As a result of working in high-risk situations, child protection workers are often confronted by such traumatic incidents as the physical and sexual abuse of children, serious neglect situations, and personal threats. The perception of how workers deal with their emotional challenges has not received a great deal of attention in the literature. To date, a phenomenological study focusing on the descriptive experiences of child protection workers struggling with secondary traumatic stress has not been published. This study attempts to rectify this, by examining from a phenomenological perspective how secondary traumatic stress (STS) experienced by child protection workers impacts their practice and personal lives. This study found that child protection workers engaged in direct practice will be exposed directly and indirectly to traumatic events through their work with children and families and the risks of experiencing symptoms of STS are almost a certainty for a child protection worker. Participants described the day-to-day pressures of managing a caseload and dealing with traumatic events or traumatized people. From their responses, three major categories emerged: Professional Issues relating to case practice and effectiveness; the Personal Impacts of child protection work on the way workers function, both on the job and in their private lives; and Behavioral or Physical Changes experienced by child protection workers. It is these categories that best illustrate the dramatic way secondary trauma affects child protection workers as a whole. / Graduate

Background: The societys requirements for nurses working in care are to achieve good qualitative, safe care for patients that experiencing several trauma and suffering. Todays medical care with high patient flow and pace, as well as savings and low nursing staffing. Reported to be contributing factors to nurses suffering from compassion fatigue. Problem:The combination of this and the inadequate guidelines or support for being able to handle these requirements as a nurse, this contributing factors to nurses developing compassion fatigue Purpose: The purpose of the thesis work is to highlight the nurses experience of compassion fatigue. Method: A qualitative literature study with descriptive synthesis, twelve articles has been analyzed according to Evans (2002). Results: To create a balance between working life and priva life, having knowledge and being read as well as taking care of yourself is considered essential to avoid compassion fatigue. A support from management and colleagues was considered important to counteract compassion fatigue. Conclusion: nurses who experience stress or compassion fatigue as well as lacking tools or knowledge about what counteracts compassion fatigue can have difficulty emotionally engaging in caring. Which contributes to stress and even poorer quality of care.

This study investigated the impact of working with domestic violence victims on domestic violence shelter workers. Recent research has shown that working with trauma victims may have a profound impact on the worker, including levels of intrusive and avoidant PTSD symptoms as well as distorted beliefs about the self and others. This was the first study to examine secondary traumatization in the domestic violence worker population. Results suggested that domestic violence workers are experiencing levels of secondary traumatization slightly higher than sexual assault counselors, a group used for comparison due to their similar job demands and client population. Though this study attempted to ameliorate symptom levels by providing feedback, and feedback with suggestions for improvement to two treatment groups, no significant effects were found post-treatment. Various reasons were offered for this lack of effect, including the lack of adequate sample size at follow-up. Overall, several predictors of secondary traumatization were confirmed, the most notable of which was social support. Individuals with high levels of social support tended to have less symptoms of secondary traumatization, and individuals with high levels of social avoidance tended to have more symptoms of secondary traumatization. For this sample, trauma history was not found to predict secondary traumatization symptoms. These findings were discussed in relation to the vicarious traumatization model of indirect trauma. Clinical implications and implications for future research were also offered. This study was supported in full by the Agency for Healthy Care Policy and Research Grant for Health Service Dissertation Award, number R03 HS10036-01. / Ph. D.

Socialarbetare tenderar i sitt arbete att möta människor med trauman i större eller mindre utsträckning. Berättelser från både barn och vuxna som varit eller är med om traumatiska händelser på grund av upplevelser av våld, kan hos socialarbetare orsaka sekundär traumatisering (STS). Med sekundär traumatisering menas att socialarbetare kan uppleva samma symtom som de människor hen möter. I den här internationella systematiska litteraturstudien är syftet att undersöka vad som gör att socialarbetare utvecklar STS i mötet med traumatiserade människor, samt om det finns faktorer som gör att fenomenet går att förebygga och/eller motverka. Studien syftar också till att undersöka det upplevda våldets karaktär hos klienterna och dess koppling och inverkan på uppkomsten av STS. Genom en narrativ analysmetod framkom det i studiens resultat, exempel på risker som påverkade uppkomsten av fenomenet, vilka var egenupplevda trauman, avsaknad av egenvård, hög arbetsbelastning, hög exponering av traumaklienter under sin arbetstid, samt bristande eller avsaknad av handledning. Det framkom även att riskerna för STS gick att minska eller åtgärda genom utbildning, egenvårdstekniker, mindre exponering i form av direktkontakt- eller färre antal timmar med traumaklienter per vecka. En upptäckt som gjordes var att utbildning kan ha en stor betydande roll i framtiden för att kunna förebygga och/eller minska riskerna för STS hos socialarbetare.

abstract: Child advocacy centers provide a safe, child-friendly environment for the forensic interview and subsequent investigation of child victimization cases. However, very little research has examined the effects of burnout, secondary trauma, and organizational stressors on forensic interviewers. The goal of the present project was addressing the following research questions. Do forensic interviewers experience burnout and secondary trauma associated with their profession? How do organizational stressors mitigate or increase these effects among forensic interviewers? Data was collected by conducting an online survey of forensic interviewers working at child advocacy centers across the United States. Specifically, burnout was measured with the Oldenburg Burnout Inventory, and secondary trauma was measured with the Secondary Traumatic Stress Scale (STSS). The current study utilized bivariate correlations, and OLS regression models to analyze the effects of burnout, secondary trauma, and organizational stressors on forensic interviewers. The results indicate burnout and secondary trauma among interviewers in the sample. Job support, funding constraints, and heavy caseloads all influence the outcome measures. Policy recommendations include continued education, training, and mental health services for forensic interviewers. Future researchers should conduct qualitative interviews and expand on variables within the current dataset such as note taking, peer evaluations, and forensic interviewing protocols in order to gain further insight into this population. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Criminology and Criminal Justice 2019

Thesis (M.A. (Pastoral))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2008.

Teens around the world manifest with dysfunctional behaviour and according to statistics there was an increase of 75% in addictions, suicidal attempts and promiscuity among the youth in the past ten years. This study attempts to establish whether unresolved hurt and damaged emotions of the parents and even grandparents contribute to this affect amongst teens. The basic-theoretical chapter shows that dysfunctional families had already existed in the Bible. An example of this is the family of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Through the history of these Biblical families it is shown that certain patterns repeat themselves in generation after generation. The exegetical analysis of suitable Scriptures give Biblical guidelines with which damaged emotions, caused by intergenerational trauma, can be healed when assisted with the guidance of pastoral caregivers. The next chapter deals with contributions by various pastoral authors in connection with the theme of intergenerational trauma. According to their view there is a definite connection between the unresolved trauma of previous generations and the wounds of some of the current generation of teens. God based family structure on perfect harmony, but this relationship was broken because of the fall. It subsequently led to the inheritance of fractured relationships by mankind and the only way to repair this relationship is for man to repair his relationship with God. Only thereafter man would be able to repair his earthly relationships. According to empirical theory the research done on the children of Holocaust survivors was the first of its kind to be undertaken on secondary traumatization, which by its nature is connected to intergenerational distress. Although current literature gives some recognition to the problem of intergenerational distress, the total impact of secondary trauma on the next generation is still being ignored. Empirical researchers came to the overwhelming conclusion that trauma is "contagious". They furthermore concluded that there is a hiatus with regard to theological reflection in connection with the spiritual as well as the pastoral implications of this theme. Empirical research concluded that intergenerational distress can have a devastating and traumatic effect on the next generation. Unresolved trauma experienced by previous generations have the ability to wound the next generation, particularly the teenagers, on the physical, psychological, emotional and most of all on the spiritual level. Empirical research found that these wounds need a multidimensional approach and that Pastoral input is of utmost importance. The practical-theoretical theory reconciles the conclusions drawn from the auxiliary science as well as the results from the empirical research with Biblical principals drawn from the basic-theoretical chapter. This guidelines together with pastoral care, can guide the teenager suffering from the negative affects of intergenerational trauma towards emotional healing. / Thesis (M.A. (Pastoral))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2008.

Teens around the world manifest with dysfunctional behaviour and according to statistics there was an increase of 75% in addictions, suicidal attempts and promiscuity among the youth in the past ten years. This study attempts to establish whether unresolved hurt and damaged emotions of the parents and even grandparents contribute to this affect amongst teens. The basic-theoretical chapter shows that dysfunctional families had already existed in the Bible. An example of this is the family of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Through the history of these Biblical families it is shown that certain patterns repeat themselves in generation after generation. The exegetical analysis of suitable Scriptures give Biblical guidelines with which damaged emotions, caused by intergenerational trauma, can be healed when assisted with the guidance of pastoral caregivers. The next chapter deals with contributions by various pastoral authors in connection with the theme of intergenerational trauma. According to their view there is a definite connection between the unresolved trauma of previous generations and the wounds of some of the current generation of teens. God based family structure on perfect harmony, but this relationship was broken because of the fall. It subsequently led to the inheritance of fractured relationships by mankind and the only way to repair this relationship is for man to repair his relationship with God. Only thereafter man would be able to repair his earthly relationships. According to empirical theory the research done on the children of Holocaust survivors was the first of its kind to be undertaken on secondary traumatization, which by its nature is connected to intergenerational distress. Although current literature gives some recognition to the problem of intergenerational distress, the total impact of secondary trauma on the next generation is still being ignored. Empirical researchers came to the overwhelming conclusion that trauma is "contagious". They furthermore concluded that there is a hiatus with regard to theological reflection in connection with the spiritual as well as the pastoral implications of this theme. Empirical research concluded that intergenerational distress can have a devastating and traumatic effect on the next generation. Unresolved trauma experienced by previous generations have the ability to wound the next generation, particularly the teenagers, on the physical, psychological, emotional and most of all on the spiritual level. Empirical research found that these wounds need a multidimensional approach and that Pastoral input is of utmost importance. The practical-theoretical theory reconciles the conclusions drawn from the auxiliary science as well as the results from the empirical research with Biblical principals drawn from the basic-theoretical chapter. This guidelines together with pastoral care, can guide the teenager suffering from the negative affects of intergenerational trauma towards emotional healing. / Thesis (M.A. (Pastoral))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2008.

Social workers are susceptible to the potential negative impacts of vicarious trauma. Perspectives of trauma social workers on the responsiveness of rural social work agencies to vicarious trauma have not been explored even though the trauma-informed care model has been available since 2006 and outlines best practice in all settings of trauma social work. Considering the risk factors and negative effects vicarious trauma has on social workers, an increased understanding of the perspectives of social workers on how rural social work agencies are responding to vicarious trauma was needed. The purpose of this study was to explore this response through consideration of the trauma-informed care principles of safety, trustworthiness, choice, collaboration, and empowerment. The guiding research question was, what are the perspectives of social workers on the response of rural social work agencies on vicarious trauma and self-care. For this narrative study, storytelling was used as a way to understand and answer the research question. Data were collected using purposeful sampling from 10 trauma social workers through face-to-face interviews and analyzed using a coding and theming process. Organizational culture was identified as a suppressive force that has the potential to be a source of support to therapists. The findings support the need for change in organizational practice standards and furthers knowledge about the potential effects of vicarious trauma on clients, agencies, and therapists and how to mitigate those effects. The awareness this study provided to organizational leaders and policy makers has the potential to be the catalyst for positive practice and policy change.

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