Caring for those who care – aid worker safety and security as a source of stress and distress: A case for psychological support?

Workplace Violence: Issues, Trends, Strategies

Volumn , Issue , 2012, Pages 121-140

  Thomas, Ros ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF GENEVA   (Switzerland)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 84920840953     PISSN: None     EISSN: None     Source Type: Book    
DOI: 10.4324/9781843926924     Document Type: Chapter

References (68)

1. AFR/851 IHA/874 (2004) 'UN Condemns Deliberate and Concerted Attack on Aid Workers in Southern Sudan.' Press Release Nairobi/Khartoum (OCHA) 27 February http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2004/afr851.doc.htm (accessed 3 June 2004)
2. Ahearn, F. (ed.) (2000) Psychosocial Wellness of Refugees: Issues in Qualitative and Quantitative Research, London: Berghahn Books
3. Aita, J. (2003) UN security council focuses on protecting aid workers (resolution calls attacks on workers 'war crimes') (920). US Department of State. International Information Programs http://usinfo.org/wf-archive/2003/030827/epf307. htm. 26 August 2003 (accessed on 5 September 2003)
4. Ajdukovic, D. And Ajdukovic, M. (eds) (2000) Mental Health Care of Helpers, Zagreb, Croatia: Society for Psychological Assistance
5. American Psychiatric Association (APA) (1994) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders: DSM-IV, Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association
6. Antonovsky, A. (1987) Unravelling the Mystery of Health: How People Manage Stress and Stay Well, San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass
7. Antonovsky, A. (1993) 'The structure and properties of the sense of coherence scale,' Social Science and Medicine, 36, 6: 725-33
8. Barron, R.A. (1999) 'Psychological trauma and relief workers,' in J. Leaning (ed.) Humanitarian Crises: The Medical and Public Health Responses (pp. 143-75). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press
9. Bergman, C. (2003) Another Day in Paradise: Front Line Stories from International Aid Workers, London: Earthscan
10. Bertini, C. (2002) Security of UN Humanitarian and Associated Personnel. http://gos.sbc.edu/b/bertini.html. 9 February 2002
11. Britt, T.W. (2000) 'The stigma of psychological problems in the work environment: evidence from the screening of service members returning from Bosnia,' Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 30, 8: 1599-1618
12. Britt, T.W. And Adler, A.B. (1999) 'Stress and health during medical humanitarian assistance missions,' Military Medicine, 164 (4), April: 275-9
13. Cardozo, B.L. And Salama, P. (2002) 'Mental health of humanitarian aid workers in complex emergencies,' in Y. Danieli (ed.) Sharing the Front Line and the Backhills: Peacekeepers, humanitarian aid workers and the media in the midst of crisis. Amityville, NY: Baywood Publishing Company, Inc
14. Collett-White, M. (2004) Gunmen kill two Afghans from German aid group. Reuters Foundation AlertNet http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/SP156340.htm (accessed 10 July 2004)
15. Danieli, Y. (ed.) (2002) Sharing the Front Line and the Back Hills. International Protectors and Providers: Peacekeepers, Humanitarian Aid Workers and the Media in the Midst of Crisis, Amityville, NY: Baywood Publishing Company, Inc
16. Dind, P. (1999) 'Security in ICRC field operations,' Forced Migration Review, 4, April: 13-15
17. Ditzler, T. (2001) 'Mental health and aid workers: the case for collaborative questioning,' The Journal of Humanitarian Assistance, 7 January. http://www. jha.ac/articles/a063.htm (accessed on 12 December 2002)
18. Dunant, H. (1986) A Memory of Solferino, Geneva: International Committee of the Red Cross
19. Ehrenreich, J. (2001) Coping with Disaster: A Guidebook to Psychosocial Intervention, Center for Psychology and Society. http://www.mhwwb.org/disasters.htm (accessed 6 June 2002)
20. Ehrenreich, J. And Elliot, T. (2004) 'Managing stress in humanitarian aid workers: a survey of humanitarian aid agencies'psychosocial training and support of staff. Peace and Conflict,' Journal of Peace Psychology, 10, 1: 53-66
21. Fawcett, J. (2000) 'Managing staff stress and trauma,' in M.Janz and J. Slead (eds) Complex Humanitarian Emergencies: Lessons for Practitioners. Monrovia, CA: World Vision, pp. 92-125
22. Fawcett, J. (2002) 'Preventing broken hearts, healing broken minds,' in Y. Danieli (ed.) Sharing the Front Line and the Back Hills: International protectors and providers: peacekeepers, humanitarian aid workers and the media in the midst of crisis. Amityville, NY: Baywood Publishing Company, Inc, pp. 223-32
23. Feinstein, A., Owen, J. And Blair, N. (2002) 'A hazardous profession: war, journalists and psychopathology,' American Journal of Psychiatry, 159, 9: 1570-75
24. Figley, C.R. (ed.) (1995) Compassion Fatigue. Coping with Secondary Traumatic Stress Disorder in Those Who Treat the Traumatized. Florence, KY: Brunner/Mazel
25. Fullerton, C.S. And Ursano, R.J. (eds) (1997) Posttraumatic stress disorder: acute and long-term responses to trauma and disaster. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Press
26. Gal, R. (1998) 'Colleagues in distress,' International Review of Psychiatry, 10, 3: 234-8
27. Gist, R. And Devilly, G.J. (2002) 'Post-trauma debriefing: the road too frequently travelled,' The Lancet, 530, 9335: 741
28. Hartman, J. (1997) 'The manager's role in promoting recovery from workplace trauma,' Joint National Conference of Australian Society for Traumatic Stress Studies (ASTSS), Australian Critical Incident Stress Association (ACISA), and National Association for Loss and Grief (NALAG), Australia
29. Hazan, P. And Berger, J.-F. (2004) Humanitarian Action. From risk to real danger. International Committee of the Red Cross. http://www.redcross.int/EN/mag/magazine2004_1/4-9.html (accessed 1 November 2004)
30. Helton, A.C. (1997) Protecting Aid Workers: Prospects and Challenges. The Forced Migration Projects. Special Report, Open Society Institute, September
31. Herman, J.L. (1992) Trauma and Recovery. New York: Basic Books
32. Hoge, W. (2004) 'UN aid chief takes on the world's troubles,' International Herald Tribune, 10-11 July
33. Humanitarian Affairs Review (2001) 'Aid workers can protect themselves,' ReliefWeb. http://www.reliefweb.int/w/rwb.nsf/0/09c02d7bff64943ac1256a7800574629?Open (accessed 26 June 2001)
34. ICRC (1983) Basic Rules of the Geneva Conventions and Their Additional Protocols, International Committee of the Red Cross, Geneva, September
35. ICRC (1999) Staying Alive. Safety and Security Guidelines for Humanitarian Volunteers in Conflict Areas, International Committee of the Red Cross, Geneva
36. ICRC (2001) Humanitarian action and armed conflict. Coping with stress, July 1-28
37. IRC (2000) Security Management Plan Workbook, International Rescue Committee, 1 October
38. Janoff-Bulman (1985) 'The aftermath of victimization: Rebuilding shattered assumptions,' in C.R. Figley (ed.) Trauma and Its Wake. New York: Brunner/Mazel
39. Jensen, S.B. (1999) Taking Care of the Caretakers Under War Conditions. Who Cares? European University Centre for Mental Health and Human Rights
40. Kahill, S. (1988) 'Interventions for burnout in the helping professions: A review of the empirical evidence,' Canadian Journal of Counseling Review, 22: 310-42
41. Martin, R. (1999) 'NGO Field Security,' Forced Migration Review, 4: 4-7
42. Maslach, C. (1979) 'Burnout: The loss of human caring,' in A. Pines and C. Maslach (eds) Experiencing Social Psychology. New York: Random House
43. McCreesh, M. (2003) Re-Entry Syndrome. 6 August. Aid Workers Network. Aid Workers Exchange. http://www.aidworkers.net/exchange/20030806.html (accessed 6 August 2003)
44. McFarlane, C.A. (2004) 'Adjustment and risks of humanitarian aid workers,' Australasian Journal of Disaster and Trauma Studies. http://www.massey.ac.nz/~trauma/issues/2004-1/mcfarlane.htm (accessed 12 December 2004)
45. Médecins sans Frontières (2002) MSF Charter. http://www. doctorswithoutborders.org/about/charter.shtml (accessed 2 December 2002)
46. Médecins sans Frontières (2004) 'MSF pulls out of Afghanistan,' MSF Press Release. http://www.msf.org/countries/page.cfm?articleid=8851DF09-F62D-47D4-A8D3EB1E876A1E0D (accessed 28 July 2004)
47. Mitchell, J.T. And Everly, G.S. (2000) 'Critical incident stress management and critical incident stress debriefing: evolutions, effects and outcomes,' in B. Raphael and J.P. Wilson (eds) Psychological Debriefing. Theory, practice and evidence. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 71-90
48. Oxfam (2002) Preparation and support of staff working on conflict areas: Guidance for managers (ed. Oxfam). Oxfam, UK, 9 pages
49. Pearlman, L. (1999) 'Self-care for trauma therapists: ameliorating vicarious traumatization,' in B.H. Stamm (ed.) Secondary Traumatic Stress. Self-Care Issues for Clinicians, Researchers, and Educators. Baltimore: Sidran Press
50. Peel, Q. (2004) 'Keeping Humanitarian Aid Neutral,' Financial Times http://news. ft.com/cms/s/9708fdac-e67c-11d8-9bd8-00000e2511c8.htm (accessed 5 August 2004)
51. Potter, J. (2004) 'Securing the safety of aid staff,' OneWorld Network, 5 April. http://www.oneworld.net/article/view/75669/1/(accessed 5 April 2004)
52. Raphael, B. And Wilson, J.P. (eds) (2000) Psychological Debriefing. Theory, practice and evidence. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
53. Rose, S. And Bisson, J. (1998) 'Brief early psychological interventions following trauma: A systematic review of the literature,' Journal of Traumatic Stress, 11 (4): 697-710
54. Salama, P. (2000) The Psychological Health of Relief Workers: Some Practical Suggestions. Concern Worldwide, Dublin, Ireland www.reliefweb.int/library/documents/psycho.htm (accessed 20 May 2002)
55. Shay, J. (1994) Achilles in Vietnam. Combat Trauma and the Undoing of Character. New York: Atheneum.
56. Sheik, M., Gutierrez, M.I., Bolton, P., Spiegel, P., Thieren, M. And Burnham, G. (2000) 'Death among humanitarian workers,' British Medical Journal, 321: 166-68
57. Slim, H. (1995) 'The continuing metamorphosis of the humanitarian practitioner: some new colours for an endangered chameleon,' Disasters, 19 (2): 110-26
58. Slim, H. (1997) 'Doing the right thing. Relief agencies, moral responsibility in political emergencies and war,' Nordiska Afrikainstitutet. Studies on Emergencies and Disaster Relief. No. 6.
59. Slim, H. (2002) 'Claiming the humanitarian imperative: NGO's and the cultivation of humanitarian duty,' Refugee Survey Quarterly, 21 (3): 113-25
60. Straker, G. And Moosa, F. (1994) 'Interacting with trauma survivors in contexts of continuing trauma,' Journal of Traumatic Stress, 7 (3): 457-65
61. The Lancet (1999) 'Thought for safety of aid workers in dangerous places,' The Lancet. Editorial, 354 (9179): 609
62. UNHCR (1998) UNHCR and WFP condemn murder of aid workers in Afghanistan. 20 July, Geneva, 1 page
63. UNSECOORD (2003) UNSECOORD ReliefWeb. http://www.reliefweb.int/appeals/2003/briefingkits/UNSECOORD.pdf (accessed 12 July 2004)
64. Van Brabant, K. (2001) Mainstreaming the Organisational Management of Safety and Security. A review of aid agencies' practices and a guide for management. www.odi. org.uk/hpg (accessed 10 August 2004)
65. van der Kolk, B., van der Hart, O. And Burbridge, J. (1995) Approaches to the Treatment of PTSD, Trauma Clinic Harvard Medical School. http://www.trauma-pages. com/vanderk.htm (accessed 20 March 2003)
66. Vaux, T. (2002) The selfish altruist; relief work in famine or war. London: Earthscan
67. WHO/EHA/98.3 (1998) Consultative Meeting on the Management and Support of Relief Workers (ed, The Division of Emergency and Humanitarian Action WHO UN Joint Medical Services International Centre for Migration and Health), Geneva, 8-9 July
68. Zimering, R., Munroe, J. And Bird Gulliver, S. (2003) 'Secondary traumatization in mental health care providers,' Psychiatric Times. http://www.psychiatrictimes. com/p030443.html (accessed 12 November 2003)