Vicarious Victimization and Related Forms of Secondary Traumatization

Does Where You Work and What You Do Matter? Testing the Role of Organizational Context and Job Type for Future Study of Occupation-Based Secondary Trauma Intervention Development

“…This study builds on prior work on OBST (for reviews, see: Adams et al, 2017; Bercier & Maynard, 2015; Bride et al, 2007; Baum, 2016; Elwood et al, 2011; Gomez-Urquiza et al, 2016; Knight et al, 2018; Maslach et al, 2016; Molnar et al, 2017; Newell et al, 2016; Sabin-Farrell & Turpin, 2003) by analyzing survey data collected from a variety of victim service providers and organizations as part of a multiphase CBPR project. We examined the role of organizational context and job type on OBST-related outcomes while controlling for important confounds.…”

“…To what extent do differences in organizational context (e.g., criminal justice, community based, and healthcare) and job type (e.g., police officers, social workers, and healthcare providers) impact occupation-based secondary trauma (OBST) and related correlates? The general literature on secondary trauma has theorized the process through which working with traumatized victims leads to secondary trauma (e.g., Ellis & Knight, 2021; Figley, 1999; McCann & Pearlman, 1990), documented the subsequent individual and organizational toll (Baum, 2016; Cieslak et al, 2014; Hensel et al, 2015; Knight et al, 2018; Wood et al, 2019), and begun to offer solutions (Bober & Regehr, 2006; Clements et al, 2018; Sansbury et al, 2015; Vilardaga et al, 2011). For instance, Ellis and Knight (2021) developed a theoretical model of secondary trauma that shows the links among (a) primary trauma, (b) victim service provision, (c) repeated empathetic engagement with victims, and (d) damage to the perception of self in the form of unreliable self-agency, untrustworthy coherence of others, desensitized self-affectivity, and fractured self-history.…”

“…For instance, Ellis and Knight (2021) developed a theoretical model of secondary trauma that shows the links among (a) primary trauma, (b) victim service provision, (c) repeated empathetic engagement with victims, and (d) damage to the perception of self in the form of unreliable self-agency, untrustworthy coherence of others, desensitized self-affectivity, and fractured self-history. In terms of individual and organizational toll, Knight et al (2018) found in their review of the literature (which includes several other systematic literature reviews) that being a woman, having a history of trauma, and the number of hours worked were some of the most predominant risk factors. Following extensive research, Clements et al (2018) offered solutions to begin reducing secondary trauma, which is organized into three domains: (a) building awareness by learning to better understand the different forms of trauma, recognizing its consequences, and weighing risk factors against resilience; (b) practicing self-care by focusing on ongoing assessment of symptoms and cultivating body-based mindfulness practices; and (c) creating an organizational response by implementing trauma-informed practices in workplaces and improving social support among workers.…”

“…Overall, however, this body of research tends to focus on only one kind of professional (e.g., police officers or social workers), thus not accounting for how OBST and related correlates vary across different types of professions and organizations. Attending to this gap in research has important implications for the study and prevention of OBST (Bercier & Maynard, 2015), which is defined here simply as a form of trauma that results from repeated empathetic engagement with populations who experience primary trauma (Knight et al, 2018). If there are important differences in OBST across organizational contexts and job types, then careful attention to their role in the development, study, and implementation of interventions is needed.…”

Developing a Response to Secondary Trauma for American Indian and Rural Service Providers

“…A growing body of research has begun to theorize the process through which victim service provision leads to secondary trauma Newell et al, 2016) and document the consequent mental and physical health issues among providers (Baum, 2016;Elwood et al, 2011;Knight et al, 2018;Sabin-Farrell & Turpin, 2003), as well as problems that can result in the workplace -including low morale and job satisfaction, high turnover, poor leadership, increased operating costs, and poor service provision (Faller et al, 2010;Merchant & Whiting, 2015;Mor Barak et al, 2001;Powell & York, 1992;Ullman & Townsend, 2007;Wood et al, 2019). A related body of literature is attempting to offer solutions (Bober & Regehr, 2006;Sansbury et al, 2015;Vilardage et al, 2011), but methodologically rigorous interventions are virtually nonexistent (Bercier & Maynard, 2015).…”