Het werk van de familierechercheur: een bron van stress of een bron van persoonlijke groei?

Abstract

Dutch family liaison officers inform and support trauma victims or their relatives. Recent studies suggest that professionals working with trauma victims may develop work-related stress. However, other studies have shown that professionals can also develop personal growth from their experiences with traumatized persons. This study was the first to investigate to what extent Dutch family liaison officers experience work-related stress or personal growth. Results suggest that the majority of the respondents experience no or very low levels of work-related stress. Levels of personal growth appear to be rather low as well, but seem to be more broadly dispersed. These findings suggest that Dutch family liaison officers are able to cope with the potentially negative effects of their work and even experience positive outcomes from working with traumatized persons. In spite of this, many participants provided suggestions for further improvement of their work practices.