A Qualitative Exploration of Researcher Trauma and Researchers' Responses to Investigating Sexual Violence

Violence Against Women

Volumn 20, Issue 1, 2014, Pages 95-117

  Coles, Jan ^a   Astbury, Jill ^b   Dartnall, Elizabeth ^c   Limjerwala, Shazneen ^d  

^a MONASH UNIVERSITY   (Australia)

^b VICTORIA UNIVERSITY   (Australia)

^c SOUTH AFRICAN MEDICAL RESEARCH COUNCIL   (South Africa)

^d TATA INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL SCIENCES   (India)

Author keywords

research; secondary traumatic stress; sexual violence; vicarious trauma

Indexed keywords

ADAPTIVE BEHAVIOR; ARTICLE; FEMALE; HUMAN; MALE; MENTAL STRESS; PERSONNEL; POSTTRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER; PSYCHOLOGICAL ASPECT; QUALITATIVE RESEARCH; RESEARCH; SECONDARY TRAUMATIC STRESS; SEXUAL CRIME; SEXUAL VIOLENCE; SOCIAL SUPPORT; VICARIOUS TRAUMA;

RESEARCH; SECONDARY TRAUMATIC STRESS; SEXUAL VIOLENCE; VICARIOUS TRAUMA;

ADAPTATION, PSYCHOLOGICAL; FEMALE; HUMANS; MALE; QUALITATIVE RESEARCH; RESEARCH PERSONNEL; SEX OFFENSES; SOCIAL SUPPORT; STRESS DISORDERS, TRAUMATIC; STRESS, PSYCHOLOGICAL;

EID: 84894571712     PISSN: 10778012     EISSN: 15528448     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1177/1077801213520578     Document Type: Article

References (65)

1. India: Submission to the Human Rights Committee concerning implementation of articles of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. London, England: Amnesty International; 1997:.
2. Baird S.,Jenkins S.Vicarious trauma, secondary traumatic stress, and burnout in sexual assault and domestic violence agency staff.Violence and Victims. 2003;18:71-86.
3. Bloor M.,Fincham B.,Sampson H.Unprepared for the worst: Risks of harm for qualitative researchers.Methodological Innovations Online. 2010;5 (1): 45-55.
4. Bober T.,Regehr C.Strategies for reducing secondary or vicarious trauma: Do they work?.Brief Treatment and Crisis Intervention. 2006;6:1-9.
5. Bober T.,Regehr C.,Zhou Y.Development of the Coping Strategies Inventory for trauma counselors.Journal of Loss & Trauma. 2006;11:71-83.
6. Boyatzis R.Transforming qualitative information: Thematic analysis and code development. London, England: Sage; 1998:.
7. Campbell R.Emotionally involved. London, England: Routledge; 2002:.
8. Chaitin J."I wish he hadn't told me that": Methodological and ethical issues in social trauma and conflict research.Qualitative Health Research. 2003;13:1145-1154.
9. Claramunt M.Helping ourselves to help others: Self-care guide for those who work in the field of family violence. San Jose, Costa Rica: Pan-American Health Organization; 1999:.
10. Coles J.Doing retrospective child sexual abuse research safely and ethically with women: Is it possible?.Monash Bioethics Review. 2004;23:50-55.
11. Coles J.,Dartnall E.,Limjerwala S.,Astbury J.Researcher trauma, safety and sexual violence research. Pretoria, South Africa: Sexual Violence Research Forum; 2010:.
12. Coles J.,Mudaly N.Staying safe: Strategies for qualitative child abuse researchers.Child Abuse Review. 2010;19:56-69.
13. Collis V.Report on the international consultation on women human rights defenders. Colombo, Sri Lanka: Women Human Rights Defenders' International Coordinating Committee; 2005:.
14. Connolly K.,Reilly R.Emergent issues when researching trauma: A confessional tale.Qualitative Inquiry. 2007;13:522-540.
15. Devilly G.,Wright R.,Varker T.Vicarious trauma, secondary traumatic stress or simply burnout? Effect of trauma therapy on mental health professionals.Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry. 2009;43:373-385.
16. Dickson-Swift V.,James E.,Kippen S.,Liamputtong P.Researching sensitive topics: Qualitative research as emotional work.Qualitative Research. 2009;9:61-79.
17. Dickson-Swift V.,James E.,Liamputtong P.Undertaking sensitive research in the health and social sciences: Managing boundaries, emotions and risks. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press; 2008:.
18. Drakulic S.Women and peace. Davies M., ed. London, England: Zed; 1994:176-181.
19. Ellsberg M.,Heise L.Researching violence against women: A practical guide for researchers and activists. Washington, DC: World Health Organization; 2005:.
20. Etherington K.Becoming a reflexive researcher: Using ourselves in research. London, England: Jessica Kingsley Publishers; 2004:.
21. Etherington K.Working with traumatic stories: From transcriber to witness.International Journal of Social Research Methodology. 2007;10:85-97.
22. Figley C.,Kleber R.Compassion fatigue: Coping with secondary stress in those who treat the traumatized. Figley C., ed. New York: Brunner Mazel; 1995:75-98.
23. Fincham B.,Scourfield J.,Langer S.The impact of working with disturbing secondary data: Reading source files in a coroner's office.Qualitative Health Research. 2008;18:853-862.
24. Fontes L.Ethics in violence against women research: The sensitive, the dangerous and the overlooked.Ethics & Behavior. 2004;14:141-174.
25. Ford N.,Mills E.,Zachariah R.,Upshur R.Ethics of conducting research in conflict settings.Conflict and Health. 2009;3:7 1-12.
26. Garcia-Moreno C.,Watts C.Doing retrospective child sexual abuse research safely and ethically with women: Is it possible?.Monash Bioethics Review. 2004;23:56-59.
27. Ghahramanlou M.,Brodbeck C.Predictors of secondary trauma in sexual assault counselors.International Journal of Emergency Mental Health. 2000;2:229-240.
28. Gilbert K.The emotional nature of qualitative research. Gilbert K., ed. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press; 2001a:147-161.
29. Gilbert K.The emotional nature of qualitative research. Gilbert K., ed. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press; 2001b:3-15.
30. Gingerich T.,Leaning J.The use of rape as a weapon of war in the conflict in Darfur, Sudan. Cambridge, MA: U.S. Agency for International Development/OTI under the auspices of Harvard School of Public Health and the Francois-Xavier Bagnoud Center for Health and Human Rights; 2004:.
31. Characterizing sexual violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Cambridge, MA: Harvard School of Public Health; 2009:.
32. Hassed C.,de Lisle S.,Sullivan G.,Pier C.Enhancing the health of medical students: Outcomes of an integrated mindfulness and lifestyle program.Advances in Health Science Education. 2009;14:387-398.
33. Hearn J.,Anderson K.,Cowburn M.Background paper on guidelines for researchers doing research with perpetrators of sexual violence. Pretoria, South Africa: Sexual Violence Research Initiative; 2007:.
34. Hearn J.,Raws P.,Barford R.Researching men and researching men's violences: Violence, abuse and gender relations research. Hearn J., ed. Bradford, UK: University of Bradford; 1993:33-55.
35. Hesse A.Secondary trauma: How working with trauma survivors affects therapists.Clinical Social Work Journal. 2002;30:293-309.
36. Framework guidelines for addressing workplace violence in the health sector. Geneva, Switzerland: International Labour Office; 2002:.
37. Krasner M.,Epstein R.,Beckman H.,Suchman A.,Chapman B.,Mooney C.,Quill T.Association of an education program on mindful communication with burnout, empathy and attitudes among primary care physicians.Journal of the American Medical Association. 2009;302:1284-1293.
38. World report on violence and health. Krug E.Dahlberg L.Mercy J.Zwi A.Lozano R., ed. Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization; 2002:.
39. Lee R.Dangerous fieldwork. London, England: Sage; 1995:.
40. Leserman J.Sexual abuse history: Prevalence, health effects, mediators and psychological treatment.Psychosomatic Medicine. 2005;67:906-915.
41. Liamputtong P.Researching the vulnerable. London, England: Sage; 2007:.
42. Liamputtong P.Qualitative research methods. 2009). Qualitative research methods (3rd ed.). South Melbourne, Victoria, Australia: Oxford University Press.South Melbourne, Victoria, Australia: Oxford University Press; 2009:.
43. Liamputtong P.,Ezzy D.Qualitative research methods. 2005). Qualitative research methods (2nd ed.). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press; 2005:.
44. McCann I.,Pearlman L.Vicarious traumatization.Journal of Traumatic Stress. 1990;3:131-149.
45. Miles M.,Huberman A.Qualitative data analysis. London, England: Sage; 1994:.
46. Minichello V.,Aroni R.,Timewell E.,Alexander L.In-depth interviewing. Sydney, New South Wales, Australia: Longman; 1995:.
47. Morrison Z.Feeling heavy: Vicarious trauma and other issues facing those who work in the sexual assault field. Melbourne, Victoria: Australian Institute for Family Studies; 2007:.
48. Pearlman L.Saakvitne K., ed. New York: W. W. Norton; 1995:.
49. Researching sensitive topics. Renzetti C.Lee R., ed. London, England: Sage; 2008 1993:.
50. Schauben L.,Frazier P.Vicarious trauma: The effects on female counselors of working with sexual violence survivors.Psychology of Women Quarterly. 1995;19:49-64.
51. Sexual Violence Research Initiative. (2006). About Us: Sexual Violence Research Initiative. Retrieved from http://www.svri.org/about.htm#SVRI.
52. Sexual Violence Research Initiative. (2010). Taking care of ourselves: A workshop for sexual violence researchers. Pretoria, South Africa: Sexual Violence Research Initiative, Medical Research Council. Retrieved from http://www.svri.org/takingcare.pdf.
53. Slattery S.,Goodman L.Secondary traumatic stress among domestic violence advocates: Workplace risk and protective factors.Violence Against Women. 2009;15:1358-1379.
54. Smith A.,Kleijn W.,Trijsburg R.,Hutschemaekers G.How therapists cope with clients' traumatic experiences.Torture. 2007;17:203-215.
55. A code of practice for the safety of social researchers. London, England: Social Science Research Association; 2006:.
56. Stoler L.Researching childhood sexual abuse: Anticipating effects on the researcher.Feminism & Psychology. 2002;12:269-274.
57. Strauss A.,Corbin J.Basics of qualitative research: Techniques and procedures for developing grounded theory. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage; 1998:.
58. Ullman S.,Townsend S.Barriers to working with sexual assault survivors: A qualitative study of rape crisis center workers.Violence Against Women. 2007;13:412-443.
59. VanDeusen K.,Way I.Vicarious trauma: An exploratory study of the impact of sexual abuse treatment on clinician's trust and intimacy.Journal of Child Sexual Abuse. 2006;15:69-85.
60. Wasco S.,Campbell R.Emotional reactions of rape victim advocates: A multiple case study of anger and fear.Psychology of Women Quarterly. 2002;26:120-130.
61. Wasco S.,Campbell R.,Clark M.A multiple case study of rape victim advocates' self-care routines: The influence of organizational contexts.American Journal of Community Psychology. 2002;30:731-760.
62. Watts C.,Heise L.,Ellsberg M.,Garcia-Moreno C.Putting women first: Ethical and safety recommendations for research on domestic violence against women. Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization; 1999:.
63. Way I.,VanDeusen K.,Martin G.,Applegate B.,Jandle D.Vicarious trauma: A comparison of clinicians who treat survivors of sexual abuse and sexual offenders.Journal of Interpersonal Violence. 2004;19:49-71.
64. Woodby L.,Williams B.,Wittich A.,Burgio K.Expanding the notion of researcher distress: The cumulative effects of coding.Qualitative Health Research. 2011;21:830-838.
65. Wray N.,Markovic M.,Manderson L."Researcher saturation": The impact of data triangulation and intensive research practices on the researcher and qualitative research process.Qualitative Health Research. 2007;17:1392-1402.