of trauma for therapists. The concept of vicarious post-traumatic growth (VPTG) relates to the positive implications of treating trauma victims. This study compared VPTG among 143 domestic violence therapists versus 71 therapists working at social service departments in Israel. In addition, an attempt was made to identify background characteristics and personal factors as well as environmental factors that contribute to VPTG, with emphasis on the contribution of secondary traumatization. The findings revealed that VPTG was slightly above a moderate level. Among the therapists working at social service departments, VPTG was higher. Moreover, secondary traumatization contributed significantly to VPTG as a linear variable and as a curvilinear variable.

Competence of Trauma Social Workers The Relationship Between Field of Practice and Secondary Traumatization, Personal and Environmental Variables

In recent years, there has been growing interest in examining role competence and the factors that can contribute to a sense of role competence among social workers. In the present study, we used the occupational competence model (OCM) as a basis for examining the contribution of the personal dimension (mastery, self-esteem, and secondary traumatization),environmental dimension (support systems),-and occupational dimension (exposure to the field of family violence) to the social worker’s subjective sense of role competence. Participants in the study were 214 social workers employed at centers for prevention of family violence, at shelters for victims of violence against women, and at social service bureaus. The findings indicate that in the occupational dimension, the contribution of exposure to work in the field of family violence contributed significantly to two components of the participants’ subjective sense of role competence: general sense of role competence and task knowledge/problem solving. In the personal dimension, the contribution of secondary traumatization and mastery to a sense of role competence was significant. In the environmental dimension (i.e., support systems), the specific contribution of managerial support to the participants’ sense of role competence was significant. In light of these findings, practical recommendations for developing a sense of role competence among social workers are provided.

Therapists Working With Trauma Victims: The Contribution of Personal, Environmental, and Professional-Organizational Resources to Secondary Traumatization

This study examined the contribution of personal variables and resources (age, mastery, tolerance for ambiguity, and stressors), environmental resources (support from family and friends, colleague support), and professional-organizational resources (size of caseload with trauma victims, organizational commitment) to secondary traumatization. The sample consisted of 217 social workers employed at social service departments in Israel who worked with families in situations of distress and crisis and with adolescent girls at risk. The findings indicated that tolerance for ambiguity contributed most significantly to explaining the variance in secondary traumatization, followed by stressors. The size of the social workers’ caseload with trauma victims also contributed significantly to explaining the variance in secondary traumatization. In addition, an interaction was found between age and continuance commitment. Among younger social workers, a negative association was found between continuance commitment to the organization and secondary traumatization, whereas among older social workers the association was positive. However, the contribution of the other research variables (mastery, support from family and friends, and colleague support) to explaining the variance in secondary traumatization was not statistically significant. The findings highlight the important role of personal resources and professional-organizational resources in enabling therapists to cope with the negative implications of working with trauma victims.

Personal and Environmental Predictors of Depression Among Victims of Intimate Partner Violence Comparison of Immigrant and Israeli-Born Women

In the present study, ecological theory was used as a basis for predicting depression among women who survive intimate partner violence (IPV). The predictors examined in the study derived from three ecological systems: the microsystem (background variables and frequency of the violence), the ontogenic system (personal resources), and the mesosystem (support resources). One hundred twenty-five women who immigrated from the Former Soviet Union and 149 Israeli-born Jewish women filled in questionnaires when they entered shelters for victims of IPV. The research findings indicate that background variables, including immigration, did not contribute significantly to the women’s depression. Frequency of violence contributed slightly to depression, whereas the women’s sense of mastery and social support contributed most significantly. The results highlight the need to strengthen these resources when women are in shelters, and to conduct further research to determine whether these results also hold true for women who receive services for prevention of violence in the community.

Patterns of Service Utilization Among Women Who Are Victims of Domestic Violence: The Contribution of Cultural Background, Characteristics of Violence, and Psychological Distress

The study examined patterns of utilization of various services among female victims of domestic violence in Israel. The study looked at how cultural background, characteristics of violence, attempts at separation from partner, and women’s emotional distress contributed to patterns of service utilization. The sample of participants included 499 women who arrived at 12 shelters in Israel. Of those participants, 142 were Jewish, 156 were Arab, 125 had been born in the former Soviet Union (FSU), and 76 had been born in Ethiopia. Latent class analysis procedure was applied to identified patterns of service utilization. The procedure identified three patterns of service utilization: substantial use, frequent use of welfare and criminal justice services, and minimal use. Among Arab women, the likelihood of making substantial use of services was greater than the likelihood of making minimal use. Moreover, among the entire sample, the higher the levels of sexual abuse, violence, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), the greater the likelihood of substantial versus minimal use of services. In addition, being employed, enduring higher levels of violence, and making attempts to separate increased the likelihood of utilization of welfare and criminal justice services versus minimal use. The study highlights the factors that motivate women to make use of services and the distinct strategies they use in the help-seeking process. At the practice level, the study emphasizes the need to take into account both the woman’s cultural context and the stage of help seeking she is at. In this way, professionals can provide differential treatment accordingly.

Domestic Violence in Arab Society: A Comparison of Arab and Jewish Women in Shelters in Israel:

The aim of the current study was to address a gap in the literature by determining prevalence, specific types of violence, and risk factors of intimate partner violence (IPV) among Israeli born Arab women compared with Israeli born Jewish women. The following measures were compared: demographic and socioeconomic measures; measures relating to the characteristics of the violence, that is, the three types of violence (physical, emotional, and verbally threatening), sense of danger, and history of violence in childhood; family support levels; and perpetrator characteristics. The sample consisted of 154 Israeli born Arab women and 149 Israeli born Jewish women who were staying in shelters for victims of domestic violence in Israel. A comparison of the two groups revealed that the Arab women were exposed to more physical violence and received less family support than did their Jewish counterparts. The proportion of Arab perpetrators with access to weapons was higher than that of Jewish perpetrators, whereas the proportion of police complaints against Jewish perpetrators was higher than that against Arab perpetrators. Arab women were also younger, less educated, and less a part of the workforce than Jewish women. The contribution of the woman’s age to the variance in levels of physical violence was negative and significant. In contrast, the contribution of her sense of danger, and various perpetrator characteristics, was positive. Moreover, the interaction between sense of danger × ethnicity contributed significantly to levels of violence. This study extends the existing knowledge about the contribution of ethnicity as one of many variables that play a role in the lives of women who are victims of domestic violence and highlights the need to develop, in particular, unique individual, community, and social interventions for Arab women in Israeli society.