Secondary traumatic stress and fair world belief in social service employees

Abstract

The aim of this research is to investigate the secondary traumatic stress levels and Belief in a Just World of the employees in various positions in social services. Materials and Methods: The study was performed in relational scanning model. A total of 150 employees from the social service, education unit, health unit and administrative staff in the institutions affiliated with Adana Family, Labor and Social Services Provincial Directorate participated in the research. Personal Information Form, Secondary Traumatic Stress Scale and Belief in a Just World Scale were applied to all participants. Results: General Belief in a Just World of the participants with low and medium level of secondary traumatic stress level were significantly higher than the participants with high secondary traumatic stress level. Similarly, the individual Belief in a Just World of the participants with low secondary traumatic stress level is significantly higher than the participants with high secondary traumatic stress level. Conclusion: As the secondary traumatic stress level of employees working in social services decreases, individual and general Belief in a Just World increases. Witnessing the traumatic experiences of others for a long time may cause mental problems such as disturbing secondary traumatic stress in the service providers and loss of functionality. Amaç: Bu araştırmanın amacı sosyal hizmetlerde çeşitli görevlerde bulunan çalışanların ikincil travmatik stres düzeylerini ve adil dünya inançlarını incelemektir. Gereç ve Yöntem: Çalışma ilişkisel tarama modelinde gerçekleştirilmiştir. Adana Aile, Çalışma ve Sosyal Hizmetler İl Müdürlüğüne bağlı kuruluşlardaki sosyal servis, eğitim birimi, sağlık birimi ve idari birim personellerinden toplam 150 çalışan araştırmaya katılmıştır. Tüm katılımcılara kişisel bilgi formu, İkincil Travmatik Stres Ölçeği (İTSÖ) ve Adil Dünya İnancı Ölçeği (ADİÖ) uygulanmıştır. Bulgular: İkincil travmatik stres düzeyi düşük ve orta düzey olan katılımcıların genel adil dünya inançlarının ikincil travmatik stres düzeyi yüksek olan katılımcılardan anlamlı düzeyde daha yüksek olduğu saptanmıştır). Benzer şekilde ikincil travmatik stres düzeyi düşük olan katılımcıların bireysel adil dünya inancı, ikincil travmatik stres düzeyi yüksek katılımcılara göre anlamlı düzeyde daha yüksektir. Sonuç: Sosyal hizmetlerde çalışanların ikincil travmatik stres düzeyi düştükçe bireysel ve genel adil dünya inancı artmaktadır. Uzun süre başkalarının travmatik yaşantılarına tanık olmak, hizmet verenlerde rahatsız edici ikincil travmatik stres gibi ruhsal sorunların ortaya çıkmasına ve işlevsellik kayıplarına neden olabilir.

Examination of the Fair World Belief of Professionals Working at the Ministry of Social Services

“…Festinger's Cognitive Contradiction Theory and Heider's Equilibrium Theory are the main ones of these theories. On the basis of the aforementioned theories, it is stated that when the individual encounters a contradictory, inconsistent situation or experiences an event that will cause discomfort in his inner balance, the individual tries to get rid of this contradictory situation and to achieve psychological harmony, and at least he needs the effort to achieve this harmony (Kaya et al, 2020).…”

“…The belief that the world is a fair place, that people will eventually live or face whatever they deserve, good or bad, was first researched by Lerner (1965) and took its place as the theory of just world belief in psychology (Kaya et al, 2020). According to Lerner's Just World Belief Hypothesis, people are motivated to believe that the world is a just place, where the good are rewarded and the bad are punished.…”

“…Cognitive consistency, competence, social cohesion, control, need for meaning, and self-esteem are some of these needs (Kaya et al, 2020). Individuals want to have a consistent, harmonious, and meaningful profile in interpersonal relations, and this desire can be considered as an impulse that forces individuals to cognitive consistency.…”

“…Individuals want to have a consistent, harmonious, and meaningful profile in interpersonal relations, and this desire can be considered as an impulse that forces individuals to cognitive consistency. When beliefs and attitudes show inconsistency, this situation negatively affects the emotions of the individual, as it brings inconsistency of behavior, and in this case, it causes a change in psychological well-being (Kaya et al, 2020).…”

“…Belief in a just world enables individuals to think that the world is an orderly and non-contradictory place. When faced with events or situations that contradict individuals' belief in a just world, the individual gets the opportunity to re-evaluate the events or situation that he or she faces with some psychological breakthroughs to harmonize the contradiction (Kaya et al, 2020). Professional staff of the Ministry of Family and Social Services, who are frequently encountered with events or situations that contradict these beliefs of individuals and who have to work with such individuals, families, or cases holistically, need to be able to keep their psychological well-being stable at all times and to be able to evaluate events impartially.…”