ABSTRACT
Many research studies have investigated the impact of the immediate work environment on burnout. But there is another level of environment that has powerful effects that has not been well researched in relation to burnout; namely culture. Burnout has important consequences for child and youth care workers. Several important themes relating to burnout in child and youth care workers emerged from the pan-cultural analysis of burnout across the thirteen cultures. Burnout has been most often defined as a syndrome in which workers feel emotionally exhausted or fatigued, withdraw emotionally from their clients, and perceive a diminution of their achievements or accomplishments at work. The de facto standard of measurement for burnout is the Maslach Burnout Inventory which contains three sub-scales purported to measure the three factors identified in the above definition: emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and personal accomplishment. Each sub-scale plays an important role in understanding the quality of the burnout experience.
