Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-dzt6s Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-27T22:01:15.417Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

You are not allowed to tell: organisational culture as a barrier for child protection workers seeking assistance for traumatic stress symptomology

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 May 2019

Fiona Oates Open the ORCID record for Fiona Oates [Opens in a new window]
Fiona Oates*
Affiliation:
College of Arts, Society and Education, James Cook University, Cairns, Queensland, Australia
*
Author for correspondence: Fiona Oates, Email: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Child protection work is one of the most difficult and complex areas of human services practice. Working within a trauma-laden environment often means that practitioner susceptibility to trauma-related mental health issues is an occupational hazard. However, many practitioners are reluctant to seek support when they start to experience symptoms of traumatic stress. This paper considers current literature relating to child protection workers’ exposure to work-related traumatic material, resulting traumatic stress symptomology and organisational responses to practitioner distress. Results from a recent doctoral study that explores the experiences of child protection practitioners based in Queensland will be presented. Findings from the study were derived from qualitative in-depth, semi-structured interviews. The study findings indicate that the organisational culture within statutory child protection agencies creates an environment where practitioners are labelled as incompetent or not suitable for child protection work when they disclose experiencing symptoms of traumatic stress. The experience of bullying and retribution by supervisors and colleagues and the fear of rejection by the workgroup were also found to be significant barriers for workers seeking support.

Keywords

Statutory child protectiontraumatic stress supporttrauma-laden environment
Type
AFC Conference Paper
Information
Children Australia , Volume 44 , Issue 2: Special Conference Issue – The Neuroscience of Trauma and Development in The Everyday , June 2019 , pp. 84 - 90
Copyright
© The Author(s) 2019 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Abassary, C., & Goodrich, K. (2014). Attending to crisis-based supervision for counselors: The CARE model of crisis-based supervision. The Clinical Supervisor, 33(1), 63–81.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Absolon, K., & Willett, C. (2005). Putting ourselves forward: Location in Aboriginal research. In Brown, L. & Strega, S. (Eds.), Research as resistance: Critical, indigenous and anti-oppressive approaches (pp. 91–126). Toronto, ON: Canadian Association of University Teachers.Google Scholar
Alston, M., & Bowles, W. (2012). Research for social workers: An introduction to methods (3rd ed.). Crows Nest, NSW: Allen & Unwin.Google Scholar
Atkinson, J. (2002). Trauma tails recreating song lines: The transgenerational effects of trauma in Indigenous Australia. Melbourne, VIC: Spinifex Press.Google Scholar
Bennett, B. (2013). The importance of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander history for social work students and graduates. In Bennett, B., Green, S., Gilbert, S., & Bessarab, D. (Eds.), Our voices: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander social work (pp. 1–25). Claremont, VIC: Palgrave Macmillan.Google Scholar
Bober, T., & Regehr, C. (2005). Strategies for reducing secondary or vicarious trauma: Do they work? Brief Treatment and Crisis Intervention, 6(1), 1–9. doi:10.1093/brief-treatment/mhj001CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bride, B. (2007). Prevalence of secondary traumatic stress among social workers. Social Work, 52(1), 63–70. doi:10.1093/sw/52.1.63CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Briggs, F. (2012). Child protection: The essential guide for teachers and other professionals whose work involves children. Docklands, VIC: JoJo Publishing.Google Scholar
Briggs, F., Broadhurst, D., & Hawkins, R. (2004). Violence, threats and intimidation in the lives of professionals whose work involves children. Trends and Issues in Crime and Criminal Justice, 273, 1–6.Google Scholar
Brinkmann, S., & Kvale, S. (2015). InterViews: Learning the craft of qualitative research interviewing. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.Google Scholar
Coram, S. (2011). Rethinking indigenous research approval—The perspective of a ‘stranger’. Qualitative Research Journal, 11(2), 38–47.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Corbin, J., & Strauss, A. (2015). Basics of qualitative research: Techniques and procedures for developing grounded theory (4th ed.). Los Angeles, CA: SAGE.Google Scholar
Cornille, T., & Meyers, T. (1999). Secondary traumatic stress among child protective service workers: Prevalence, severity and predictive factors. Traumatology, 5(1), 15–31. doi:10.1177/153476569900500105CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Creswell, J. (2013). Qualitative inquiry & research design: Choosing among five approaches. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.Google Scholar
Creswell, J. (2014). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods approaches. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.Google Scholar
Dane, B. (2000). Child welfare workers: An innovative approach for interacting with secondary trauma. Journal of Social Work Education, 36(1), 27–28.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Devilly, G., Wright, R., & Varker, T. (2009). Vicarious trauma, secondary traumatic stress or simply burnout? Effect of trauma therapy on mental health professionals. Australasian Psychiatry, 43(4), 373–385. doi:10.1080/00048670902721079Google ScholarPubMed
Drumm, M. (2012) Culture change in the public sector. Retrieved from https://www.iriss.org.uk/resources/insights/culture-change-public-sectorGoogle Scholar
Fook, J. (2012). Social work: A critical approach to practice (2nd ed.). London, UK: Sage Publications.Google Scholar
Geller, J., Madsen, L., & Ohrenstein, L. (2004). Secondary trauma: A team approach. Clinical Social Work Journal, 32(4), 415–430. doi:10.1007/s10615-004-0540-5Google Scholar
Goddard, C., & Hunt, S. (2011). The complexities of caring for child protection workers: The contexts of practice and supervision. Journal of Social Work Practice, 25(4), 413–432. doi:10.1080/02650533.2011.626644CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harrison, R., & Westwood, M. (2009). Preventing vicarious traumatization of mental health therapists: Identifying protective practices. Psychotherapy: Theory, Research, Practice, Training, 46(2), 203–219. doi:10.1037/a0016081CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Healy, K., & Oltedal, S. (2010). An institutional comparison of child protection systems in Australia and Norway focused on workforce retention. Journal of Social Policy, 39(2), 255–274. doi:10.1017/S004727940999047XCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hunt, S., Goddard, C., Cooper, J., Littlechild, B., & Wild, J. (2016). ‘If I feel like this, how does the child feel?’ Child protection workers, supervision, management and organisational responses to parental violence. Journal of Social Work Practice, 30(1), 5–24. doi:10.1080/02650533.2015.1073145CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hunter, S., & Schofield, M. (2006). How counsellors cope with traumatized clients: Personal, professional and organizational strategies. International Journal for the Advancement of Counselling, 28(2), 121–138. doi:10.1007/s10447-005-9003-0CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jankoski, J. (2010). Is vicarious trauma the culprit? A study of child welfare professionals. Child Welfare, 89(6), 105–131.Google ScholarPubMed
Jenkins, S. (2015). Rehabilitating psychology in Australia: The journey from colonising agent to cultural broker. Psychotherapy and Politics International, 13(2), 115–128.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kowal, E., Anderson, I., & Bailie, R. (2005). Moving beyond good intentions: Indigenous participation in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health research. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, 29(5), 468–470.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Levy, M., & Poertner, J. (2014). Development of a child welfare worker stress inventory. Journal of Psychological Issues in Organizational Culture, 5(1), 7–15. doi:10.1002/jpoc.21134CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lewig, K., & McLean, S. (2016). Caring for our frontline child protection workforce (CFCA Paper No. 42). Melbourne, VIC: Child Family Community Australia Information Exchange, Australian Institute of Family Studies.Google Scholar
Littlechild, B. (2005). The nature and effects of violence against child-protection social workers: Providing effective support. The British Journal of Social Work, 35(3), 387–401. doi:10.1093/bjsw/bch188.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lonne, B., Harries, M., & Lantz, S. (2013). Workforce development: A pathway to reforming child protection systems in Australia. The British Journal of Social Work, 43(8), 1630–1648. doi:10.1093/bjsw/bcs064CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lonne, B., Parton, N., Thomson, J., & Harries, M. (2008). Reforming child protection. New York, NY: Routledge.Google Scholar
Manthorpe, J., Moriarty, J., Hussein, S., Stevens, M., & Sharpe, E. (2015). Content and purpose of supervision in social work practice in England: Views of newly qualified social workers, managers and directors. British Journal of Social Work, 45(1), 52–68. doi:10.1093/bjsw/bct102CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Meadors, P., & Lamson, A. (2008). Compassion fatigue and secondary traumatization: Provider self care on intensive care units for children. Journal of Pediatric Health Care, 22(1), 24–34. doi:10.1016/j.pedhc.2007.01.006CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mertens, D. (2003). Mixed methods and the politics of human research: The transformative-emancipatory perspective. In Tashakkori, A. & Teddlie, C. (Eds.), Handbook of mixed methods in social & behavioral research (pp. 135–164). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.Google Scholar
Mertens, D. (2010). Research and evaluation in education and psychology: Integrating diversity with quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
Minichiello, V. (1995). In-depth interviewing: Principles, techniques, analysis (2nd ed.). Melbourne, VIC: Longman Australia.Google Scholar
Munro, E. (2010). The Munro review of child protection: Interim report—The child’s journey. London, UK: Department of Education.Google Scholar
Neuman, W. (2014). Social research methods: Qualitative and quantitative approaches (7th ed.). Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.Google Scholar
Oates, F. (2018). Working for the welfare: exploring the experiences of Indigenous child protection workers. (PhD Thesis, James Cook University, Cairns, Australia). Retrieved from https://researchonline.jcu.edu.au/56112/ doi:10.25903/5bea03dc810f3CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Potts, K., & Brown, L. (2005). Becoming an anti-oppressive researcher. In Brown, L. & Strega, S. (Eds.), Research as resistance: Critical, indigenous, & anti-oppressive approaches, (pp. 255–286). Toronto, ON: Canadian Scholars’ Press.Google Scholar
Prior, D. (2007). Decolonising research: A shift toward reconciliation. Nursing Inquiry, 14(2), 162.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Quinn, M. (2003). Immigrants and refugees: Towards anti-racist and culturally affirming practices. In Allen, J., Pease, B., &Briskman, L. (Eds.), Critical social work: An introduction to theories and practices (pp. 75–91). Sydney, NSW: Allen & Unwin.Google Scholar
Reeves, S., Albert, M., Kuper, A., & Hodges, B. (2008). Qualitative research: Why use theories in qualitative research? British Medical Journal, 337(7670), 631–634. doi:10.1136/bmj.a949CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Regehr, C., Hemsworth, D., Leslie, B., Howe, P., & Chau, S. (2004). Predictors of post-traumatic distress in child welfare workers: A linear structural equation model. Children and Youth Services Review, 26(4), 331–346. doi:10.1016/j.childyouth.2004.02.003CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, M., Cree, V. E., MacRae, R., Sharp, D., Wallace, E., & O’Halloran, S. (2016). Social suffering: Changing organisational culture in children and families social work through critical reflection groups—Insights from Bourdieu. British Journal of Social Work, 47(4), 973–988. doi:10.1093/bjsw/bcw087CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sommer, C. (2008). Vicarious traumatization, trauma-sensitive supervision, and counselor preparation. Counselor Education and Supervision, 48(1), 61–71.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stanley, J., & Goddard, C. (2002). In the firing line: Violence and power in child protection work. Chichester, UK: Wiley.Google Scholar
Whitaker, T. (2012). Social workers and workplace bullying: Perceptions, responses and implications. Work, 42(1), 115–123. doi:10.3233/WOR-2012-1335Google ScholarPubMed
Wilkins, D., Forrester, D., & Grant, L. (2017). What happens in child and family social work supervision? Child & Family Social Work, 22(2), 942–951. doi:10.1111/cfs.12314CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wilson, A., & Yellow Bird, M. (2005). Beginning decolonization. In Wilson, A. & Yellow Bird, M. (Eds.), For Indigenous eyes only: A decolonization handbook (pp. 1–8). Santa Fe, NM: School of American Research Press.Google Scholar
Wise, S. (2017). Developments to strengthen systems for child protection across Australia (CFCA Paper No. 44). Melbourne, VIC: Child Family Community Australia Information Exchange, Australian Institute of Family Studies.Google Scholar