Nen, Salina, Astbury, Jill, Subhi, Nasrudin, Alavi, Khadijah, Lukman, Z. M, Sarnon, Norulhuda, Fauziah, Ibrahim, Hoesni, Suzana Mohd and Mohamad, Mohd Suhaimi (2011) The impact of vicarious trauma on professionals involved in child sexual abuse cases (CSA). Pertanika journal of social science and humanities, 19. pp. 147-155. ISSN 0128-7702

Abstract

There is an increasing awareness of psychological effects on working with trauma survivors (e.g., sexual abuse victims). However, little research focused on such issue. Adopting a qualitative approach, this study explored vicarious trauma (VT) among professionals working with child sexual abuse (CSA) cases in Malaysia. A total of 18 professionals (police officers, social workers, counselors, and medical social workers) were interviewed. Results indicated that respondents experienced shock and disbelief, confusion, fear, flashback, hyper vigilance, irritability, and sleep difficulties caused by work. Furthermore, their work also affected relationship with friends, family members, and children. This study disclosed the fact that most of the professionals were not even aware that they could be negatively affected by their work with CSA victims. Also, the study emphasized the importance of information and training about possible risks of working with trauma survivors to reduce the occurrence of VT.

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