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Helping professionals play an essential role in the recovery of victims of trauma. However, research has demonstrated that, as a result of their work, helping professionals' indirect exposure to clients' trauma increases the likelihood of experiencing negative psychological responses, including vicarious trauma (VT), secondary traumatic stress (STS), and burnout. The present study examined the concurrent validity between the STS subscale on the Professional Quality of Life (ProQoL) scale and the Secondary Traumatic Stress Scale (STSS). Furthermore, the relationships between compassion satisfaction (CS) and burnout were investigated. Participants were recruited using a comprehensive web search of agencies across the United States that employed victim advocates, a subtype of helping professionals that are understudied. A list of possible agencies ( N = 75) was generated, and each agency was sent an email about the study. In total, 132 victim advocates provided data for these analyses. Findings revealed positive correlations between the STS subscale on the ProQoL and the STSS. In addition, a negative correlation was found between burnout and CS. Two-level hierarchical multiple regression analyses demonstrated that burnout accounted for 47.3% of the variance in STS, and CS contributed an additional 3.9%. Furthermore, burnout accounted 45.8% of the variance in VT, whereas CS contributed an additional 0.6%, indicating that burnout is a strong predictor of VT and STS, but CS may serve as a protective factor against experiencing both. Prevention and intervention efforts should target reducing burnout to combat these psychological sequelae and increasing CS.

Violence against women continues to be a great concern in today’s society. In the United States, women experience high rates of interpersonal violence throughout their lifetime. Among Latinas, interpersonal violence is also highly prevalent however the wide variation of interpersonal prevalence rates among Latinas is problematic. The aims of this systematic review of the literature were to (1) document the prevalence rates of violence among Latinas, (2) determine the types of violence that Latinas are most impacted by, and (3) assess the prevalence rates of interpersonal across Latina subethnicities. The research was based on seven databases including PsycArticles, PsycCRITIQUES, PsycINFO, ScienceDirect, Social Services Abstracts, Social Work Abstracts, and PubMED for articles published from January 2007 up to July 2017. The following key words were used in the search: (Latinas OR Latinos OR Hispanics) AND (victim OR victimization) AND (domestic violence OR intimate partner violence OR Interpersonal Violence). We identified 41 articles in our search that reported rates of interpersonal violence which ranged from 1% to 83% with intimate partner violence and domestic violence being the most prevalent. Interpersonal violence was found to be more prevalent among individuals who identified as Mexican. Based on the findings, it is clear that efforts should be focused on conducting a lager national survey of interpersonal violence among Latinas. It would need to include subethnicity, immigration status, and type of abuse experienced and possibly add socioeconomic factors.

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The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) executive order intended to protect undocumented youth from deportation and mitigate the negative impact of their undocumented status. Using qualitative methods, eight DACA recipients were interviewed. Participants were primarily females, ranged in age from 19 and 27 years old, and had immigrated from Mexico. Our findings revealed that as participants grew up, they experienced a sense of liminality, or "non-belonging"; however, upon receiving DACA status, these feelings of liminality were temporarily abated. Problematically, as our participants encountered the limitations of DACA, their feelings of liminality returned. While DACA increases access to education, health care, and legal system participation, it only temporarily mitigates the impact of having an undocumented status. The ramifications of the sense of liminality that occur with being undocumented is discussed and policy reforms in areas of federal and state educational policy and immigration policy are suggested.