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Vicarious Traumatization and Burnout Among Therapists Working with Sex Offenders

University of Alberta in Edmonton, AB, Canada

Derek Truscott, Ph.D

Department of Educational Psychology at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, AB, Canada

Ninety-one Canadian therapists (49 women and 42 men, mean age 41 years) working primarily with sex offenders were surveyed to determine the presence of vicarious trauma, identify mitigating variables if present and assess its relationship to burnout. Participants completed a 24-item demographic questionnaire, the Traumatic Stress Institute Belief Scale - Revision L, the Impact of Event Scale, and the Maslach Burnout Inventory. Contrary to expectations, participants did not exhibit significantly higher degrees of vicarious traumatization than a criterion reference group of mental health professionals. Participants who reported having a venue to address the personal impact of their work were found to be more likely to score lower on the measure of vicarious trauma than those who did not. Other variables theorized to be related to vicarious trauma were not found to be related to scores on the measure assessing vicarious trauma. Twenty four percent of the sample was found to have a moderate to severe stress response to their work with offenders. Twenty three percent of the sample scored in the high range on the Emotional Exhaustion and Depersonalization subscales, hallmarks of professional burnout. High correlations among measures of vicarious trauma and burnout were also found, calling attention to the need to further differentiate the two constructs. Implications regarding the measurement of vicarious trauma and the appropriateness of generalizing the phenomenon to sex offender treatment providers are discussed.

Key Words: vicarious trauma • burnout • sex offenders • impact

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