Citation

Wies JR. Human Organ. 2008; 67(2): 221-233.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2008, Society for Applied Anthropology)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Recent decades have witnessed a shift in the provision of human services in America in multiple forms, including the work of caring for the elderly, people living with mental/physical disabilities, and other vulnerable populations. Using a case study of domestic violence shelter advocates, this paper explores the professionalization of advocating for and providing human services to victims of domestic violence. The introduction of the rhetoric of "boundaries" allows domestic violence advocates to justify separating their personal lives from their professional advocacy and reinforcing and unequal distribution of power between the advocates and the domestic violence victims. Furthermore, the domestic violence shelter organization acted to promote a message of professionalization to the advocates through an emphasis on credentials and previous work experience in a domestic violence shelter Additionally, the domestic violence shelter advocates received a strong message in favor of professionalizing their work from the regional community of human service providers. As the local level response to domestic violence becomes increasingly professionalized, service providers negotiate professional expectations while struggling to provide human services to domestic violence victims. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved) (journal abstract)