WHETHER SHAPING PUBLIC POLICY or providing services to individuals, families, and communities, social workers are fully engaged with today's social problems. This difficult work can take an emotional and psychological toll on the worker (Davies, 1998;Gibson, McGrath, & Reid, 1989). This stress comes not only from responding to people in pain and crisis; characteristics of the organization also contribute to the stress (Sze & Ivker, 1986). This occupational stress has been examined primarily in terms of burnout (Maslach, 1993), but recent research in the field of trauma has identified stresses unique to that work. These stresses have been conceptualized as vicarious trauma (McCann & Pearlman, 1990b;Pearlman & Saakvitne, 1995a, 1995b. To date, most research has focused on the individual characteristics thought to contribute to vicarious trauma. There has been less focus on the organizational structures that may contribute. In this article, we draw on the research on organizational correlates of burnout as a background for examining the research on vicarious trauma and then outline various organizational strategies suggested by practitioners working with trauma survivors to prevent vicarious trauma. This discussion is informed by a qualitative study of counselors working with victims of domestic violence (Bell, 1998(Bell, , 1999 that suggested the importance of the work environment, among other issues, in the development of vicarious trauma. Quotations by counselors from that study will be used to illustrate the discussion. Organizational Correlates of BurnoutMaslach (1993) described burnout as having three dimensions: (a) emotional exhaustion; (b) depersonalization, defined as a negative attitude towards clients, a personal detachment, or loss of ideals; and (c) reduced personal accomplishment and commitment to the profession. Burnout has been conceptualized as a process rather than a condition or state, and some have theorized that it progresses sequentially through each of these dimensions (Maslach, 1993). Maslach and others have examined the individual, interpersonal, and organizational characteristics that contribute to burnout. Of particular interest to this discussion is the finding that organizations can either promote job satisfaction or

Objective: Using a theory of change framework, this study examines outcome measures of a home visitation program that provided services to first-born children and their parents living in southwestern New Mexico. Method: Home visitation workers conducted pretest and posttest assessments for prenatal and postpartum periods for 109 families receiving services in the First-Born Program. Families were assessed using the Revised North Carolina Family Assessment Scale. Paired sample t tests were used to assess effect. Results: Clients participating in the First-Born Program displayed significantly higher posttest scores on measures of family resiliency. Specifically, clients demonstrated improved scores in operationalized measures of resilience: social support, caregiver characteristics, family interaction measures, and a reduction in personal problems affecting parenting. Conclusion: The results are promising as participants were observed to make positive improvements in specific areas related to family resiliency.