Workplace Trauma: Concepts, Assessment and Interventions

by Tehrani; Noreen

• ISBN13: 9781583918753
• ISBN10: 1583918752
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2004-11-04
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

Post-traumatic stress is a topical subject of increasing importance. Yet much of the writing on this subject so far has been on stress suffered by people exposed to serious turmoil such as war and ethnic conflict.Workplace Traumais an extremely welcome presentation of the subject of stress in the workplace. This book explores the ways that traumatic events impact the psychological well-being of organizations and the employees that work within them. Disasters, accidents, crime, injury and death are considered and the main groups of employees at risk from trauma are identified. Creation of organizationally appropriate trauma care programs tailored to meet the particular needs of organizations and individuals is discussed. Theory and the latest research together with practical advice provide essential guidance to inform organizations and practitioners on the ways they can reduce the incidence and impact of psychological trauma.

Table of Contents

List of tables	xi
List of figures	xiii
Acknowledgements	xiv
Preface	xv
PART I Post-traumatic stress -- history and development	1	(62)
Post-traumatic stress: the history of a concept	5	(9)
Introduction	5	(1)
Trauma in literature	5	(1)
The nineteenth-century view of trauma	6	(1)
The First World War	7	(2)
Recognition of traumatic stress	9	(2)
International classification of diseases	11	(1)
Discussion	12	(2)
The psychobiology of traumatic stress	14	(10)
Introduction	14	(1)
The epidemiology of traumatic stress	15	(1)
`Normal stress'	16	(1)
Biological pathways	16	(1)
Pathway interactions	17	(1)
Traumatic stress v. normal stress	18	(1)
Post-traumatic stress and the brain	19	(3)
Discussion	22	(2)
An employee's response to trauma	24	(16)
Introduction	24	(1)
The psychological contract	24	(1)
Three phases of trauma	25	(1)
Responses to traumatic events in the workplace	26	(13)
Discussion	39	(1)
Traumatic stress in the workplace	40	(9)
Introduction	40	(1)
Major incidents in the workplace	40	(3)
Other traumatic events	43	(1)
Employees at risk	43	(4)
Organisational responsibility	47	(1)
Discussion	48	(1)
Workplace trauma and the law	49	(14)
Introduction	49	(1)
The size of the problem	49	(1)
Post-traumatic stress and the law	50	(1)
Legal recognition of psychological assessments	50	(1)
The tort of negligence	51	(1)
Duty of care	51	(1)
Employer's duty of care	52	(1)
Case law	53	(4)
Effects of litigation on traumatised employees	57	(1)
Managing trauma in the workplace	58	(1)
The future	58	(3)
Summary: Part I	61	(2)
PART II Dealing with disasters at work	63	(66)
The management of crises and disasters, and their relationship to business continuity	67	(12)
Introduction	67	(1)
Crises and disasters	67	(1)
Managing the crisis	68	(1)
Preparing for the crisis	69	(1)
Identifying the risks	70	(1)
Who might be harmed?	71	(2)
Reducing the risk of traumatic stress	73	(2)
Making the plan work	75	(1)
Dealing with the aftermath	76	(1)
Handling communications	77	(1)
Discussion	78	(1)
Post-trauma interventions: crisis management, diffusing, debriefing and trauma counselling	79	(20)
Introduction	79	(1)
The timing of trauma interventions	80	(1)
Managing a crisis	81	(2)
Diffusing or defusing?	83	(2)
Debriefing	85	(5)
Trauma therapy and counselling	90	(4)
Discussion	94	(1)
Incident support material	94	(5)
Introducing trauma care into an organisation	99	(18)
Introduction	99	(1)
Post Office Trauma Care Programme	99	(6)
Features of the Post Office Trauma Care Programme	105	(2)
Key stages of the Programme	107	(6)
Initial difficulties	113	(1)
The role of senior managers	114	(1)
Cost benefit analysis	115	(1)
Discussion	116	(1)
Choosing and managing an external provider of post-trauma support	117	(12)
Introduction	117	(1)
Selecting a provider	118	(5)
The contract	123	(1)
Auditing	123	(2)
Assessing effectiveness	125	(1)
Discussion	126	(1)
Summary: Part II	127	(2)
PART III The measurement and assessment of traumatic stress in the workplace	129	(36)
Assessing psychological trauma	133	(9)
Introduction	133	(1)
Assessment of the nature and features of a traumatic event	134	(2)
Structured clinical interviews	136	(1)
Self-report surveys	137	(2)
Psychophysiological and psychobiological assessments	139	(1)
Organisational need to measure traumatic stress	140	(1)
Discussion	140	(2)
Developing a trauma scale for organisations	142	(10)
Introduction	142	(1)
Impact of Events Scale (IES)	142	(2)
Study 1: factor analysis of IES-E data from stressful work incidents	144	(4)
Study 2: discriminative validity of the IES-E	148	(2)
Discussion	150	(2)
Difficulties of evaluating post-trauma interventions in organisations	152	(13)
Introduction	152	(1)
What is success?	152	(2)
How can success be measured?	154	(4)
Difficulties in undertaking research in organisations	158	(1)
Current research into trauma	159	(1)
A way forward	160	(1)
Discussion	161	(2)
Summary: Part III	163	(2)
PART IV Organisational research -- case studies	165	(56)
The Post Office -- identifying the causes of acute post-traumatic stress	169	(17)
Introduction	169	(4)
Method	173	(2)
Results	175	(10)
Discussion	185	(1)
Workplace bullying -- a source of chronic post-traumatic stress?	186	(11)
Introduction	186	(1)
What is workplace bullying?	186	(1)
Bullying and psychological well-being	187	(1)
Research questions	188	(1)
Method	188	(1)
Results	189	(4)
Discussion	193	(4)
The Paddington rail crash -- how to deal with a crisis	197	(10)
Introduction	197	(1)
Background	198	(1)
The rail crash	198	(1)
Interventions	199	(3)
Results	202	(3)
Discussion	205	(2)
The Manchester bomb -- trauma counselling and long-term support	207	(14)
Introduction	207	(1)
The bomb	207	(1)
Initial support	208	(2)
Dealing with chronic trauma	210	(1)
Trauma counselling	211	(2)
Results	213	(3)
Discussion	216	(1)
Postscript	216	(3)
Summary: Part IV	219	(2)
PART V Conclusions and future directions	221	(11)
Conclusions and future directions	225	(7)
Introduction	225	(1)
Practice	226	(1)
Research	227	(2)
Bringing research and practice together	229	(1)
The future	230	(2)
Appendix A: Post-incident questionnaire (CASHCO)	232	(4)
Appendix B: Bullying survey	236	(4)
References	240	(21)
Index	261