Citation

Craun SW, Bourke M. J. Child Sex. Abus. 2014; 23(7): 840-852.

Affiliation

a United States Marshals Service.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2014, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/10538712.2014.949395

PMID

25085244

Abstract

Professionals in the area of sexual violence often use humor, both light-hearted and gallows humor, in an attempt to counteract the effects of the work on their well-being. There is little research, however, on whether the use of humor is effective in reducing symptoms of secondary traumatic stress (STS). In the current study, more than 500 Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) task force personnel were surveyed about their level of secondary traumatic stress and the coping techniques utilized to mitigate work-related stressors. The use of gallows and light-hearted humor were independently related to STS scores, even controlling for other coping strategies. The two types of humor were not related to STS in the same direction, nor at the same magnitude.

Language: en