Retaining volunteer mediators: Comparing predictors of burnout

• Date: 01 May 2018
• Author: Caroline Harmon‐Darrow,Yanfeng Xu
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/crq.21216
• Published date: 01 May 2018

RESEARCH ARTICLE

Retaining volunteer mediators: Comparing

predictors of burnout

Caroline Harmon-Darrow | Yanfeng Xu

School of Social Work, University of Maryland,

Baltimore, Baltimore, Maryland

Correspondence

Caroline Harmon-Darrow, School of Social Work,

University of Maryland, Baltimore, 525 West

Redwood Street, Baltimore, MD 21201.

Email: charmon@ssw.umaryland.edu

Retention of the estimated 30,000 U.S. volunteer commu-

nity mediators is critical to provision of high-quality

services. Although workers’retention and burnout is well

researched, retention of volunteers such as community

mediators is less understood. Survey data of 53 volunteer

mediators were analyzed. For volunteer mediators, burn-

out and intent to remain for 2 years were significantly

negatively associated. Using a self-determination-based

basic needs satisfaction scale, more relatedness satisfac-

tion predicted lower burnout for volunteer mediators,

while competence satisfaction and autonomy satisfaction

did not. This association held, even when controlling for

mediators’experience in the field and self-care behaviors.

1|INTRODUCTION

An estimated 30,000 volunteer communit y mediators in the United States are reso lving family,

neighborhood, and organizational confl icts, saving communities, courts, and government up to

$17,800,000 annually (Corbett & Corbett, 201 3). These volunteers receive extensive tr aining and

apprenticeship to conduct mediation sess ions, and their retention is critical to the provision of high-

quality services to mediation participants, and to the sust ainability of the mission of community-

based mediation centers. Given the absence of past resear ch on this population in the volunteer

retention literature, this study intends to ex amine the predictors of volunteer community med iator

burnout and retention.

1.1 |Community mediation

Since the 1970s, United States conflict resolution programs, from nonprofit community mediation

centers to street conflict “interrupters”to restorative justice circles have been a promising cluster of

community-based interventions. A growing literature shows that conflict resolution services can build

a sense of community and understanding (Kaufer, Noll, & Mayer, 2014; Ohmer, Warner, & Beck,

Received: 20 November 2017 Revised: 19 January 2018 Accepted: 22 January 2018

DOI: 10.1002/crq.21216

© 2018 Association for Conflict Resolution and Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Conflict Resolution Quarterly. 2018;35:367–381. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/crq 367