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Hi Tracey,
Not sure if this is what you are after exactly, but there's some information available on "compassion fatigue" (also known as vicarious traumatisation) in sign language interpreters. Not having good boundaries can contribute to this condition, but the information and research available moreso talks about developing coping strategies (personal and professional) and self-care techniques to manage stressful situations, and notes that interpreting as a profession, is intrinsically stressful.
I recently ran a workshop on this topic and administered the Professional Quality of Life scale to participants (also known as the ProQOL), but didn't request people share their results - it was for personal education purposes only. It is a scale which has been used in more than 30 countries with human service workers, educators, people in helping professions etc. Information on reliability, validity and norms are available and the tool itself is available on the internet. I have a psychology background as well as being an interpreter, and I presented with a psychologist colleague and we found the tool was helpful in getting people to realise the potential for traumatic content seen or interpreted in the course of their work to have an impact on the personal life of an interpreter if left unchecked and if occurring over a sustained period.
For reference material on vicarious trauma/boundaries/demand-control theory/ethical decision making/coping strategies etc, check out Michael Harvey (2003), Karen Clare (2000), Dean and Pollard (2001), Pearlman and Saakvitne (1995), Harrington and Turner (2001) among others - some articles are available online, books and other articles available via university libraries if you have access. Hope this info helps - good luck with your presentation.
Kind regards,
Karen Bontempo
Australia
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Karen Bontempo
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25 Jan 2008 20:28
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