Introduction: Refugees fleeing persecution, torture, or sexual violence are at high risk of developing both acute and chronic psychological disorders. Systematic violence, as committed against the Yazidi minority in Northern Iraq by the terror organization known as the Islamic State (IS), can be seen as a particularly traumatic burden to the victims, but also to caregivers providing treatments and assistance to them. The intense exposure to traumatic content may cause secondary traumatization in respective caregivers. This study aims (1) to identify the prevalence of secondary traumatization in caregivers working with traumatized women and children from Northern Iraq; (2) to determine the specific distressing factors and resources of the caregivers; as well as (3) to analyze whether caregivers' personal history of trauma or flight, attachment styles, working arrangements as well as support offers qualify as risk or resilience factors for secondary traumatization.Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional study, N = 84 caregivers (social workers, psychotherapists/physicians, and interpreters) in the context of a Humanitarian Admission Program (HAP) for women and children traumatized by the so called IS were investigated about their work-related burdens and resources. Secondary traumatization was assessed with the Questionnaire for Secondary Traumatization (FST). To identify relevant determinants for secondary traumatization multiple linear regression analyses were performed.Results: Secondary traumatization was present in 22.9% of the participating caregivers, with 8.6% showing a severe symptom load. A personal history of traumatic experiences, a personal history of flight, a higher number of hours per week working in direct contact with refugees as well as a preoccupied attachment style were detected as risk factors for secondary traumatization. A secure attachment style could be identified as a resilience factor for secondary traumatization.Discussion: Caregivers working with traumatized refugees are at high risk of developing secondary traumatization. Based on the findings of this study and theoretical considerations, a framework of classification for different types of trauma-associated psychological burdens of caregivers working with traumatized refugees is proposed. Implications for the training and supervision of professionals in refugee- and trauma-care are discussed.
ZusammenfassungBereits 2002 wurde im Rahmen der Sonnenberger Leitlinien die Entwicklung von
Fortbildungsprogrammen für Psychotherapeuten im Sinne der
interkulturellen Öffnung des psychosozialen Versorgungssystems gefordert
[1]. Bislang mangelt es jedoch an evaluierten, zugänglichen
(veröffentlichten) Fortbildungskonzepten zur Förderung inter-
bzw. transkultureller Kompetenzen von Psychotherapeuten im deutschsprachigen
Raum. Der vorliegende Beitrag stellt ein Fortbildungskonzept für
ärztliche und psychologische Psychotherapeuten sowie für
Psychologen in Ausbildung vor, das auf den Leitlinien für Trainings
inter-/transkultureller Kompetenz in der Aus-, Fort- und Weiterbildung
von Psychotherapeuten [2] basiert. Das Konzept legt einen besonderen Fokus auf
die Reflexion eigener kulturell geprägter Werte sowie auf Wissensinhalte
und Fertigkeiten, die den Aufbau einer therapeutischen Beziehung im
interkulturellen Setting erleichtern. Es werden Hinweise zur praktischen
Implementierung gegeben, die Lesern die Umsetzung des Konzepts als Lehrende
erleichtern.
After the genocide of Shingal in August 2014 in Northern Iraq, the humanitarian admissions program Sonderkontingent Baden-Württemberg "Schutzbedürftiger Frauen und Kinder aus dem Nordirak" was implemented. 1100 persons, most of them Yazidis, were hosted by different municipalities in Germany. The target group is a particularly vulnerable group of persons with a high risk for developing post-traumatic stress disorder. We present the concept of care in Freiburg for 205 Yazidi women and children in Freiburg. A stepped-care approach was developed for the psychological care to introduce the Yazidi people to the daily life and to the health care system in Germany. An outreach of psychological services and an interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary cooperation of all services involved were crucial.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.