‘You can’t pour from an empty cup’: US violence prevention workers tell of burnout

A senior violence interrupter, comforts a city aide at St Cuthbert’s Episcopal church at the scene of a shooting in East Oakland, California, 28 September 2022. Symptoms of burnout are common in the field of violence prevention. Photograph: Peter Dasilva/EPA

For the past 24 years, Jose Gomez has been on call at any hour.

Gomez works as a community violence interrupter in Stockton, California, focused on extracting high-risk youth from the cycles of violence in their own neighborhoods. Sometimes he’s called to go to a hospital or a crime scene. Sometimes he’s in the aftermath of a shooting to guide survivors and their families away from retaliation. Sometimes he mediates conflicts before they turn violent. Sometimes he helps clients find jobs, buy work attire, relocate, enroll in school, get a driver’s license or talk through their problems.