Citation

Močnik N. Soc. Epistomiol. 2020; 34(1): 1-11.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2020, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/02691728.2019.1681559

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

The introduction to the special issue starts with a literature review with particular focus on distinguishing between the key terms and concepts of burnout, compassion and empathy fatigue. By looking at past studies, the author notes that vicarious trauma, secondary trauma, indirect trauma and secondary traumatic stress disorder are often used by working professionals and interchangeably; however the use of the concepts in the field-based social science research needs methodological adjustments and theoretical reconsideration. In the second part, she reflects on the evidence collected during the workshop 'The Cost of Bearing Witness: Secondary Trauma and Self-Care in Field-Based Social Research' which was held at the University of Turku, Finland, in October 2018. During the workshop participating researchers and practitioners discussed some of the most striking obstacles and challenges of the research work in the traumatized settings. On the basis of the ideas collected and shared, the authors synthetize some concrete suggestions for preventive and self-care techniques and ways to enhance overall the institutional and systematic support available to researchers exposed to trauma.

Language: en

Keywords

Field-research; methodology; self-care; vicarious trauma