| This research undertook a phenomenological approach to exploring the work experiences of foster care caseworkers at risk of secondary traumatic stress disorder. Figley (1995) in Compassion fatigue: Coping with secondary traumatic stress in those who treat the traumatized and McCann and Pearlman (1990) in Vicarious traumatization: A framework for understanding the psychological effects of working with victims are credited throughout much of the literature with conceptualizing secondary traumatic stress disorder (STSD). The phenomenon refers to the cumulative processes in which the cognitive schema of trauma workers, by virtue of continuous empathetic exposure to client traumas, begins to evolve into increasingly personalized intrusions by the professional. These intrusions subsequently, change the way in which the workers interact with, experience, and derive meaning from their world. Throughout the United States, protective service budgets have been significantly reduced to comply with the national recession. These cuts have resulted in the elimination of multitudes of direct care workers and, subsequently, created a significant increase in the burden assumed by those remaining caseworkers. There was a gap in the academic literature. That gap considered the mental health capacity of foster care caseworkers as it related to their work. The findings of this study supported the literature on secondary traumatic stress disorder. Foster care caseworkers experience a symptom profile as described in previous studies including intrusive thoughts of work in their personal lives. Both preventative and ameliorative steps should be implemented by the agency to protect both the employees and those families they serve. |
