Hostname: page-component-77c89778f8-5wvtr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-20T21:13:06.588Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

A wellness approach to the management of traumatic loss in schools: an examination of teachers' stress responses and coping strategies, and school response mechanisms.

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 February 2012

Colleen A. Jackson  and
Glen W. Bates
Colleen A. Jackson*
Affiliation:
Guilford Young College, Hobart, Tasmania
Glen W. Bates
Affiliation:
Swinburne University of Technology, Hawthorn, Victoria
*
Colleen Jackson rsc, Guilford Young College, PO Box 241, Glenorchy, Tasmania, 7010 Email:, cjackson@gyc.tas.edu.au
Get access

Abstract

This study was a qualitative examination of the stress responses and coping strategies of 21 teachers (12 women & 9 men), and school response mechanisms following a critical incident involving the death of a student or colleague. In order to explore the possibility that deaths of a relatively common nature can evoke high stress and grief responses, exceptional or large scale events, or those generating widespread public or media attention, were excluded. Findings showed that the impact on participants was high, and included cognitive, emotional, functional and physiological responses. Six discrete wellness factors, considered to contribute to effective coping, were identified: emotional and practical support, active involvement, responding according to individual need, access to information, readiness, and leadership. A salutogenic (wellness) approach to critical incident management was considered to provide a comprehensive and effective model for supporting individual teachers and the school in mobilising coping and restorative strategies and mechanisms. Implications for critical incident management in schools, and directions for further study, are discussed.

Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Psychologists and Counsellors in Schools , Volume 7 , November 1997 , pp. 75 - 92
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1997

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Antonovsky, A. (1990a). Pathways leading to successful coping and health. In Rosenbaum, N. (Ed.), Learned Resourcefulness: On Coping Skills, Self Control, and Adaptive Behaviour. New York: Springer Publishing Co. Inc.Google Scholar
Antonovsky, A. (1990b). Personality and health: Testing the sense of coherence model. In Friedman, H.S. (Ed.), Personality and Disease. New York: John Wiley & Sons.Google Scholar
Antonovsky, A. (1990c). The structural sources of salutogenic strength. In Turnbull, A.P., Patterson, J.M., Behr, S.K., Murphy, D.L., Marquis, J.G., and Blue-Banning, M.J. (Eds.), Cognitive Coping, Families, and Disability. Baltimore: Paul H. Brookes Publishing.Google Scholar
Braverman, M. (1991). Post Traumatic Stress and the Workforce. Paper presented at conference of Australasian Critical Incident Stress Association, Brisbane, Australia.Google Scholar
Braverman, M. (1992). Posttrauma crisis intervention in the workplace. In Quick, J.C., Murphy, L.R., & Hurrell, J.J. (Eds.), Stress and Wellbeing at Work: Assessment and Interventions for Occupational Mental Health. Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association.Google Scholar
Creamer, M. (1994). Community recovery from trauma. In Watts, R., & Home, J. deLe. (Eds). Coping with Trauma: The Victim and the Helper. Brisbane: Australian Academic Press.Google Scholar
Creamer, M., Burgess, P., Buckingham, W., and Pattison, P. (1993). Posttrauma reactions following a multiple shooting: A retrospective study and methodological inquiry. In Wilson, J., & Raphael, B. (Eds.), International Handbook of Traumatic Stress Syndromes. New York: Plenum Press.Google Scholar
Dunning, C. (1995). Risk Management in the Emergency Services. Paper presented at ASTSS/ACISA National Conference, Hobart, Australia.Google Scholar
Everstine, D.S., & Everstine, L. (1993). The Trauma Response: Treatment for Emotional Injury. New York: W. W. Norton & Company.Google Scholar
Figley, C.R. (1980). Traumatic stress: The role of the family and social support system. In Figley, C.R. (Ed.), Trauma and Its Wake: Volume II: Traumatic Stress Theory, Research, and Intervention. New York: Brunner/Mazel.Google Scholar
Figley, C.R. (1995). Prevention and treatment of community stress: How to be a mental health expert at the time of disaster. In Figley, C.R., Giel, R., Borgo, S., Briggs, S., & Haritos-Fatouros, M. (Eds.), Extreme Stress and Communities: Impact and Intervention. Dordrecht, Netherlands: Kluwer Academic Publishers.Google Scholar
Figley, C.R. (1996). Systemic Trauma: Identifying and Eliminating the Unwanted Consequences Within the Family Context and Other Systems. Paper presented at ASTSS Conference, Melbourne, Australia.Google Scholar
Gordon, R. (1995). Contrasting Trauma and Critical Incident Stress: Theory and Intervention Strategies. Paper presented at ASTSS/ACISA National Conference, Hobart, Australia.Google Scholar
Gordon, R. (1990). Community responses to disaster. In The Local Government Engineer in Disaster Recovery. Mount Macedon, Victoria: Australian Counter Disaster College.Google Scholar
Gordon, R., & Wraith, R. (1993). Responses of children and adolescents to disaster. In Wilson, J., & Raphael, B. (Eds.), International Handbook of Traumatic Stress Syndromes. New York: Plenum Press.Google Scholar
Green, B.L. (1993). Identifying survivors at risk: Trauma and stressors across events. In Wilson, J., & Raphael, B. (Eds.), International Handbook of Traumatic Stress Syndromes. New York: Plenum Press.Google Scholar
Hart, P.M., & Wearing, A.J. (1995). Occupational stress and well-being: A systematic approach to research, policy, and practice. In Cotton, P. (Ed.), Psychological Health in the Workplace: Understanding and Managing Occupational Stress. Carlton, Victoria: The Australian Psychological Society.Google Scholar
Home, D.J. deLe. (1994). The psychology of working with victims of traumatic accidents. In Watts, R., & Home, D.J. deLe. (Eds). Coping with Trauma: The Victim and the Helper. Brisbane: Australian Academic Press.Google Scholar
Johnson, K. (1989). Trauma in the Lives of Children. Alameda, CA: Hunter House.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kenardy, J.A. & Carr, V. (1996). Imbalance in the debriefing debate: What we don't know far outweighs what we know. The Bulletin of the Australian Psychological Society, 18 (1).Google Scholar
Kenardy, J., Webster, R., Lewin, T., Carr, V.J., Hazell, P.L., & Carter, G.L. (1996). Stress debriefing and patterns of recovery following a natural disaster. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 165.Google Scholar
McManus, T., Robertson, B., Butler, H., Bidwell, K., Day, G., Brown, J., & Dean, G. (1990). Traumatic Incidents Affecting Schools: Guidelines for Managing the Effects on the School Community. Queensland: Guidance and Counselling Services, Department of Education.Google Scholar
Nader, K. (1991). Children and Posttraumatic Stress. Paper presented at conference of Australasian Critical Incident Stress Association, Brisbane, Australia.Google Scholar
Pynoos, F. & Nader, K. (1988). Psychological first aid and treatment approach to children exposed to community violence: Research implications. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 1 (14).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pynoos, F. & Nader, K. (1992). Child Post Traumatic Stress Reaction Index. Los Angeles: University of California.Google Scholar
Pynoos, F. & Nader, K. (1993). Issues in the treatment of posttraumatic stress in children and adolescents. In Wilson, J., & Raphael, B. (Eds.), International Handbook of Traumatic Stress Syndromes. New York: Plenum Press.Google Scholar
Raphael, B. (1983). The Anatomy of Bereavement. New York: Basic Books.Google Scholar
Raphael, B. (1986). When Disaster Strikes. New York: Basic Books.Google Scholar
Raphael, B., & Meldrum, L. (1994). Helping people cope with trauma. In Watts, R., & Home, J. deLe. (Eds). Coping with Trauma: The Victim and the Helper. Brisbane: Australian Academic Press.Google Scholar
Roberts, M. & Storey, P. (1993). Responding to Critical Incidents in Schools: A Guide for School Management Teams and School Based Personnel. Victoria: Western Metropolitan Region, Directorate of School Education.Google Scholar
Werner, H.R., Bates, G.W., Bell, R.C., Murdoch, P., & Robinson, R. (1992). Critical incident stress in Victorian State Emergency Service volunteers: Characteristics of critical incidents, common stress responses, and coping methods. Australian Psychologist, 27 (3).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Whitla, M. (Ed.). (1994). Coping With Crises in Schools: Preparation, Response, and Recovery. North Blackburn, Victoria: Collins Dove.Google Scholar
Worden, J.W. (1992). Grief Counselling and Grief Therapy: A Handbook for the Mental Health Practitioner. (2nd ed.). New York: Springer Publishing Company.Google Scholar
Wraith, R. (1994). The impact of major events on children. In Watts, R., & Home, J. deLe. (Eds). Coping with Trauma: The Victim and the Helper. Brisbane: Australian Academic Press.Google Scholar