Growth in the Shadow of War: The Case of Social Workers and Nurses Working in a Shared War Reality

Abstract

This study aimed to assess post-traumatic stress symptoms and vicarious traumatization (VT) versus post-traumatic growth (PTG) among Israeli practitioners who shared war-related reality with their clients during the Second Lebanon-Israel war (2006). In addition, the contribution of potency (one's personal resource) and the role of peri-traumatic dissociation (the emotional detachment activated during or immediately after a traumatic event) were examined. Two months after the war, a convenience sample of 204 practitioners (seventy-six nurses and 128 social workers), all residents and employees in the Haifa area, were administered a self-report questionnaire. Findings showed that nurses had higher post-traumatic growth (PTG) compared with social workers. Personal resource (potency) was found to contribute to the reduction of vicarious traumatization (VT), whereas peri-traumatic dissociation was found to contribute to both PTG and VT in the group of social workers.