Resilience and burnout in child protection social work: Individual and organisational themes from a systematic literature review
Open accessAbstract
Child protection social work is acknowledged as a very stressful occupation, with high turnover and poor retention of staff being a major concern. This paper highlights themes that emerged from findings of sixty-five articles that were included as part of a systematic literature review. The review focused on the evaluation of research findings, which considered individual and organisational factors associated with resilience or burnout in child protection social work staff. The results identified a range of individual and organisational themes for staff in child protection social work. Nine themes were identified in total. These are categorised under ‘Individual’ and ‘Organisational’ themes. Themes categorised as individual included personal history of maltreatment, training and preparation for child welfare, coping, secondary traumatic stress, compassion fatigue and compassion satisfaction. Those classified as organisational included workload, social support and supervision, organisational culture and climate, organisational and professional commitment, and job satisfaction or dissatisfaction. The range of factors is discussed with recommendations and areas for future research are highlighted.
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Social work professionals experience high levels of stress and burnout.
“Social work professionals experience high levels of stress and burnout.”
From Examining Potential Psychological Protective and Risk Factors for Stress and Burnout in Social Workers. (2025) · cites this paper as McFadden et al., 2015
The Abstract says child protection social work can involve high levels of stress and burnout, and the section “Burnout and Resilience in Child Protection work” describes these workers as particularly vulnerable. The claim extends that finding to social work professionals generally and states it without the source’s qualification. No page numbers are available in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.85)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredResearch into the origins of stress in social work confirms that they are largely organisational in nature.
“First, research into the origins of stress in social work confirms that they are, largely, organisational in nature (McFadden et al., 2015).”
From Critical Mindfulness in Social Work: Exploring the Potential of Reflexive Self-Care in the Journey from Student to Social Worker (2022) · cites this paper as McFadden et al., 2015
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
Cites
(1996) · Consulting Psychologists Press eBooks · Cited by 7,863 · see citing works
Figley, C. R. (1995) · Cited by 1,461 · see citing works
Bonanno, G. A., Galea, S., Bucciarelli, A., & Vlahov, D. (2007) · Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-006x.75.5.671 · Cited by 1,371 · see citing works
Egger, M., Jüni, P., Bartlett, C., Holenstein, F., & Sterne, J. (2003) · Health Technology Assessment · doi:10.3310/hta7010 · Cited by 1,181 · cited 1× · see citing works
“Extending the search to this type of grey literature reduces the potential for publication bias (Burdett et al, 2003) although it is recognised that this is less of an issue for social work than for some other areas of study (Egger et al, 2003, Taylor, Dempster and Donnelly, 2007).”
BackgroundBarak, M. E. M., Nissly, J. A., & Levin, A. (2001) · Social Service Review · doi:10.1086/323166 · Cited by 1,006 · see citing works
Glisson, C., & Hemmelgarn, A. (1998) · Child Abuse & Neglect · doi:10.1016/s0145-2134(98)00005-2 · Cited by 744 · see citing works
Compassion fatigue as secondary traumatic stress disorder: An overview.
Figley, C. R. (1995) · doi:10.4324/9780203777381-9 · Cited by 689 · see citing works
Bride, B. E., Radey, M., & Figley, C. R. (2007) · Clinical Social Work Journal · doi:10.1007/s10615-007-0091-7 · Cited by 544 · see citing works
Compassion fatigue, burnout, and compassion satisfaction among Colorado child protection workers
Conrad, D., & Kellar-Guenther, Y. (2006) · Child Abuse & Neglect · doi:10.1016/j.chiabu.2006.03.009 · Cited by 517 · see citing works
Why do they leave? Modeling child welfare workers' turnover intentions
Barak, M. E. M., Levin, A., Nissly, J. A., & Lane, C. J. (2005) · Children and Youth Services Review · doi:10.1016/j.childyouth.2005.06.003 · Cited by 326 · see citing works
Organizational Prevention of Vicarious Trauma
Bell, H., Kulkarni, S. J., & Dalton, L. E. (2003) · Families in Society The Journal of Contemporary Social Services · doi:10.1606/1044-3894.131 · Cited by 321 · see citing works
Stress, Social Support, and Workers' Intentions to Leave Their Jobs in Public Child Welfare
Nissly, J. A., Barak, M. E. M., & Levin, A. (2004) · Administration in Social Work · doi:10.1300/j147v29n01_06 · Cited by 301 · see citing works
Glisson, C., Dukes, D., & Green, P. (2006) · Child Abuse & Neglect · doi:10.1016/j.chiabu.2005.12.010 · Cited by 298 · see citing works
Impact of Trauma Work on Social Work Clinicians: Empirical Findings
Cunningham, M. (2003) · Social Work · doi:10.1093/sw/48.4.451 · Cited by 297 · see citing works
Coping strategies and burnout among veteran child protection workers
Anderson, D. G. (2000) · Child Abuse & Neglect · doi:10.1016/s0145-2134(00)00143-5 · Cited by 286 · see citing works
Ellett, A. J., Ellis, J. I., Westbrook, T. M., & Dews, D. (2006) · Children and Youth Services Review · doi:10.1016/j.childyouth.2006.07.005 · Cited by 271 · see citing works
Retention of front-line staff in child welfare: A systematic review of research
DePanfilis, D., & Zlotnik, J. L. (2008) · Children and Youth Services Review · doi:10.1016/j.childyouth.2007.12.017 · Cited by 255 · see citing works
Occupational Stress in the Service Professions
(2003) · CRC Press eBooks · doi:10.4324/9780203422809 · Cited by 233 · see citing works
Childhood abuse history, secondary traumatic stress, and child welfare workers.
Nelson-Gardell, D., & Harris, D. (2003) · PubMed · Cited by 223 · see citing works
Smith, B. D. (2004) · Children and Youth Services Review · doi:10.1016/j.childyouth.2004.08.013 · Cited by 223 · see citing works
Child Welfare Worker Characteristics and Job Satisfaction: A National Study
Barth, R. P., Lloyd, E. C., Christ, S. L., Chapman, M. V., & Dickinson, N. S. (2008) · Social Work · doi:10.1093/sw/53.3.199 · Cited by 187 · see citing works
Child welfare workers who are exhausted yet satisfied with their jobs: how do they do it?
Stalker, C., Mandell, D., Frensch, K. M., Harvey, C., & Wright, M. D. Z. (2007) · Child & Family Social Work · doi:10.1111/j.1365-2206.2006.00472.x · Cited by 162 · see citing works
Curry, D., McCarragher, T., & Dellmann‐Jenkins, M. (2005) · Children and Youth Services Review · doi:10.1016/j.childyouth.2004.12.008 · Cited by 157 · see citing works
Ellett, A. J. (2008) · Children and Youth Services Review · doi:10.1016/j.childyouth.2008.07.002 · Cited by 141 · see citing works
Relational Psychotherapy Mothers’ Group: A developmentally informed intervention for at-risk mothers
LUTHAR, S. S., & SUCHMAN, N. E. (2000) · Development and Psychopathology · doi:10.1017/s0954579400002078 · Cited by 138 · see citing works
Chen, S.-Y., & Scannapieco, M. (2009) · Children and Youth Services Review · doi:10.1016/j.childyouth.2009.10.014 · Cited by 137 · see citing works
Predictors of post-traumatic distress in child welfare workers: a linear structural equation model
Regehr, C., Hemsworth, D., Leslie, B., Howe, P., & Chau, S. (2004) · Children and Youth Services Review · doi:10.1016/j.childyouth.2004.02.003 · Cited by 135 · see citing works
Tham, P., & Meagher, G. (2008) · The British Journal of Social Work · doi:10.1093/bjsw/bcm170 · Cited by 122 · see citing works
Improving Retention Among Public Child Welfare Workers
Westbrook, T. M., Ellis, J., & Ellett, A. J. (2006) · Administration in Social Work · doi:10.1300/j147v30n04_04 · Cited by 112 · see citing works
The climate of child welfare employee retention.
Cahalane, H., & Sites, E. W. (2008) · PubMed · Cited by 112 · see citing works
Hook, M. P. V., & Rothenberg, M. B. (2009) · Social Work & Christianity · Cited by 112 · see citing works
Individual and organizational factors in job retention in Kentucky's child welfare agency
Yankeelov, P. A., Barbee, A. P., Sullivan, D. J., & Antle, B. F. (2008) · Children and Youth Services Review · doi:10.1016/j.childyouth.2008.10.014 · Cited by 103 · see citing works
Healy, K. E., Meagher, G., & Cullin, J. (2007) · The British Journal of Social Work · doi:10.1093/bjsw/bcm125 · Cited by 103 · see citing works
Using Resilience to Reconceptualise Child Protection Workforce Capacity
Russ, E., Lonne, B., & Darlington, Y. (2009) · Australian Social Work · doi:10.1080/03124070903060042 · Cited by 94 · see citing works
Keeping Public Child Welfare Workers on the Job
Weaver, D., Chang, J., Clark, S. J., & Rhee, S. (2007) · Administration in Social Work · doi:10.1300/j147v31n02_02 · Cited by 90 · see citing works
Chenot, D., Benton, A. D., & Kim, H. (2009) · PubMed · Cited by 89 · see citing works
Stevens, M., & Higgins, D. J. (2002) · Child Abuse Review · doi:10.1002/car.754 · Cited by 85 · see citing works
Job satisfaction in a stable state child welfare workforce: Implications for staff retention
Strand, V. C., & Dore, M. M. (2008) · Children and Youth Services Review · doi:10.1016/j.childyouth.2008.09.002 · Cited by 75 · see citing works
Elements of Satisfying Organizational Climates in Child Welfare Agencies
Bednar, S. G. (2003) · Families in Society The Journal of Contemporary Social Services · doi:10.1606/1044-3894.70 · Cited by 74 · see citing works
The Trauma of Working with Traumatized Children
Meyers, T. W., & Cornille, T. A. (2013) · doi:10.4324/9780203890318-8 · Cited by 74 · see citing works
Hart, A., Blincow, D., & Thomas, H. (2007) · Routledge eBooks · doi:10.4324/9780203946893 · Cited by 74 · see citing works
Child welfare workplace: the state of the workforce and strategies to improve retention.
Scannapieco, M., & Connell‐Carrick, K. (2008) · PubMed · Cited by 66 · see citing works
Social worker trauma: Building resilience in child protection social workers
Horwitz, M. J. (1998) · Smith College Studies in Social Work · doi:10.1080/00377319809517536 · Cited by 66 · see citing works
Taylor, B. J. (2003) · The British Journal of Social Work · doi:10.1093/bjsw/33.4.423 · Cited by 65 · see citing works
Pathways to Organizational Commitment
Landsman, M. J. (2008) · Administration in Social Work · doi:10.1300/j147v32n02_07 · Cited by 65 · see citing works
PUBLICATION BIAS AND META-ANALYSES
Burdett, S., Stewart, L. A., & Tierney, J. F. (2003) · International Journal of Technology Assessment in Health Care · doi:10.1017/s0266462303000126 · Cited by 63 · see citing works
Systematically Retrieving Research: A Case Study Evaluating Seven Databases
Taylor, B. J., Wylie, E. C., Dempster, M., & Donnelly, M. (2007) · Research on Social Work Practice · doi:10.1177/1049731507304402 · Cited by 56 · see citing works
O'Donnell, J., & Kirkner, S. L. (2009) · Journal of Public Child Welfare · doi:10.1080/15548730802690841 · Cited by 53 · see citing works
Resilient Therapy: Working with Children and Families
Hart, A., Blincow, D., & Thomas, H. (2007) · University of Brighton Repository (University of Brighton) · Cited by 51 · see citing works
Predictors of undesired turnover for child welfare workers.
Dickinson, N. S., & Painter, J. S. (2009) · PubMed · Cited by 48 · see citing works
Predictors of Child Welfare Worker Retention and Performance
Rosenthal, J. A., & Waters, E. (2006) · Journal of Social Service Research · doi:10.1300/j079v32n03_04 · Cited by 46 · see citing works
The conduct of systematic research reviews for SCIE knowledge reviews
Coren, E., & Fisher, M. (2006) · Cited by 46 · see citing works
Strolin-Goltzman, J., McCarthy, M., Smith, B. D., Caringi, J., Bronstein, L. R., & Lawson, H. A. (2008) · PubMed · Cited by 44 · see citing works
Social Workers and Human Service Practitioners
Lonne, B. (2003) · CRC Press eBooks · doi:10.1201/9780203422809.ch11 · Cited by 43 · see citing works
Turnover in the Child Welfare Workforce: A Different Perspective
McGowan, B. G., Auerbach, C., & Strolin-Goltzman, J. (2009) · Journal of Social Service Research · doi:10.1080/01488370902900782 · Cited by 38 · see citing works
Characteristics of Workload Management in Pulic Child Welfare Agencies
Juby, C., & Scannapieco, M. (2007) · Administration in Social Work · doi:10.1300/j147v31n03_06 · Cited by 36 · see citing works
Causes and alleviation of occupational stress in child care work
Dillenburger, K. (2004) · Child Care in Practice · doi:10.1080/1357527042000244356 · Cited by 34 · see citing works
Evaluation of an In-Service Training Program for Child Welfare Practitioners
Turcotte, D., Lamonde, G., & Beaudoin, A. (2008) · Research on Social Work Practice · doi:10.1177/1049731507313978 · Cited by 25 · see citing works
Ellett, A. J., Ellett, C. D., Ellis, J. I., & Lerner, B. (2009) · PubMed · Cited by 24 · see citing works
Occupational stress, and teachers in Northern Ireland
McGrath, A., Houghton, D., & Reid, N. G. (1989) · Work & Stress · doi:10.1080/02678378908256955 · Cited by 23 · see citing works
Job Expectations and Intention to Leave in a State Child Welfare Agency
Chernesky, R. H., & Israel, M. K. (2009) · Journal of Public Child Welfare · doi:10.1080/15548730802690817 · Cited by 18 · see citing works
Schwartz, S. L. (2000) · doi:10.15760/etd.3089 · Cited by 17 · see citing works
Preparing for Child Welfare Practice
Coleman, D. K., & Clark, S. J. (2003) · Journal of Human Behavior in the Social Environment · doi:10.1300/j137v07n01_07 · Cited by 14 · see citing works
An Evaluation of the AgeInfo Database
Taylor, B. J., Wylie, E., Dempster, M., & Donnelly, M. (2006) · Research Portal (Queen's University Belfast) · Cited by 7 · see citing works
The role of teamwork in public child welfare caseworkers' intentions to leave
Kyonne, J. (2007) · doi:10.32469/10355/4863 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Striking balance, enjoying challenge : how social workers in child protection stay on the high wire
Nordick, W. G. (2009) · cIRcle (University of British Columbia) · doi:10.14288/1.0090814 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Research works printed but not linked: 11
- Aclaro-Lapidario, M. L.,. (2008) 'Coping strategies of children's social workers in the Department of Children and Family Services (California)', Masters Abstracts International , 46(02), pp. 0730-0730.
- Caringi, J. C. (2008) 'Secondary traumatic stress in New York State child welfare workers', Dissertation Abstracts International, A: The Humanities and Social Sciences , 68(10), pp. 4476-4476.
- Ellett, A. J. S. (2001) 'Human Caring, Self-Efficacy Beliefs, and Professional Organizational Culture Correlates of Employee Retention in Child Welfare', Dissertation Abstracts International, A: The Humanities and Social Sciences , 61(8), pp. 3350-A-3351-A.
- Gibbs, J. A. (2001) 'Maintaining Front-Line Workers in Child Protection: A Case for Refocusing Supervision', Child Abuse Review , 10, pp. 323-335.
- Landsman, M. J. (2001) 'Commitment in public child welfare', Social Service Review , 75(3), pp. 386-419.
- The Munro Review of Child Protection: A child centred system. (May 2011)
- Perrone, R. V. (2007) 'The impact of burnout, job satisfaction and work environment on child welfare family case managers.', Dissertation Abstracts International Section A: Humanities and Social Sciences , 67(12-A), pp. 4702.
- Robichaud, C. M. (2004) 'The Relationship of Spirituality and Coping to Burnout in Child Welfare Workers', Dissertation Abstracts International, A: The Humanities and Social Sciences , 65(3), pp. 1122-A.
- Shepel, L. M. (2009) 'Potential triple jeopardy: A descriptive cross-sectional study of the impact of vicarious traumatization and secondary traumatic stress on Aboriginal child welfare social workers', Dissertation Abstracts International, A: The Humanities and Social Sciences , 69(11), pp. 4508- 4508.
- Turcotte, D. and Pouliot, E. (2006) 'Job satisfaction of social workers in child protection', Canadian Social Work , 8(1), pp. 46-46.
- Vu, P. H. (2007) 'Perceived coping strategies of children's social workers in dealing with vicarious trauma', Masters Abstracts International , 45(05), pp. 2280-2280.
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Journal of Counselor Preparation and Supervision
Renfro-Michel, E., & Burlew, L. D. (2026) · Journal of Counselor Preparation and Supervision · doi:10.7729/00.5277 · Cited by 199 · see citing works
Stress, coping, and psychological resilience among physicians
O’Dowd, E., O'Connor, P. E., Lydon, S., Mongan, O., Connolly, F., Diskin, C., McLoughlin, A., Rabbitt, L., McVicker, L., Reid-McDermott, B., et al. (2018) · BMC Health Services Research · doi:10.1186/s12913-018-3541-8 · Cited by 194 · see citing works
Geisler, M., Berthelsen, H., & Muhonen, T. (2019) · Human Services Organizations Management Leadership & Governance · doi:10.1080/23303131.2019.1569574 · Cited by 172 · see citing works
Fighting racism, battling burnout: causes of activist burnout in US racial justice activists
Gorski, P. C. (2018) · Ethnic and Racial Studies · doi:10.1080/01419870.2018.1439981 · Cited by 145 · see citing works
PTSD Symptoms, Vicarious Traumatization, and Burnout in Front Line Workers in the Homeless Sector
Schiff, J. W., & Lane, A. (2019) · Community Mental Health Journal · doi:10.1007/s10597-018-00364-7 · Cited by 128 · see citing works
Jiang, H., Wang, Y., Chui, E. W. T., & Xu, Y. (2017) · International Social Work · doi:10.1177/0020872817712564 · Cited by 122 · see citing works
Social worker well-being: A large mixed-methods study
Ravalier, J. M., McFadden, P., Boichat, C., Clabburn, O., & Moriarty, J. (2021) · The British Journal of Social Work · doi:10.1093/bjsw/bcaa078 · Cited by 112 · see citing works
Who stays, who goes, who knows? A state-wide survey of child welfare workers
Griffiths, A., Royse, D. D., Culver, K., Piescher, K. N., & Zhang, Y. (2017) · Children and Youth Services Review · doi:10.1016/j.childyouth.2017.04.012 · Cited by 93 · see citing works
Khan, A., Teoh, K., Islam, S., & Hassard, J. (2018) · BMJ Open · doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2017-018720 · Cited by 92 · see citing works
Wirth, T., Mette, J., Prill, J., Harth, V., & Nienhaus, A. (2019) · Health & Social Care in the Community · doi:10.1111/hsc.12730 · Cited by 95 · see citing works
Howard, A. R. H., Parris, S. R., Hall, J. S., Call, C. D., Rázuri, E., Purvis, K., & Cross, D. R. (2015) · Children and Youth Services Review · doi:10.1016/j.childyouth.2015.08.003 · Cited by 94 · see citing works
A Multi-Level Conceptual Model to Examine Child Welfare Worker Turnover and Retention Decisions
Wilke, D., Radey, M., King, E., Spinelli, C., Rakes, S., & Nolan, C. R. (2018) · Journal of Public Child Welfare · doi:10.1080/15548732.2017.1373722 · Cited by 56 · see citing works
He, A. S., Phillips, J. D., Lizano, E. L., Rienks, S. L., & Leake, R. (2018) · Child Abuse & Neglect · doi:10.1016/j.chiabu.2018.04.013 · Cited by 86 · see citing works
Social Workers’ Experiences of Bureaucracy: A Systematic Synthesis of Qualitative Studies
Pascoe, K. M., Waterhouse‐Bradley, B., & McGinn, T. (2022) · The British Journal of Social Work · doi:10.1093/bjsw/bcac106 · Cited by 89 · see citing works
Baugerud, G. A., Vangbæk, S., & Melinder, A. (2017) · The British Journal of Social Work · doi:10.1093/bjsw/bcx002 · Cited by 92 · see citing works
Social workers' emotional labour with families in poverty: Neoliberal fatigue?
Lavee, E., & Strier, R. (2018) · Child & Family Social Work · doi:10.1111/cfs.12443 · Cited by 79 · see citing works
Psychological Capital Protects Social Workers from Burnout and Secondary Traumatic Stress
Vîrgă, D., Baciu, E.-L., Lazăr, T.-A., & Lupșa, D. (2020) · Sustainability · doi:10.3390/su12062246 · Cited by 68 · see citing works
McFadden, P., Mallett, J., Campbell, A., & Taylor, B. K. (2018) · The British Journal of Social Work · doi:10.1093/bjsw/bcy015 · Cited by 80 · see citing works
Reducing social worker burnout during COVID-19
Peinado, M., & Anderson, K. N. (2020) · International Social Work · doi:10.1177/0020872820962196 · Cited by 73 · see citing works
Hussein, S. (2018) · Administration and Policy in Mental Health and Mental Health Services Research · doi:10.1007/s10488-018-0872-z · Cited by 73 · see citing works
Burnout in social workers and socio-demographic factors
García, R. G., Sangregorio, M. A., & Sánchez, M. L. L. (2019) · Journal of Social Work · doi:10.1177/1468017319837886 · Cited by 71 · see citing works
Kenney, M. (2018) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781108557108 · Cited by 69 · see citing works
Working conditions and wellbeing in UK social workers
Ravalier, J. M., Wainwright, E. M., Clabburn, O., Loon, M. K. C., & Smyth, N. (2020) · Journal of Social Work · doi:10.1177/1468017320949361 · Cited by 65 · see citing works
Work Stress in NHS Employees: A Mixed-Methods Study
Ravalier, J. M., McVicar, A. J., & Boichat, C. (2020) · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · doi:10.3390/ijerph17186464 · Cited by 64 · see citing works
The team as a secure base: Promoting resilience and competence in child and family social work
Biggart, L., Ward, E., Cook, L. L., & Schofield, G. (2017) · Children and Youth Services Review · doi:10.1016/j.childyouth.2017.10.031 · Cited by 62 · see citing works
Exploring stress, coping, and health outcomes among social workers
Beer, O. W. J., Phillips, R., & Quinn, C. R. (2021) · European Journal of Social Work · doi:10.1080/13691457.2020.1751591 · Cited by 61 · see citing works
O’Connor, L. (2019) · Qualitative Social Work · doi:10.1177/1473325019843991 · Cited by 59 · see citing works
Pandemic and Social Work: Exploring Finnish Social Workers’ Experiences through a SWOT Analysis
Harrikari, T., Romakkaniemi, M., Tiitinen, L., & Ovaskainen, S. (2021) · The British Journal of Social Work · doi:10.1093/bjsw/bcab052 · Cited by 59 · see citing works
Social Workers and Resilience Revisited
Collins, S. (2016) · Practice · doi:10.1080/09503153.2016.1229763 · Cited by 58 · see citing works
Rienks, S. L. (2020) · International Journal of Child Abuse & Neglect · doi:10.1016/j.chiabu.2020.104355 · Cited by 54 · see citing works
Individual and Organisational Practices Addressing Social Workers’ Experiences of Vicarious Trauma
Ashley-Binge, S., & Cousins, C. (2019) · Practice · doi:10.1080/09503153.2019.1620201 · Cited by 56 · see citing works
Building Resilience in Early-Career Social Workers: Evaluating a Multi-Modal Intervention
Kinman, G., & Grant, L. (2016) · The British Journal of Social Work · doi:10.1093/bjsw/bcw164 · Cited by 62 · see citing works
Kiley, K., Sehgal, A. R., Neth, S., Dolata, J., Pike, E. C., Spilsbury, J. C., & Albert, J. M. (2018) · Social Work Research · doi:10.1093/swr/svx026 · Cited by 54 · see citing works
Considering a Unified Model of Artificial Intelligence Enhanced Social Work: A Systematic Review
Garkisch, M., & Goldkind, L. (2024) · Journal of Human Rights and Social Work · doi:10.1007/s41134-024-00326-y · Cited by 62 · see citing works
Human Agency and Social Work Research: A Systematic Search and Synthesis of Social Work Literature
Parsell, C., Eggins, E., & Marston, G. (2016) · The British Journal of Social Work · doi:10.1093/bjsw/bcv145 · Cited by 54 · see citing works
Grootegoed, E., & Smith, M. (2017) · The British Journal of Social Work · doi:10.1093/bjsw/bcx151 · Cited by 53 · see citing works
Antonopoulou, V., Killian, M., & Forrester, D. (2017) · Children and Youth Services Review · doi:10.1016/j.childyouth.2017.02.028 · Cited by 51 · see citing works
“Nobody’s paying me to cry”: the causes of activist burnout in United States animal rights activists
Gorski, P. C., Lopresti‐Goodman, S. M., & Rising, D. (2018) · Social movement studies · doi:10.1080/14742837.2018.1561260 · Cited by 51 · see citing works
Morley, C., Ablett, P., & Macfarlane, S. (2019) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781108681094 · Cited by 37 · see citing works
Hope and resilience as protective factors linked to lower burnout among child welfare workers
Pharris, A. B., Muñoz, R. T., & Hellman, C. M. (2022) · Children and Youth Services Review · doi:10.1016/j.childyouth.2022.106424 · Cited by 49 · see citing works
Barck-Holst, P., Nilsonne, Å., Åkerstedt, T., & Hellgren, C. (2019) · European Journal of Social Work · doi:10.1080/13691457.2019.1656171 · Cited by 49 · see citing works
Lean on Me: A Scoping Review of the Essence of Workplace Support Among Child Welfare Workers
Olaniyan, O. S., Hetland, H., Hystad, S. W., Iversen, A. C., & Ortiz-Barreda, G. M. (2020) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00287 · Cited by 66 · see citing works
Singer, J., Cummings, C., Moody, S. A., & Benuto, L. (2020) · Journal of Social Work · doi:10.1177/1468017319853057 · Cited by 42 · see citing works
Using Machine Learning in Burnout Prediction: A Survey
Grządzielewska, M. (2021) · Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal · doi:10.1007/s10560-020-00733-w · Cited by 46 · see citing works
Global social work working conditions and wellbeing
Ravalier, J. M., Jones, D. N., Truell, R., & McFadden, P. (2022) · International Social Work · doi:10.1177/00208728221112731 · Cited by 46 · see citing works
Systematic Reviews and Librarians: A Primer for Managers
Gore, G. C., & Jones, J. A. A. (2015) · Partnership The Canadian Journal of Library and Information Practice and Research · doi:10.21083/partnership.v10i1.3343 · Cited by 45 · see citing works
Systematic Reviews: A Social Work Perspective
Crisp, B. R. (2015) · Australian Social Work · doi:10.1080/0312407x.2015.1024266 · Cited by 44 · see citing works
Building Resilient Human Service Organizations
van Breda, A. D. P. (2015) · Human Services Organizations Management Leadership & Governance · doi:10.1080/23303131.2015.1093571 · Cited by 40 · see citing works
Russ, E., Lonne, B., & Lynch, D. (2019) · Child Abuse & Neglect · doi:10.1016/j.chiabu.2019.104245 · Cited by 39 · see citing works
Prevalence and predictors of secondary trauma in the legal profession: a systematic review
Iversen, S., & Robertson, N. (2021) · Psychiatry Psychology and Law · doi:10.1080/13218719.2020.1855270 · Cited by 39 · see citing works
McFadden, P., Neill, R. D., Mallett, J., Manthorpe, J., Gillen, P. A., Moriarty, J., Currie, D., Schroder, H. S., Ravalier, J. M., Nicholl, P., et al. (2021) · The British Journal of Social Work · doi:10.1093/bjsw/bcab198 · Cited by 39 · see citing works
Engaging with social work: a critical introduction
Morley, C. (2016) · Social Work Education · doi:10.1080/02615479.2016.1183747 · Cited by 39 · see citing works
Cronley, C. C., & Kim, Y. K. (2017) · Leadership & Organization Development Journal · doi:10.1108/lodj-10-2015-0227 · Cited by 38 · see citing works
Baldschun, A., Hämäläinen, J. E. A., Töttö, P., Rantonen, O., & Salo, P. (2017) · European Journal of Social Work · doi:10.1080/13691457.2017.1357025 · Cited by 38 · see citing works
A Systematic Review of Measures of Child Neglect
Haworth, S., Schaub, J., Kidney, E., & Montgomery, P. (2022) · Research on Social Work Practice · doi:10.1177/10497315221138066 · Cited by 40 · see citing works
Burnout Among Social Workers in Social Services: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Prevalence
Bertomeu, V. M. G., Caravaca-Sánchez, F., Hartmann, N. D. A., & Ricoy-Cano, A. J. (2024) · Journal of Social Service Research · doi:10.1080/01488376.2024.2371847 · Cited by 37 · see citing works
Jia, C. X., Cheung, C., & Fu, C. (2020) · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · doi:10.3390/ijerph17238881 · Cited by 37 · see citing works
Schrag, R. V., Wood, L., Wachter, K., & Kulkarni, S. J. (2021) · Violence Against Women · doi:10.1177/1077801220988351 · Cited by 37 · see citing works
Nilsen, K. H., Lauritzen, C., Vis, S. A., & Iversen, A. (2023) · Human Resources for Health · doi:10.1186/s12960-023-00829-1 · Cited by 36 · see citing works
Compassion Fatigue and Mindfulness: Comparing Mental Health Professionals and MSW Student Interns
Brown, J. L. C., Ong, J., Mathers, J. M., & Decker, J. T. (2017) · Journal of Evidence-Informed Social Work · doi:10.1080/23761407.2017.1302859 · Cited by 36 · see citing works
Radical Self-Care for Social Workers in the Global Climate Crisis
Powers, M. C. F., & Engstrom, S. (2019) · Social Work · doi:10.1093/sw/swz043 · Cited by 35 · see citing works
Hitchcock, C., Hughes, M., McPherson, L., & Whitaker, L. (2020) · The British Journal of Social Work · doi:10.1093/bjsw/bcaa054 · Cited by 35 · see citing works
Pascoe, K. M. (2021) · The British Journal of Social Work · doi:10.1093/bjsw/bcab242 · Cited by 42 · see citing works
Burns, K., Christie, A., & O’Sullivan, S. (2019) · The British Journal of Social Work · doi:10.1093/bjsw/bcz083 · Cited by 34 · see citing works
Work Engagement Among Child-Care Providers: An Application of the Job Demands–Resources Model
Lee, A., Kim, H. J., Faulkner, M., Gerstenblatt, P., & Travis, D. J. (2018) · Child & Youth Care Forum · doi:10.1007/s10566-018-9473-y · Cited by 33 · see citing works
Kreitzer, L., Brintnell, S. E., & Austin, W. (2019) · The British Journal of Social Work · doi:10.1093/bjsw/bcz147 · Cited by 33 · see citing works
Prevalence and Predictors of Social Work Student Food Insecurity
Miles, R., McBeath, B., Brockett, S., & Sorenson, P. (2017) · Journal of Social Work Education · doi:10.1080/10437797.2017.1299062 · Cited by 32 · see citing works
Child Welfare Reform: A Scoping Review
McTavish, J. R., McKee, C., Tanaka, M., & MacMillan, H. L. (2022) · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · doi:10.3390/ijerph192114071 · Cited by 49 · see citing works
Fantus, S., Cole, R., & Hawkins, L. (2022) · Social Work in Health Care · doi:10.1080/00981389.2022.2128156 · Cited by 31 · see citing works
Impact of Organizational Culture on Employee Satisfaction: A Case of Hilton Hotel, United Kingdom
Reidhead, C. (2020) · Journal of Economics and Business · doi:10.31014/aior.1992.03.01.209 · Cited by 31 · see citing works
Job satisfaction and turnover intent among hospital social workers in the United States
Pugh, G. L. (2016) · Social Work in Health Care · doi:10.1080/00981389.2016.1186133 · Cited by 31 · see citing works
Understanding how social worker compassion fatigue and years of experience shape custodial decisions
Denne, E., Stevenson, M., & Petty, T. (2019) · Child Abuse & Neglect · doi:10.1016/j.chiabu.2019.104036 · Cited by 30 · see citing works
Poverty is the problem – not parents: so tell me, child protection worker, how can you help?
Bennett, K., Booth, A., Gair, S., Kibet, R., & Thorpe, R. (2020) · Children Australia · doi:10.1017/cha.2020.39 · Cited by 28 · see citing works
Drüge, M., Schladitz, S., Wirtz, M. A., & Schleider, K. (2021) · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · doi:10.3390/ijerph18157921 · Cited by 28 · see citing works
Jiang, S., Jiang, C., & Cheng, Y. (2022) · Human Services Organizations Management Leadership & Governance · doi:10.1080/23303131.2022.2121347 · Cited by 28 · see citing works
Chung, Y.-A., & Choo, H. (2019) · Children and youth services review · doi:10.1016/j.childyouth.2019.03.018 · Cited by 22 · see citing works
Expanding our understanding of the role of peer support in child welfare workforce retention
Sedivy, J. A., Rienks, S. L., Leake, R., & He, A. S. (2019) · Journal of Public Child Welfare · doi:10.1080/15548732.2019.1658020 · Cited by 27 · see citing works
Reduced working hours and work-life balance
Barck-Holst, P., Nilsonne, Å., Åkerstedt, T., & Hellgren, C. (2020) · Nordic Social Work Research · doi:10.1080/2156857x.2020.1839784 · Cited by 27 · see citing works
Retention of child welfare caseworkers: The role of case severity and workplace resources
Kothari, B. H., Chandler, K. D., Waugh, A., McElvaine, K. K., Jaramillo, J., & Lipscomb, S. T. (2021) · Children and Youth Services Review · doi:10.1016/j.childyouth.2021.106039 · Cited by 27 · see citing works
Effective assessment: a key knowledge and skill for a sustainable profession
Fengler, J., & Taylor, B. J. (2018) · Social Work Education · doi:10.1080/02615479.2018.1538333 · Cited by 26 · see citing works
RISK-LADEN WORKING LIVES OF CHILD PROTECTION SOCIAL WORKERS IN SOUTH AFRICA
Truter, E., & Fouché, A. (2019) · Social Work/Maatskaplike Werk · doi:10.15270/55-4-763 · Cited by 26 · see citing works
“Do I Read it? No”. Knowledge Utilisation in Child Welfare Decisions
McCafferty, P. (2020) · Child Care in Practice · doi:10.1080/13575279.2020.1765149 · Cited by 26 · see citing works
King, E. (2021) · Children and Youth Services Review · doi:10.1016/j.childyouth.2020.105763 · Cited by 23 · see citing works
Extent and predictors of work-related distress in community correction officers: a systematic review
Page, J., & Robertson, N. (2021) · Psychiatry Psychology and Law · doi:10.1080/13218719.2021.1894259 · Cited by 28 · see citing works
Professional Curiosity in Child Protection: Thinking the Unthinkable in a Neo-Liberal World
Burton, V., & Revell, L. (2017) · The British Journal of Social Work · doi:10.1093/bjsw/bcx123 · Cited by 26 · see citing works
Ceschi, A., Fraccaroli, F., Costantini, A., & Sartori, R. (2017) · Journal of Workplace Behavioral Health · doi:10.1080/15555240.2017.1398659 · Cited by 26 · see citing works
Hopwood, T. L., Schutte, N., & Loi, N. M. (2019) · The Social science journal (Fort Collins) · doi:10.1016/j.soscij.2018.08.008 · Cited by 23 · see citing works
Experiencing Resilience through the Eyes of Early Career Social Workers
Cleveland, M., Warhurst, A., & Legood, A. (2019) · The British Journal of Social Work · doi:10.1093/bjsw/bcz064 · Cited by 25 · see citing works
Berlanda, S., Pedrazza, M., Trifiletti, E., & Fraizzoli, M. (2017) · BioMed Research International · doi:10.1155/2017/5249619 · Cited by 25 · see citing works
Afifi, T. O., McTavish, J. R., Turner, S. E., MacMillan, H. L., & Wathen, C. N. (2018) · Child Abuse & Neglect · doi:10.1016/j.chiabu.2018.01.019 · Cited by 24 · see citing works
Tham, P., McFadden, P., Russ, E., Baldschun, A., Blakeman, P., & Griffiths, A. (2021) · Social Work Education · doi:10.1080/02615479.2021.1976135 · Cited by 24 · see citing works
Exploratory study on the role of trauma-informed self-care on child welfare workers' mental health
Salloum, A., Choi, M. J., & Stover, C. S. (2019) · Children and Youth Services Review · doi:10.1016/j.childyouth.2019.04.013 · Cited by 24 · see citing works
Mette, J., Wirth, T., Nienhaus, A., Harth, V., & Mache, S. (2020) · Journal of Occupational Medicine and Toxicology · doi:10.1186/s12995-020-00270-3 · Cited by 23 · see citing works
Lemieux-Cumberlege, A. H., GRIFFITHS, H. M., Pathe, E., & Burley, A. (2023) · Journal of Social Distress and the Homeless · doi:10.1080/10530789.2023.2191405 · Cited by 23 · see citing works
Reisberger, T., Reisberger, P., Copuš, L., Madzík, P., & Falát, L. (2024) · Journal of the Knowledge Economy · doi:10.1007/s13132-024-02027-3 · Cited by 33 · see citing works
Mothering after child removal: Living under the rule of Greek gods
Honey, A., Mayes, R., & Miceli, M. (2018) · Child & Family Social Work · doi:10.1111/cfs.12432 · Cited by 22 · see citing works
Sosyal Hizmet Uzmanları İçin Psikolojik Dayanıklılığın Önemi
Buz, S., & Genç, B. (2019) · Toplum ve sosyal hizmet(Online)/Toplum ve sosyal hizmet · doi:10.33417/tsh.572227 · Cited by 22 · see citing works
Occupational risk factors in child protection social work: A scoping review
Boonzaaier, E., Truter, E., & Fouché, A. (2020) · Children and Youth Services Review · doi:10.1016/j.childyouth.2020.105888 · Cited by 25 · see citing works
Australian lawyers’ experience of exposure to traumatic material: a qualitative study
Weir, P., Jones, L., & Sheeran, N. (2020) · Psychiatry Psychology and Law · doi:10.1080/13218719.2020.1776650 · Cited by 22 · see citing works
Worsley, A., McLaughlin, K., & Leigh, J. (2017) · The British Journal of Social Work · doi:10.1093/bjsw/bcx005 · Cited by 22 · see citing works
- Authors
- McFadden, P., Campbell, A., & Taylor, B.
- Affiliations
- University of Ulster (GB)
- Queen's University Belfast (GB)
- Corresponding author
- McFadden, Paula
- Venue
- British Journal of Social Work
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press (OUP)
- Published
- 2014-02-26
- Volume
- 45
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- 1546-1563
- ISSN
- 0045-3102 (ISSN-L)
- 1468-263X
- OpenAlex
- W2138865191
- Cited by
- 499
- References
- 66
- Citations by year
- 2026: 44 · 2025: 69 · 2024: 67 · 2023: 53 · 2022: 39 · 2021: 35 · 2020: 45 · 2019: 60 · 2018: 44 · 2017: 24 · 2016: 11 · 2015: 8
- FWCI
- 14.47
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- The British Journal of Social Work (publishedVersion)
- Research Portal (Queen's University Belfast) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Public Administration › Social Work Education and Practice
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Stress and Burnout Research
- Social Sciences › Safety Research › Child Welfare and Adoption
- Keywords
- child protection social work, resilience, burnout, occupational stress, employee turnover, employee retention, secondary traumatic stress, compassion fatigue, compassion satisfaction, coping, workload, social support, supervision, organizational culture, job satisfaction, professional commitment
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
