The Role of Adaptation in Advocate Burnout: A Case of Good Soldiering

Abstract

Domestic violence and sexual assault advocates, unlike other social service workers, experience only moderate burnout. The present study extends burnout research, exploring simultaneous effects of job demands and adaptation factors as they relate to burnout in the advocacy population. The authors identify the good soldiering phenomenon in which advocates adapt to work that is worthwhile, but risky, demanding, and resource poor. Good soldiering is related to, but distinct from, a “calling” because it links to the position, not simply intrinsic motivation. The authors find that though job demands significantly increase burnout, advocates who identify with good soldiering experience significantly lower levels of burnout.