The effect of working in the domestic violence sector on intimate relationships : the lived experience of social workers and their partners

Abstract

This dissertation aimed to explore the effects, if any, that working in the field of domestic violence has on social workers and their intimate relationships, since such research had not previously been carried out locally. The study sought to answer the research question by adopting a qualitative research strategy. Narrative interviews were conducted with two social workers and their partners and a social worker who was single at the time the research was conducted. The social workers selected for the study had been practising for a minimum of two years. The data was subsequently analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis. Each individual narrative was analysed drawing out personal experiential themes. An analysis across all the findings from individual interviews was then carried out which resulted in the emergence of group experiential themes. Five main group experiential themes emerged. These were ‘choosing this work comes at a personal cost’, ‘benefits and consequences of a permeable boundary between work and life’, ‘essential partner qualities’, ‘a shift in worldview’ and ‘reaping what you sow’. These findings suggest that working in domestic violence has positive and negative consequences on social workers and their intimate relationships, intricately intertwined with one another, the crux of it all being how effectively the positive effects are cultivated and nurtured. The social work profession, as it currently stands, already possesses certain tools to assist in this, such as continued reflective practice and the provision of compulsory supervision. Having said this, more should and can be done.