TY - JOUR
T1 - “The Only Way We’ll Be Successful”
T2 - Organizational Factors That Influence Psychosocial Well-Being and Self-Care Among Advocates Working to Address Gender-Based Violence
AU - Cayir, Ebru
AU - Spencer, Mindi
AU - Billings, Deborah
AU - Hilfinger Messias, De Anne K.
AU - Robillard, Alyssa
AU - Cunningham, Tim
N1 - Funding Information:
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5346-8190 Cayir Ebru PhD, MD 1 Spencer Mindi PhD, MA 2 Billings Deborah PhD 2 3 Hilfinger Messias DeAnne K. PhD, RN, FAAN 2 Robillard Alyssa PhD, MCHES 2 Cunningham Tim DrPH, MSN, RN 1 1 University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, USA 2 University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, USA 3 University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA Ebru Cayir, Compassionate Care Initiative, School of Nursing, University of Virginia, 225 Jeanette Lancaster Way, Charlottesville, VA 22903, United States. Email: ec2wn@virginia.edu 1 2020 0886260519897340 © The Author(s) 2020 2020 SAGE Publications Advocates who work for nonprofit organizations (NPOs) that address gender-based violence (GBV) experience a wide range of psychosocial health and well-being risks due to the emotionally demanding nature of the work they engage in. Most recommendations for advocates’ self-care focus on individual-level activities, failing to hold the NPOs accountable for creating workplace cultures and practices that foster psychosocial well-being, self-care, and resilience among the advocates. The aim of this qualitative research was to further our understanding of organizational-level factors that influence psychosocial well-being and self-care practices among advocates who work for GBV-specific NPOs in a metropolitan area in the southeastern United States. We conducted in-depth interviews with 25 GBV-specific advocates. Constructivist grounded theory methods were used in coding and analyzing the data. Sixteen advocates identified as White, followed by five Black, two Hispanic, and two mixed-race/ethnicity. Mean age was 36 years. Most participants had a master’s degree ( n = 16). Analysis of the data resulted in three major themes: (a) Management and Leadership Style, (b) Interpersonal Relationship Dynamics, and (c) Culture of Self-Care. The ways in which leaders established relationships with other advocates to accomplish organizational goals, how advocates developed a sense of camaraderie with their coworkers, and shared norms around self-care shaped advocates’ willingness and ability to engage in individual and collective self-care. Findings of this study highlight the role of GBV-specific NPOs in creating workplace cultures and practices that are conducive to engaging in self-care and developing resilience among the advocates. By fulfilling this responsibility, organizations would enable the advocates to not only survive, but thrive in their work and make even greater strides in the overall mission of GBV prevention. gender-based violence prevention sexual assault vicarious trauma workplace violence mental health and violence reporting/disclosure university of south carolina https://doi.org/10.13039/100008899 edited-state corrected-proof typesetter ts1 The authors would like to thank the GBV-specific advocates who generously shared their time and experiences for the purposes of this study. The knowledge produced by this study would not be possible without their support and participation. Authors’ Note Dr. Tim Cunningham is now also affiliated with the Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing at Emory University. Declaration of Conflicting Interests The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. Funding The authors disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This work was supported by an Olga I. Ogousson Doctoral Research Award from the Department of Health Promotion, Education, and Behavior at the University of South Carolina. ORCID iD Ebru Cayir https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5346-8190
Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2020.
PY - 2021/12
Y1 - 2021/12
N2 - Advocates who work for nonprofit organizations (NPOs) that address gender-based violence (GBV) experience a wide range of psychosocial health and well-being risks due to the emotionally demanding nature of the work they engage in. Most recommendations for advocates’ self-care focus on individual-level activities, failing to hold the NPOs accountable for creating workplace cultures and practices that foster psychosocial well-being, self-care, and resilience among the advocates. The aim of this qualitative research was to further our understanding of organizational-level factors that influence psychosocial well-being and self-care practices among advocates who work for GBV-specific NPOs in a metropolitan area in the southeastern United States. We conducted in-depth interviews with 25 GBV-specific advocates. Constructivist grounded theory methods were used in coding and analyzing the data. Sixteen advocates identified as White, followed by five Black, two Hispanic, and two mixed-race/ethnicity. Mean age was 36 years. Most participants had a master’s degree (n = 16). Analysis of the data resulted in three major themes: (a) Management and Leadership Style, (b) Interpersonal Relationship Dynamics, and (c) Culture of Self-Care. The ways in which leaders established relationships with other advocates to accomplish organizational goals, how advocates developed a sense of camaraderie with their coworkers, and shared norms around self-care shaped advocates’ willingness and ability to engage in individual and collective self-care. Findings of this study highlight the role of GBV-specific NPOs in creating workplace cultures and practices that are conducive to engaging in self-care and developing resilience among the advocates. By fulfilling this responsibility, organizations would enable the advocates to not only survive, but thrive in their work and make even greater strides in the overall mission of GBV prevention.
AB - Advocates who work for nonprofit organizations (NPOs) that address gender-based violence (GBV) experience a wide range of psychosocial health and well-being risks due to the emotionally demanding nature of the work they engage in. Most recommendations for advocates’ self-care focus on individual-level activities, failing to hold the NPOs accountable for creating workplace cultures and practices that foster psychosocial well-being, self-care, and resilience among the advocates. The aim of this qualitative research was to further our understanding of organizational-level factors that influence psychosocial well-being and self-care practices among advocates who work for GBV-specific NPOs in a metropolitan area in the southeastern United States. We conducted in-depth interviews with 25 GBV-specific advocates. Constructivist grounded theory methods were used in coding and analyzing the data. Sixteen advocates identified as White, followed by five Black, two Hispanic, and two mixed-race/ethnicity. Mean age was 36 years. Most participants had a master’s degree (n = 16). Analysis of the data resulted in three major themes: (a) Management and Leadership Style, (b) Interpersonal Relationship Dynamics, and (c) Culture of Self-Care. The ways in which leaders established relationships with other advocates to accomplish organizational goals, how advocates developed a sense of camaraderie with their coworkers, and shared norms around self-care shaped advocates’ willingness and ability to engage in individual and collective self-care. Findings of this study highlight the role of GBV-specific NPOs in creating workplace cultures and practices that are conducive to engaging in self-care and developing resilience among the advocates. By fulfilling this responsibility, organizations would enable the advocates to not only survive, but thrive in their work and make even greater strides in the overall mission of GBV prevention.
KW - gender-based violence prevention
KW - mental health and violence
KW - reporting/disclosure
KW - sexual assault
KW - vicarious trauma
KW - workplace violence
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85077678653&partnerID=8YFLogxK
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U2 - 10.1177/0886260519897340
DO - 10.1177/0886260519897340
M3 - Article
C2 - 31928126
AN - SCOPUS:85077678653
SN - 0886-2605
VL - 36
SP - 11327
EP - 11355
JO - Journal of interpersonal violence
JF - Journal of interpersonal violence
IS - 23-24
ER -