title: Secondary Traumatic Stress and Vicarious Posttraumatic Growth in New Zealand Clinical Psychologists: The Consequences of Working with Traumatised Clients

authors: Stapleton, Madeleine

subjects: Secondary traumatic stress

abstract: Clinical psychologists who provide trauma treatment are vicariously exposed to their clients’ traumatic experiences. The responsibility of clinical psychologists to practise both effectively and safely makes assessing the negative and positive psychological consequences of vicarious exposure to trauma imperative. If provisions are not put in place to prevent the negative psychological consequences and facilitate the positive psychological consequences, then detrimental outcomes may arise for the clinician, their clients, and the organisation that they work for.
The present study was designed to assess the experience of secondary traumatic stress (STS) and vicarious posttraumatic growth (VPTG) in clinical psychologists who work with traumatised clients in New Zealand. The purpose of this study was to identify the factors that were related to these phenomena, including the level of vicarious exposure to trauma (years working as a clinical psychologist, hours per week working with traumatised clients, and percentage of traumatised clients on caseload), posttraumatic cognitions, secondary trauma self-efficacy (STSE), perceived social support, and engagement in self-care activities.
Seventy-two clinical psychologists completed the online survey. Significant relationships were found between the main variables in this study: STS correlated positively with posttraumatic cognitions and VPTG correlated positively with self-care. Non-hypothesised significant relationships were also found. Posttraumatic cognitions correlated significantly with hours per week working with traumatised clients, STSE, perceived social support, and self-care. Additionally, self-care correlated significantly with perceived social support.
The results of this study suggest that clinical psychologists who experience more posttraumatic cognitions following vicarious exposure to trauma may be more likely to experience STS. The results also suggest that those clinical psychologists who engage in more self-care activities may be more likely to experience VPTG. As the majority of the proposed hypotheses were not supported, it appears that the factors thought to be related to STS and VPTG may not be as pertinent as previous research indicates. Overall, the results suggest that there may be other factors not explored in this study that may influence the experience of STS and VPTG.
As discrepant results were found in this study, future research should continue to investigate the factors that are related to STS and VPTG in clinical psychologists. Investigation into the ways in which posttraumatic cognitions following vicarious exposure to trauma can be prevented, or reduced, would also be beneficial, as would investigation into the specific self-care activities that are related to VPTG. Future research could also investigate the barriers that may prevent clinical psychologists from engaging in self-care.
Taken together, this study provides insight into the factors that are related to STS and VPTG, and importantly, identifies how STS may be prevented and VPTG may be facilitated.

text: Secondary Traumatic Stress and Vicarious Posttraumatic Growth in New Zealand Clinical Psychologists: The Consequences of Working with Traumatised Clients Clinical psychologists who provide trauma treatment are vicariously exposed to their clients’ traumatic experiences. The responsibility of clinical psychologists to practise both effectively and safely makes assessing the negative and positive psychological consequences of vicarious exposure to trauma imperative. If provisions are not put in place to prevent the negative psychological consequences and facilitate the positive psychological consequences, then detrimental outcomes may arise for the clinician, their clients, and the organisation that they work for.
The present study was designed to assess the experience of secondary traumatic stress (STS) and vicarious posttraumatic growth (VPTG) in clinical psychologists who work with traumatised clients in New Zealand. The purpose of this study was to identify the factors that were related to these phenomena, including the level of vicarious exposure to trauma (years working as a clinical psychologist, hours per week working with traumatised clients, and percentage of traumatised clients on caseload), posttraumatic cognitions, secondary trauma self-efficacy (STSE), perceived social support, and engagement in self-care activities.
Seventy-two clinical psychologists completed the online survey. Significant relationships were found between the main variables in this study: STS correlated positively with posttraumatic cognitions and VPTG correlated positively with self-care. Non-hypothesised significant relationships were also found. Posttraumatic cognitions correlated significantly with hours per week working with traumatised clients, STSE, perceived social support, and self-care. Additionally, self-care correlated significantly with perceived social support.
The results of this study suggest that clinical psychologists who experience more posttraumatic cognitions following vicarious exposure to trauma may be more likely to experience STS. The results also suggest that those clinical psychologists who engage in more self-care activities may be more likely to experience VPTG. As the majority of the proposed hypotheses were not supported, it appears that the factors thought to be related to STS and VPTG may not be as pertinent as previous research indicates. Overall, the results suggest that there may be other factors not explored in this study that may influence the experience of STS and VPTG.
As discrepant results were found in this study, future research should continue to investigate the factors that are related to STS and VPTG in clinical psychologists. Investigation into the ways in which posttraumatic cognitions following vicarious exposure to trauma can be prevented, or reduced, would also be beneficial, as would investigation into the specific self-care activities that are related to VPTG. Future research could also investigate the barriers that may prevent clinical psychologists from engaging in self-care.
Taken together, this study provides insight into the factors that are related to STS and VPTG, and importantly, identifies how STS may be prevented and VPTG may be facilitated.

year: 2017

title: The detective and the Sagas: Erlendur in the novels of Arnaldur Indriðason

authors: Bydder, Jillene

subjects: Arnaldur Indriðason, Icelandic crime fiction, Icelandic sagas, Detective Erlendur Sveinsson, fate in literature

abstract: Arnaldur Indriðason’s Erlendur novels are popular crime fiction stories set in Iceland. Detective Erlendur Sveinsson’s team deals with serious crimes, murders, and missing persons. Their cases are contemporary, but Indriðason has always said that he is influenced as a writer by the medieval Icelandic sagas. How is this illustrated by his crime fiction? The sagas, like crime fiction, contain stories of murder, revenge, love, loss and family conflicts. The paper uses examples from the novels and the sagas to examine the links between them. These links include the importance of traditional and local stories and the significance of fate. The paper also describes how Erlendur’s character develops over the series until he becomes an archetypical saga hero.

text: The detective and the Sagas: Erlendur in the novels of Arnaldur Indriðason Arnaldur Indriðason’s Erlendur novels are popular crime fiction stories set in Iceland. Detective Erlendur Sveinsson’s team deals with serious crimes, murders, and missing persons. Their cases are contemporary, but Indriðason has always said that he is influenced as a writer by the medieval Icelandic sagas. How is this illustrated by his crime fiction? The sagas, like crime fiction, contain stories of murder, revenge, love, loss and family conflicts. The paper uses examples from the novels and the sagas to examine the links between them. These links include the importance of traditional and local stories and the significance of fate. The paper also describes how Erlendur’s character develops over the series until he becomes an archetypical saga hero.

year: 2016-12

title: Translating Translations: A study of Ngā Rūpaiaha o Oma Kaiama, a Māori translation of the English version of the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám

authors: Roa, Hariru Te Aroha

subjects: Translation

abstract: Omar Khayyám, a Persian poet who died in 1131, wrote a number of quatrains in Farsi which are regarded by some as representing the very summit of Sufism (that is, of the mystical dimension of Islamic thought) and by others as being essentially agnostic and hedonistic in nature. Those who are of the latter view are often strongly influenced by the ‘translation’ into English of some of these quatrains by Edward Fitzgerald, a British poet and writer whose first edition of the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám appeared in 1859, at the height of the Victorian era. Although there have been several other translations of Khayyám’s quatrains, none has been as popular or, perhaps, as highly regarded as an artistic work as that of Fitzgerald. It has rarely, however, been regarded as a work that is faithful to the intent of the original. In deciding to translate into Māori Fitzgerald’s rendering into English of some of Khayyám’s Farsi quatrains (5th version), Pei Jones was faced with a peculiarly complex set of problems (linguistic, literary, cultural and religious). Pei Jones’ translation, a translation of a translation, is generally regarded as being faithful to Fitzgerald’s version of the Rubáiyát. It would appear, therefore, that he decided to treat Fitzgeralds’s text, in spite of the reference in its title to the original text, as his source text. This gives rise to a number of questions, including questions about what it means for a translator to be faithful or unfaithful to a source text. With particular reference to Pei Jones’ translation of Fitzgerald’s Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám, this thesis explores the concept of ‘fidelity’, a concept that, it is argued here (see Chapter 3), is often treated in the literature on translation in a way that belies its extremely complex nature. The thesis proposes a new approach to the concept of fidelity, one that is based on nine fidelity types: grammatical, lexical, informational, metrical, imagistic, rhetorical, historical, didactic and functional fidelity. In terms of this nonagonal analytical model, twenty-five of Pei Jones’ quatrains are analysed in relation to the equivalent quatrains in Fitzgerald’s version (Chapter 4). The analysis indicates that Pei Jones’ translation has neither metrical fidelity (a consequence of the very different nature of the source and target languages) nor functional fidelity (a consequence of the very different expectations and sensibilities that a Māori audience has in relation to the verbal arts). Metre and function are both, however, fundamental to the enduring appeal of Fitzgerald’s quatrains. The overall conclusion is that since it is often impossible to achieve all nine types of fidelity, translators need to carefully consider what their primary aim is in undertaking the translation of artistic works and be prepared to sacrifice certain types of fidelity (e.g. historical and informational fidelity) in order to create a work that fulfils the aesthetic expectations of the target audience. Pei Jones was undeniably successful in achieving those types of fidelity that were possible. However, the work may have had more widespread appeal if he had sacrificed some of them in order to create a work that was more closely aligned with the aesthetic expectations of Māori readers.

text: Translating Translations: A study of Ngā Rūpaiaha o Oma Kaiama, a Māori translation of the English version of the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám Omar Khayyám, a Persian poet who died in 1131, wrote a number of quatrains in Farsi which are regarded by some as representing the very summit of Sufism (that is, of the mystical dimension of Islamic thought) and by others as being essentially agnostic and hedonistic in nature. Those who are of the latter view are often strongly influenced by the ‘translation’ into English of some of these quatrains by Edward Fitzgerald, a British poet and writer whose first edition of the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám appeared in 1859, at the height of the Victorian era. Although there have been several other translations of Khayyám’s quatrains, none has been as popular or, perhaps, as highly regarded as an artistic work as that of Fitzgerald. It has rarely, however, been regarded as a work that is faithful to the intent of the original. In deciding to translate into Māori Fitzgerald’s rendering into English of some of Khayyám’s Farsi quatrains (5th version), Pei Jones was faced with a peculiarly complex set of problems (linguistic, literary, cultural and religious). Pei Jones’ translation, a translation of a translation, is generally regarded as being faithful to Fitzgerald’s version of the Rubáiyát. It would appear, therefore, that he decided to treat Fitzgeralds’s text, in spite of the reference in its title to the original text, as his source text. This gives rise to a number of questions, including questions about what it means for a translator to be faithful or unfaithful to a source text. With particular reference to Pei Jones’ translation of Fitzgerald’s Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám, this thesis explores the concept of ‘fidelity’, a concept that, it is argued here (see Chapter 3), is often treated in the literature on translation in a way that belies its extremely complex nature. The thesis proposes a new approach to the concept of fidelity, one that is based on nine fidelity types: grammatical, lexical, informational, metrical, imagistic, rhetorical, historical, didactic and functional fidelity. In terms of this nonagonal analytical model, twenty-five of Pei Jones’ quatrains are analysed in relation to the equivalent quatrains in Fitzgerald’s version (Chapter 4). The analysis indicates that Pei Jones’ translation has neither metrical fidelity (a consequence of the very different nature of the source and target languages) nor functional fidelity (a consequence of the very different expectations and sensibilities that a Māori audience has in relation to the verbal arts). Metre and function are both, however, fundamental to the enduring appeal of Fitzgerald’s quatrains. The overall conclusion is that since it is often impossible to achieve all nine types of fidelity, translators need to carefully consider what their primary aim is in undertaking the translation of artistic works and be prepared to sacrifice certain types of fidelity (e.g. historical and informational fidelity) in order to create a work that fulfils the aesthetic expectations of the target audience. Pei Jones was undeniably successful in achieving those types of fidelity that were possible. However, the work may have had more widespread appeal if he had sacrificed some of them in order to create a work that was more closely aligned with the aesthetic expectations of Māori readers.

year: 2013