Analyses of experiences of vicarious traumatisation in short-term insurance claims workers

[摘要] The research entailed a comprehensive study of vicarious trauma in short-term insurance claimsworkers, compared to trauma counsellors and a control group of holiday booking consultants. Awell-known, comprehensive model of compassion fatigue/secondary traumatic stress, developed fortherapists formed the basis of the study. The research attempted to determine whether this modelcan be applied more widely to include administrative populations exposed to traumatised clients ona regular basis. To this end, the model was deconstructed into its eleven constituent parts and eachelement was investigated in addition to other variables of interest to the study. This was done todetermine the importance and applicability of each model element and other selected variables tothe administrative context.A mixed methods approach was utilised, which combined quantitative and qualitative data. Theresults yielded by the study were collectively utilised to construct an etic and an emic voice fromthe research. At the same time, effects from vicarious trauma were considered from an overarchingbio-psychosocial stance, systematically gauging effects on various levels of functioning. Scoresfrom quantitative measures on secondary traumatic stress, negative cognitive schemas, empathy,social support and compassion satisfaction were statistically analysed, which revealed significantdifferences between the worker groups. Widely accepted relationships between the study variableswere tested and found to hold true within and across groups. Regression analysis determined theroles of empathy, social support and compassion satisfaction in vicarious trauma, as measured bysecondary traumatic stress and negative cognitive schemas. In addition, constructivist selfdevelopmenttheory was employed to interpret the negative cognitive effects from vicarioustraumatisation.Qualitative data were utilised to further elucidate the role and nature of vicarious trauma in each ofthe worker groups. The themes of exposure to client suffering, detachment, level of empathicengagement, personal trauma history and difficult life demands were unearthed from the qualitativedata, which illuminated the importance and role of each of these elements to claims workers. Otherareas of interest, being utilisation of sick-leave as a means to cope, work-related illness, attitudestowards professional counselling, feelings evoked by traumatised clients, and the language utilisedby workers in response to client traumata were investigated. Further effects on participants as wellivas effects that reach beyond the person were identified and examined. Effects on the social andwork contexts were also elucidated.Finally, interesting themes that emerged spontaneously from the data were considered. Theconsideration of the various model elements and other areas of interest systematically revealed thatadministrative workers dealing with traumatised clients are also affected by the process of vicarioustrauma. Furthermore, the model was found to be largely suitable to the context of claims workers.However, the model was expanded to augment its usability within the more general administrativedomain. Finally, the overarching aim was to enrich, contextualise and elaborate on the experiencesof claims workers within their unique work context, to facilitate insight and a deeper understandingof vicarious trauma in more administrative populations that have largely been overlooked inresearch.

[发布机构] University of the Witwatersrand