Exposure to traumatic situations is routine for child welfare workers in California, and the attrition rate for newly hired social workers in some states is estimated to be nearly 50% in the 1st year of employment. Prior research has indicated that reasons for dissatisfaction included dysfunctional organizational climate and culture. The purpose of this study was to examine the extent to which trauma exposure contributed to secondary traumatic stress and intent to quit and to examine the degree to which organizational climate moderated the exposure among direct service child welfare employees. Kurt Lewin's field theory, Figley's theory of secondary traumatic stress or compassion fatigue, and McCann and Pearlman's constructivist self-development theory were foundational for this study. The research questions determined whether a) trauma exposure to would relate positively with secondary traumatic stress and intent to quit, b) organizational climate would relate negatively with secondary traumatic stress and intent to quit, and c) organizational climate would moderate the relationship between trauma exposure and secondary traumatic stress as well as intent to quit. Pearson correlations indicated that exposure to traumatic situations was statistically related to secondary traumatic stress but not intent to quit, and organizational climate was statistically significant in relation to secondary traumatic stress and intent to quit. Hierarchical regression analysis indicated no interaction effect on either dependent variable but might have approached significance with a larger sample. Positive social change can occur through child welfare organizations emphasizing strategies that can reduce secondary traumatic stress and turnover.

The purpose of this research study was to explore the symptoms of compassion fatigue as experienced by teachers in grades 9-12 during the COVID-19 pandemic. While the research on the effects of compassion fatigue on educators is relatively sparse, the literature regarding compassion fatigue, secondary traumatic stress, and vicarious trauma in other helping professions revealed a 12-symptom framework. Data collection strategies included individual virtual interviews and field notes. Analysis of data occurred in four phases: (a) analyzing transcripts and identifying themes, (b) categorization of data under the 12 symptoms of compassion fatigue, (c) building the explanation in narrative form, and (d) re-examination of the data. The triangulation of data protected the credibility of the analysis through multiple interview sources and member checking. The results revealed that the physical, emotional, professional, and personal experiences described in the teacher interviews exemplified the 12 established symptoms of compassion fatigue. The results suggested that concern for student experiences during the pandemic combined with other contributing factors to manifest a variety of individual symptoms in participants. The most common contributing factors for participants included concerns for the physical and emotional health and wellbeing of students, student academic issues, feelings of being overwhelmed/overloaded at work, and anger and frustration with the school administration and the school system. The themes that emerged from the data analysis indicate that the most common manifested symptoms include lack of sleep, stress and anxiety, thoughts of leaving the teaching profession, and disconnection from family and friends.

This research was conducted to investigate the effects of gender, grade level, family relationships, and vicarious victimization on self-esteem and attitudes of bullying. A self-report questionnaire was administered to sixth and seventh graders at a middle school to 436 students of whom 209 were males and 224 were females. Each home base classroom was systematically sampled for a random sample. The survey consisted of several demographic questions as well as questions regarding the previously mentioned variables. The mean age was 11.8 with 80.7% indicating they were white and 19.3% indicating another race. In the overall regression equations, gender and family relationships were significantly related to attitudes of bullying and family relationships was the only variable significant in the self-esteem equation. Several correlations between variables were found to be significant.

Although previous research has established that therapists who work with sexually-abused children experience symptoms of vicarious trauma, few studies have addressed the process by which the therapist is affected. In order to understand therapists' personal experiences and how working with sexually-abused children impacts them in their personal lives, the researcher interviewed therapists who were currently working with this specific population. Data analysis was completed by using ethnographic research methods and three major themes emerged during the interviews. The first theme included the "job characteristics" inherent in working with sexually-abused children. This theme refers to how the therapists entered the field of therapy, why they wanted to become therapists, and how they began working with children who had been sexually-abused. The subjects also referred to both the challenges and rewards that came from working with sexually-abused children. The second theme that emerged was the impact of working with sexually-abused children on the therapist's personal and professional life. Therapists also talked about how this work affected their view of the world and their relationships with other people. The third theme included coping with stresses associated with working with sexually-abused children. Therapists spoke about ways they individually coped with the stress and how the agency as an organization helped the therapists cope as well. Recommendations for therapists in this field are given and future research is discussed. Implications for clinical practice, training, supervision and structuring agencies are included.

Cette thèse se situe dans un axe novateur de recherches en ingénierie et en management des systèmes d’information, elle articule à la fois les aspects de quatre domaines de recherche issus de l’Informatique, des Sciences des Systèmes d’information et des Sciences Humaines et des aspects pratiques liées aux entreprises du Web 2.0. Le «Crowdsourcing», comme son nom l’indique, désigne l’approvisionnement par la foule; Les études et les recherches sur cette thèse se font rares mais celles qui existent confirment l’intérêt managérial des plateformes de Crowdsourcing, grâce à leur rôle incontestable dans la création de valeur. Néanmoins, la foule est composée de groupe d’amateurs hétérogènes, c’est pour cela qu’elle représente aussi une source d’incompétence. Dans ce cadre, notre hypothèse opérationnelle pose que l’apprentissage de la foule stimule la création de valeur dans les plateformes Crowdsourcing. Ainsi, notre travail est, principalement organisé autour de la conception et l’élaboration d’un outil pour l’apprentissage de la foule au sein des plateformes de Crowdsourcing. Ce travail est de nature complexe et relève à la fois d’un travail de recherche et d’une pratique d’ingénierie. C’est pour cela que nous optons pour une démarche constructiviste exploratoire de type qualitative moyennant la méthode de recherche ingénierique qui vise à définir et à concevoir une approche d’apprentissage adaptée aux plateformes de Crowdsourcing et à l’implémenter par la suite au sein d’une plateforme Crowdsourcing de test spécialisée dans les Backlinks. Des expérimentations basées sur des entretiens semi-directifs viendront, à la fin de ce travail, confirmer ou infirmer nos hypothèses. / This thesis is situated in an innovative line of research in engineering and management information systems, it articulates both the aspects of four disciplines of research in the Computer Science, Information Systems, Human Sciences and practical aspects related to Web 2.0 companies. The "Crowdsourcing" as its name suggests, refers to the sourcing by the crowd, studies and research on this topic are infrequent but those that exist confirm the managerial interest of Crowdsourcing platforms, thanks to their undeniable role in value creation. Nevertheless, the crowd is composed of heterogeneous group of amateurs that is why it is also a source of incompetence. Our operating hypothesis posits that learning the crowd stimulates the creation of value in the Crowdsourcing platforms. Thus, our work is mainly organized around the design and development of a tool for learning the crowd in Crowdsourcing platforms. This work is complex and involves both a research work and practical engineering. That is why we choose an exploratory qualitative constructivist approach and an ingénierique research method to define and develop a suitable approach of learning adapted to the Crowdsourcing platforms and implement it thereafter within our test Crowdsourcing platform specializes in Backlinking. Experiments based on semi-structured interviews will, confirm or deny our hypotheses.

This essay examines Jonathan Safran Foer’s Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close through an application of a theoretical framework of trauma studies, aiming to showcase the elements of personal trauma displayed in the novel. Moreover, it wishes to discern the mental and physical sufferings and working through of the trauma through a thematic analysis aimed at the concepts of loss, vicarious trauma and isolation. The study’s results indicate that trauma is inexplicably linked to the individual, demonstrating that prior trauma has a substantial impact on how one deals with more recent trauma. They also suggest that it is impossible to distinguish between first-hand trauma and second-hand trauma, instead focusing on the term vicarious trauma to describe the elements of personal trauma in a better way. Although Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close is a work of fiction, this essay argues that it is valid in its portraying of trauma as it showcases the complex nature of trauma and its different aspects. In terms of the pedagogical implications of trauma, the essay suggests ways in which one can utilize and address fictional works in the Swedish EFL classroom supported by suggestions articulated by the Swedish National Agency for Education. It is done by raising students’ awareness for the elements of personal trauma, while at the same time improving their all-round communicative skills enabling them to discuss these issues at length.

Mental health professionals in all settings work with clients who are affected by trauma. Traumatic events expose mental health professionals to the negative psychological and emotional impact of witnessing and listening to client stories. Vicarious trauma is the emotional consequence of this empathic engagement with clients. The purpose of this correlational study was to identify predictors of vicarious trauma in mental health professionals that had not been studied before. The theoretical framework guiding the study was the Bowen family systems theory and the construct of differentiation of self. A regression analysis was conducted with a purposive sample of 83 licensed or certified mental health professionals from community counseling agencies in the Midwest. Five research questions were evaluated using multiple regression analysis and determined that subcomponents of differentiation of self (i.e., emotional reactivity, I position, emotional cutoff, and fusion with others) predicted vicarious trauma. An additional regression analysis showed that vicarious trauma was best predicted by 2 subcomponents of differentiation of self; emotional reactivity was the most significant predictor followed by I position. By identifying characteristics in mental health professionals that predict vicarious trauma, counselor educators and supervisors can better educate, train, develop programs, and advocate for the emotional welfare of mental health professionals in the field.

The aim of this study is to investigate and analyze the potential effects on a number of social workers that may arise from listening to stories of domestic violence, and how these social workers deal with the potential effects. The study is based on qualitative interviews with seven social workers that work with domestic violence. The theoretical perspective that we used was the theory of coping. The results of this study have indicated that the respondents have been affected of listening to the stories of domestic violence. Examples of different impacts that the work has had on some of the social workers is that they avoid movies and/or books with elements of violence, they are more aware of the domestic violence in the surroundings and there has also been changes in their cognitive schemas. The respondents have also developed coping strategies such as feelings to cope with a situation and collegial support. Another significant coping strategy is the organizational aspects such as professional tutoring, a balance in the workload and additional education. The aforementioned results and the results from previous studies are comparable, and we have been able to identify some similarities, which could indicate vicarious traumatization.

Autorius pastebi, kad viena mažiausiai reglamentuotų deliktinės atsakomybės problemų, skyrium gyvenančio tėvo atsakomybės už nepilnamečio vaiko padarytą žalą problema. Būtent šis atvejis teisės aktuose reglamentuojamas mažai, jo taikymas problemiškas, kadangi bet koks sprendimas neišvengiamai gali būti pamatinių teisinės atsakomybės normų pažeidimu. Darbo tyrimui autorius iškelia šį tikslą ir uždavinius: Darbo objektas – skyrium gyvenančio ir neauginančio vaiko tėvo teisinės atsakomybės ribos. Hipotezė: Skyrium gyvenantis ir neauginantis vaiko tėvas neprivalo atsakyti už vaiko padarytą žalą.. Darbo tikslas- išanalizuoti skyrium gyvenančio ir vaiko neauginančio tėvo atsakomybės ribas. Uždaviniai: a)Išanalizuoti teisines doktrinas, reglamentuojančias tėvų atsakomybės ypatumus bendrosios teisės ir civilinės teisės sistemų valstybėse. b)Aptarti tėvo pareigą atlyginti vaiko padarytą žalą esant tėvo ir vaiko atskyrimo, tėvų valdžios apribojimo ir separacijos atvejams . c) Išanalizuoti teisės aktų nuostatas ,įtakojančias skyrium gyvenančio tėvo atsakomybę už nepilnamečio veiksmus. Aptardamas šią problemą, autorius analizuoja situaciją kitose šalyse .Bandoma nustatyti bendruosius dėsningumus bendrosios bei kontinentinės teisės sistemų valstybėse. Pastebima, kad bendrosios teisės sistemos valstybėse vienareikšmiškai galioja asmeninės atsakomybės principas. Tai yra tėvas kaltas tiek kiek jie tiesiogiai nusižengė ar prisidėjo prie to, kad žala būtų padaryta. Kontinentinės teisės... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / Parental liability is one of the most problematical aspects of tort liability cases. In most lows in the world is written that both parents are liable for the damages made by their child. There is no information about individual liability of child’s father or mother. Especially this problem becomes important then parents live separately. Then we have a question is child’s father who does not live together with his child liable for the torts and minors made by his child. This problem becomes complicated when father did all he could to help his child to act legally. But on the other hand, if we presume that according these circumstances father is not liable, we can breach victims’ rights. Main rule of civil liability is damages compensation for the victim. This dilemma is important in our days because there is big number of juvenile crimes. Civil liability for juvenile crimes is taken by parents or institution which supervises the juvenile at the time when tort is made. Under these circumstances we need stronger regulation of subjects liability limits. The object of the work is liability limits of father who lives separately and does not take care about this child for the torts made by his child. Hypothesis: Father who lives separately and does not take care about this child is liable for the torts made by his child. Purpose of the work is to analyze the limits of liability of the father who lives separately and does not take care about his child. The following tasks are... [to full text]

Modern juristic persons often are powerful entities and they play an influential role in society. Their activities are often accompanied by serious transgressions that have a severely detrimental impact on human beings and their environment. The effective prosecution of juristic persons is therefore necessary. The juridical foundations of the liability of juristic persons are, however, one of the most controversial issues in criminal law theory. Individualistic theories postulate that juristic persons are merely collections of individuals. The conduct and fault of individuals constituting a juristic person must therefore form the basis of the criminal liability of the juristic person. In the United States, for instance, the foundation for the criminal liability of corporations on federal level is vicarious liability. Another individualistic model (mostly associated with English common law jurisdictions) is the so–called doctrine of identification. Only the conduct of individuals who are regarded as the 'directing minds' of the organisation may be attributed to the organisation. These approaches deny the complex structures and decision making processes that exist especially in big corporate entities. According to realistic theories juristic persons are entities which are not dependant on their composite members. Each juristic person has its own unique personality. The culture and ethos of a juristic person influence the conduct of individuals attached to it as well as the degree in which the juristic person abides by the law. The identity of a corporation can be established by investigating the internal structure thereof. The existence of monitoring mechanisms and educational programmes within the organization, as well as the degree to which the organisation condones or disapproves of unlawful conduct, are some of the factors which may be indicative of the corporate culture. This approach is a development of the late twentieth century and has recently been adopted in the legislation of some foreign legal systems, most notably Australia. Section 332(1) of the Criminal Procedure Act 51 of 1977 provides the basis for the criminal liability of juristic persons in South Africa. In essence the conduct and fault of functionaries (and sometimes even outsiders) are attributed to the juristic person. In terms of the provisions of the Criminal Procedure Act juristic persons may only be fined upon conviction. This approach reflects the individualistic view of corporate criminal liability. In this study recommendations are made for the purpose of improving the South African law in this regard so as to reflect a more realistic approach. The recommendations are based on an examination of realistic models proposed by legal and social theorists and legislation adopted by foreign countries which are based on these theories. It is also recommended that more sentencing options must be made available to bring about the restructuring of corporations which have committed crimes. / Thesis (LL.D.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2010.