In my master’s thesis, I focused on exploring the secondary victimization of children with trauma experience. Specifically, I was interested in how professionals working at social work centres understand the concept of secondary victimization within the framework of a trauma-informed approach and how this understanding is reflected in their practice. In this context, I was also interested in their level of familiarity with the trauma-informed approach, its implementation at social work centres, and its contribution to preventing secondary victimization of children with trauma experience.
The theoretical part presents existing knowledge on child protection, secondary victimization, trauma, and the trauma-informed approach. Empirical data were collected through interviews with nine professionals working with children who have experienced trauma, providing insight into the researched topic.
The findings indicate that the participating professionals at social work centres are familiar with the concept of secondary victimization and understand it in line with existing theoretical frameworks. They are aware of the practices that may lead to secondary victimization and of its consequences for children and accordingly apply various strategies to prevent it. However, they were less familiar with the trauma-informed approach, although they implement its principles in their practice implicitly, partly because its principles are closely aligned with the fundamental principles of social work. In this regard, they expressed a need for additional training, as they recognize the importance of the approach and its contribution to preventing secondary victimization of children.
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