Abstract
Domestic violence affects all societies regardless of their background, race, religion, or circumstance, and these traumatic experiences alter the physical, emotional, psychological,
spiritual, and social planes rupturing one’s sense of basic trust. Vicarious traumatization is a concept that was developed to describe the cumulative, pervasive, and damaging effects on the social work practitioner that occur from chronic exposure to a client’s traumatic material. The commonality between domestic violence and vicarious trauma is that no one is immune to either one of them, including social workers who encounter both daily. Social work is a profession that can be extremely rewarding. However, if one is not careful in managing work stress, this could lead to vicarious trauma, compassion fatigue, or burnout. This Banded Dissertation focuses on social workers who work with victims of domestic violence. It also explores the impact of vicarious trauma on such workers, and their use of self-care as a preventative measure. This work is comprised of three scholarly Products: a qualitative research paper on domestic violence with relevant orienting historical information, a qualitative systematic review of the literature, and a presentation on trauma-informed approaches. This research is to empower those affected by these predicaments so they can engage in self-care since it is never too late to make changes or an impact.