Date of Conferral

2022

Degree

Ph.D.

School

Psychology

Advisor

Susan H. Marcus

Abstract

Animal shelter volunteers are a critical part of the operation and maintenance of animal shelters across the United States, and risk developing compassion fatigue (CF) that can impact their ability to volunteer. The purpose of this study was to explore the role of work in animal shelter volunteers’ experiences of CF. The compassion stress and fatigue model and aspects from several occupational stress models were used as conceptual frameworks. A basic qualitative design was used to recruit 12 animal shelter volunteers experiencing compassion fatigue symptoms. These volunteers came from 10 different animal shelters across the U.S. Three research questions were used to explore what the animal shelter work environment was like for volunteers, how their CF developed, and the role of the work environment in their CF development. Participants were interviewed twice using a semi-structured interview guide. A multilevel coding process was used to analyze data, and results revealed 12 themes about the animal shelter work environment and seven themes describing how CF developed. A model emerged from the relationships among the themes to describe how satisfaction from the work and their commitment to saving animals drew volunteers back to the environment where CF was experienced. Future research recommendations include replicating this study using different settings and populations as well as a quantitative study to test the model. Positive social change implications include recommendations to support people who help animals stay healthy and empathic in their work, qualities which are essential to keep animals, communities, and environments safe.

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