ABSTRACT
BURNOUT, a reaction to chronic job-related stress, is a prevalent phenomenon in human service organizations (Cherniss, 1980; Edelwich, 1980; Freudenberger, 1974; Maslach, 1976; Mattingly, 1977). People in these occupations are especially vulnerable to burnout as a result of working closely and intensively with their clients over an extended period of time. Mental health (Pines & Maslach, 1978) and day care workers (Maslach & Pines, 1977) report longer work hours, high patient-staff ratios, and greater stress and burnout associated with drawing a distinction between their jobs and their personal life. Police officers experienced an increase in family strain, isolation, and alcohol and drug use as burnout increased (Maslach & Jackson, 1979). Kanner, Kafry, and Pines (1978) warn that the absence of positive conditions, as well as the presence of negative ones, are both related to burnout. The importance of interpersonal relationships as a mediator to burnout has been noted by social service workers (Pines & Kafry, 1978) and nurses (Albrecht, 1982), while Albrecht, Irey, and Mundy (in press) found that child welfare workers who were integrated in a communication network experienced less burnout than those who were less integrated.
