Burnout: An exploration of burnout experiences by providers of homeless services in Ireland

Franchy Garcia, Marta (2021) Burnout: An exploration of burnout experiences by providers of homeless services in Ireland. Masters thesis, Dublin, National College of Ireland.

Preview

PDF (Master of Arts) Download (1MB) | Preview

Abstract

Burnout has become one of the main issues experienced in the work development nowadays, which has gathered a large body of research in the last decade. The gross of the research carried out in this field in the Republic of Ireland focalises on three main groups: the healthcare sector, social work with a predominance of the child protection division and the educational field. Leaving the provision of homeless services understudied.

Understanding Burnout in relation to the homeless service provision takes a principal stand in the Irish territory as the nation has been experiencing a homeless crisis for the past ten years. Positioning the providers of this type of human services under a large amount of pressure while working with a sector of the population characterised by their chaotic nature, resulting from the traumatic experiences suffered, such as alcoholism, drug addiction or sexual assault.

This research was developed due to the lack of research on burnout perceptions by providers of homeless services, and the aim to provide an understanding of burnout in this sector concerning the three dimensions of job burnout (emotional exhaustion, cynicism and inefficacy), the stress suffered, and the job demands and resources impacting its incidence.

For this matter, and to provide a comprehensive understanding of the burnout experiences of homeless service providers, a qualitative approach to research was carried out. Twelve employees of the organisation framing this study, Focus Ireland, provided their accounts regarding the research object through semi-structured interviews.

The findings of this research elucidate that in the provision of homeless services, only two of the burnout’s dimension are experienced, emotional exhaustion and cynicism, while there is no evidence of the presence of inefficacy within this sector. Furthermore, the study carried out also finds evidence that supports the conception of the homeless sector as a highly stressful field of employment; and the existence of job demands and resources attached to the development of their work that might be inciting the prevalence of burnout in this field.

Item Type:	Thesis (Masters)
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HV Social pathology. Social and public welfare H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor > Issues of Labour and Work H Social Sciences > HF Commerce > Industrial Psychology > Workplace Stress
Divisions:	School of Business > Master of Arts in Human Resource Management
Depositing User:	Clara Chan
Date Deposited:	16 Dec 2021 12:01
Last Modified:	06 Jan 2022 13:36
URI:	https://norma.ncirl.ie/id/eprint/5250

Actions (login required)

View Item