Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 Nov;30(6):e5115-e5124.
doi: 10.1111/hsc.13926. Epub 2022 Jul 22.

Native and immigrant social workers working with immigrants: Appraisal of the immigrant group, acculturation orientations and burnout

Eugene Tartakovsky  1 , Gil Baltiansky  1
Affiliations

Native and immigrant social workers working with immigrants: Appraisal of the immigrant group, acculturation orientations and burnout

Eugene Tartakovsky et al. Health Soc Care Community. 2022 Nov.

Abstract

The present study investigates the effects of group appraisal and acculturation orientations on burnout of social workers working with immigrants. The study is based on the Threat-Benefit and the Acculturation Theories. The proposed theoretical model was tested in a sample of social workers working with immigrants from the Former Soviet Union (FSU) in Israel (n = 313). Amongst the study participants, 254 were Israeli born, and 59 were immigrants from the FSU. The results demonstrated that social workers' acculturation orientations mediate the connection between the appraisal of the immigrant group and the social workers' burnout when working with immigrants from this group. Specifically, appraisal of immigrants as beneficial for the receiving society was associated with a stronger orientation towards preserving the immigrant culture (β = 0.22). On the other hand, appraisal of immigrants as threatening the receiving society was associated with a weaker orientation towards preserving the immigrant culture (β = -0.21) and with a stronger orientation towards acquiring the majority culture by immigrants (β = 0.12). A stronger acculturation orientation related to preserving the immigrant culture was associated with a lower level of burnout (β = -0.13) and a higher sense of personal accomplishments of social workers working with immigrants (β = 0.20). Immigrant social workers, compared to their native colleagues, reported a higher level of personal accomplishment (M[SD]IM = 5.08[1.24] vs. M[SD]IS = 4.21[1.39]) but also a higher level of burnout working with immigrant clients (M[SD]IM = 1.88[0.83] vs. M[SD]IS = 1.60[0.63]). The main conclusion following the present study relates to the importance of developing a positive appraisal of immigrants and accepting the immigrant culture for successful work with immigrants.

Keywords: Israel; acculturation orientations; burnout; immigrants; social workers; the Former Soviet Union; the threat-benefit theory.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

References

REFERENCES

    1. Abu-Rayya, H., & White, F. (2010). Acculturation orientations and religious identity as predictors of Anglo-Australians' attitudes towards Australian Muslims. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 34, 592-599.
    1. Alizadeh, S., & Chavan, M. (2016). Cultural competence dimensions and outcomes: a systematic review of the literature. Health and Social Care in the Community, 24(6), 117-130.
    1. Badea, C., Iyer, A., & Aebischer, V. (2018). National identification, endorsement of acculturation ideologies and prejudice: The impact of the perceived threat of immigration. International Review of Social Psychology, 31(1), 1-10.
    1. Batson, C. D., Lishner, D. A., Cook, J., & Sawyer, S. (2005). Similarity and nurturance: Two possible sources of empathy for strangers. Basic and Applied Social Psychology, 27(1), 15-25.
    1. Berger, L. K., Zane, N., & Hwang, W. (2014). Therapist ethnicity and treatment orientation differences in multicultural counseling competencies. Asian American Journal of Psychology, 5(1), 53-65.

LinkOut - more resources