Trauma Interactions in Emotionally Demanding Research: Understanding How Content, Context and Culture Influence Researcher Experiences

• In Event: Researcher Wellbeing and Emotionally Challenging Research

Abstract

The emotional impacts of research can be considerable. Particularly in subject areas such as violence, crime and conflict, the impact of undertaking research presents a potential loss of research staff as researchers withdraw to protect their own well-being or suffer negative impacts that impede their work (SVRI, 2015; AbiNader et.al. 2023). This paper draws on mixed-methods research with academic and non-academic researchers engaged in self-defined emotionally demanding research, including 25+ in-depth interviews and a qualitative survey. We consider the ways in which personal, institutional and community, and socio-cultural factors combine to mitigate or intensify the emotional demands of research – an understanding that situates the researcher within an ecological framework wherein emotional impacts and vicarious trauma are not only linked to the topic of research. Through this analysis, we aim to identify appropriate institutional supports through a temporal lens to create a protective framework for researchers that enables researchers to conduct challenging, sensitive and important research while providing them with the support and skills to manage the emotional demands of this work.

Authors

• Stacey Scriver, University of Galway, Ireland

• Lorraine Hayman, University of Galway, Ireland