Abstract: Beyond Self-Care: Promoting Collective Care Strategies to Prevent Vicarious Trauma Among Violence Prevention Research Teams (Society for Social Work and Research 29th Annual Conference)

Please note schedule is subject to change. All in-person and virtual presentations are in Pacific Time Zone (PST).

626P Beyond Self-Care: Promoting Collective Care Strategies to Prevent Vicarious Trauma Among Violence Prevention Research Teams

Schedule:
Saturday, January 18, 2025
Grand Ballroom C, Level 2 (Sheraton Grand Seattle)
* noted as presenting author
Melissa Ticozzi, BSW, Doctoral Student, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL
Sylvia Namakula, Researcher, Healing and Resilience after Trauma, Uganda
Luciana Giorgio, PhD, MSW, Assistant Professor, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL
Agnes Nabachwa, Researcher, Healing and Resilience after Trauma, Uganda
Sophie Namy, Co-director, Healing and Resilience after Trauma, Uganda
Catherine Carlson, PhD, Assistant Professor, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL
Background and Purpose: Researchers working in the field of violence against women and children are often tasked with listening to highly distressing personal accounts of violence and subsequent trauma. This can lead researchers in this field to experience vicarious trauma, which is characterized by a multitude of symptoms, including flashbacks, panic attacks, and nightmares, resulting in cognitive, behavioral, and emotional changes associated with poor work performance. As women are often leading and carrying out violence research, they also experience a disproportionate burden of risk of vicarious trauma symptoms. This case study aimed to explore seven collective care strategies for preventing vicarious trauma implemented by Healing and Resilience after Trauma (HaRT), a feminist organization dedicated to holistic healing among survivors of human trafficking and gender-based violence. Further, it explores how creating and integrating collective care into research protocols can help prevent vicarious trauma and enhance researchers' emotional well-being as well as positively influence research quality.

Methods: This community case study was the result of a collaboration between the Sexual Violence Research Initiative (SVRI), Healing and Resilience after Trauma (HaRT), and the University of

Alabama. This study focused on research conducted in 2020 as part of a mixed-methods evaluation of the ‘Move with HaRT’ program. Four research team members were interviewed by an external representative from SVRI. Interview questions included the challenges of conducting research on violence and trauma, how the research team integrated collective care into the planning, design, and implementation of the research study, and the impact that these strategies had on researcher wellbeing. Interviews were recorded and detailed notes from each interview were then analyzed thematically.

Results: The result of this case study was the identification of seven specific collective care strategies to apply during the research process with the intent of limiting and preventing the development of vicarious trauma. Collective care can be defined as activities meant to attend to and nurture well-being with an emphasis on appreciating the influence of the external environment. This leads to promoting health and well-being as a shared responsibility, rather than the task of a singular individual. Examples of strategies identified in the study include: comprehensive preparatory training, trauma-informed workload management, and building community and solidarity outside the research process.

Conclusions and Implications: While individualized self-care strategies are important, it is necessary to recognize that these may not always be enough to ensure the researcher's well-being. Collective care practices play an important role in reducing the risk of vicarious trauma and creating a supportive work environment. This case study highlights practical implications and suggestions that can be useful to other research teams, and ethics review committees, in reducing vicarious trauma and promoting researcher wellbeing as an essential component of all VAW and VAC research studies.