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≡ Download Psychological Stress Aid Workers in Complex Humanitarian Emergencies Roslyn Thomas 9783659826849 Books

Psychological Stress Aid Workers in Complex Humanitarian Emergencies Roslyn Thomas 9783659826849 Books



Download As PDF : Psychological Stress Aid Workers in Complex Humanitarian Emergencies Roslyn Thomas 9783659826849 Books

Download PDF Psychological Stress  Aid Workers in Complex Humanitarian Emergencies Roslyn Thomas 9783659826849 Books

Humanitarian worker psychological health is impacted by proximity to violence. This impacts the nature of humanitarian assistance in changing political and security environments. Humanitarian workers’ abilities to make sense of their work, the stress paradigms of mental health, and critiques of humanitarianism are examined. The author challenges humanitarians and organisations not to interpret the human experiences of violence through a stress paradigm, in particular that of trauma and PTSD. An argument is made for recognition of humanitarian workers as active agents. The work is informed by Antonovsky’s Sense of Coherence (SOC) construct, by ecological theory and the field of humanitarian studies.The findings question whether the humanitarian system (inadvertently or otherwise) fuels and exploits worker identities that are constructed around notions of ‘heroism’ and ‘saving others,’ compounded by principles of equity, justice and concern for others. It notes a system-wide tendency to attribute to individual weakness that which may be a systemic failure to engage with implications associated with emergency approaches to complex problems. Key themes are identified and explored.

Psychological Stress Aid Workers in Complex Humanitarian Emergencies Roslyn Thomas 9783659826849 Books

Dr Thomas's well researched book arrives on the bookshelves at a time when the world finds itself in a volatile, uncertain and ambiguous state. She paints a vivid and transparent tapestry of the aid worker experience. This is a harsh reminder that the complexity and challenges of their multiple roles and identities, which will not diminish, but rather will increment in the foreseeable future. This work is indicative of an academic at the top of her game and should be essential reading for all degree programs for aspiring aid workers in the humanitarian movement. Their admirable heroism to save others, must be matured and tempered with the knowledge of what awaits them. Dr Thomas also cleverly provides a roadmap for the aid worker to assist their self discovery of their individual resources as well as the all important relationship network upon which they will be dependent. In this sense, this book demands to be the first item packed, by the aid worker embarking on mission. Finally and equally as importantly, humanitarian agencies should be taking careful heed of this publication. The research reveals the need for wider humanitarian agency accountability for the selection, training and support of their cohorts of field workers in emergency settings. This publication aptly triggers the opportunity for wider longitudinal study on the psychological impacts on aid workers and the need to invest in their resilience for their own wellbeing and the wellbeing of those communities in emergency, which they serve.

Product details

  • Paperback 348 pages
  • Publisher LAP LAMBERT Academic Publishing (January 15, 2016)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10 9783659826849
  • ISBN-13 978-3659826849
  • ASIN 3659826847

Read Psychological Stress  Aid Workers in Complex Humanitarian Emergencies Roslyn Thomas 9783659826849 Books

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Psychological Stress Aid Workers in Complex Humanitarian Emergencies Roslyn Thomas 9783659826849 Books Reviews


Roslyn Thomas’ book has arrived at precisely the right moment. Humanitarian workers are laboring in a particularly difficult time. The book is important reading for those in the field, who are dealing with unprecedented stress, and those who monitor the humanitarian system and, at the same time, are responsible for supervising and accompanying the workers.
This book is a much-welcomed release of Dr. Thomas' fine doctoral thesis at Oxford University. It is a timely contribution to the growing debate about humanitarian action, especially in the lead up to the World Humanitarian Summit. Dr. Thomas' book is an exploration of how to understand and support humanitarian practitioners and the multiple stressors (high risk contexts, complex organizations, personal relationships, etc.) they must manage over the course of their careers in care for populations living in extremis. A must read for humanitarians but, perhaps more importantly, for humanitarian organizations who would do well to reflect on the findings of the analysis for the strengthening of human resource policies.
Many of us would wish to live in a world in which it would not be necessary to write books like Roslyn Thomas’s Psychological Stress—Aid Workers in Complex Humanitarian Emergencies. Alas, we do not live in that world. This book is a must for researchers, counselors, therapists, administrators of humanitarian organizations, and, quite possibly, aid workers who soon will, are, or have been, in the field. It offers an alternative narrative to the narratives of medical and psychiatric discourses for understanding the experiences of humanitarian aid workers who find themselves in so-called “Complex Humanitarian Emergencies.” Frequently witnesses to genocide, torture, mass murder, rape and other atrocities and violence, Thomas argues that medical notions of “stress,” in particular experiences that are routinely labeled under the umbrella diagnosis of “Post Traumatic Stress Disorder” are inadequate from a clinical perspective and are inadequate existentially for understanding the meaning of the everyday experiences of aid workers. This book fills a gap in the literature that needed to be addressed. Thomas has done this admirably. Anyone who works in this field would do well to read this excellent and very readable book.
Dr Thomas's well researched book arrives on the bookshelves at a time when the world finds itself in a volatile, uncertain and ambiguous state. She paints a vivid and transparent tapestry of the aid worker experience. This is a harsh reminder that the complexity and challenges of their multiple roles and identities, which will not diminish, but rather will increment in the foreseeable future. This work is indicative of an academic at the top of her game and should be essential reading for all degree programs for aspiring aid workers in the humanitarian movement. Their admirable heroism to save others, must be matured and tempered with the knowledge of what awaits them. Dr Thomas also cleverly provides a roadmap for the aid worker to assist their self discovery of their individual resources as well as the all important relationship network upon which they will be dependent. In this sense, this book demands to be the first item packed, by the aid worker embarking on mission. Finally and equally as importantly, humanitarian agencies should be taking careful heed of this publication. The research reveals the need for wider humanitarian agency accountability for the selection, training and support of their cohorts of field workers in emergency settings. This publication aptly triggers the opportunity for wider longitudinal study on the psychological impacts on aid workers and the need to invest in their resilience for their own wellbeing and the wellbeing of those communities in emergency, which they serve.
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