Growth in the shadow of war: the case of social workers and nurses working in a shared war reality /
Growth in the shadow of war: the case of social workers and nurses working in a shared war reality /
Hanna Admi
- Oxford, UK, Oxford University Press, September, 2009.
- 1154- 1174 p.
- Monthly
- September, 2009.
- Volume 39, Number 6 .
This study aimed to assess post- traumatic stress symptoms and vicarious traumatization (VT) versus post- traumatic growth (PTG) among Israeli practitioners who shared war- related reality with their clients during the Second Lebanon- Israel war (2006). In addition, the contribution of potency (one's personal resource) and the role of peri- traumatic dissociation (the emotional detachment activated during or immediately after a traumatic event) were examined. Two months after the war, a convenience sample of 204 practitioners (seventy- six nurses and 128 social workers), all residents and employees in the Haifa area, were administered a self- report questionnaire. Findings showed that nurses had higher post- traumatic growth (PTAG) compared with social workers. Personal resource (potency) was found to contribute to the reduction of vicarious traumatization (VT), whereas per- traumatic dissociation was found to contribute to both PTG and VT in the group of social workers.