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The impact of emergency aid work on personal relationships: a psychodynamic study

Content Provider	Springer Nature : SpringerOpen
Author	Snelling, Mark
Abstract	Humanitarian organisations and researchers have paid increasing attention in recent years to the psychological wellbeing of aid workers. This attention, however, has tended to focus more on the practicalities of stress management and resilience than on the deeper levels of their relational lives. This qualitative research study explored the conscious and unconscious impact of emergency aid work on the personal relationships of those who deliver it. Six experienced staff members of an international non-governmental organisation (INGO) were invited to reflect freely on their relationships in unstructured interviews. Using psychoanalytic theory, the data were analysed for both surface and hidden content. Every participant identified the significant external split that aid work created between home life and the field and described conscious strategies to manage this challenge. Their narratives, however, also indicated deeper inner dilemmas along with more unconscious strategies for protecting themselves against the anxiety generated by those dilemmas. Although deployed in response to the relational demands of the work, these strategies also appeared to form part of patterns of relating developed prior to entry into the sector. The study concluded that structured spaces where humanitarians can reflect on these issues would be beneficial both to personal resilience and to organisational effectiveness.
Related Links	https://jhumanitarianaction.springeropen.com/counter/pdf/10.1186/s41018-018-0042-7
Ending Page	15
Page Count	15
Starting Page	1
ISSN	23643404
DOI	10.1186/s41018-018-0042-7
Journal	Journal of International Humanitarian Action
Issue Number	1
Volume Number	3
Language	English
Publisher	SpringerOpen
Publisher Date	2018-11-12
Access Restriction	Open
Subject Keyword	Humanitarian aid worker Relationships Trauma Psychodynamic Psychosocial support
Content Type	Text
Subject	Public Administration
Aim	The Journal of International Humanitarian Action is an open access peer-reviewed journal for researchers, policymakers, practitioners, and anyone moved to understand contemporary challenges, reflect critically on practices, and engage at humanitarian action’s leading edge.We welcome original academic and/or practice-informed contributions not only from scholars of international humanitarian law or practitioners of global nonprofit management, but also from myriad other areas spanning the social sciences and humanities and beyond.Relevant topics include, but are not limited to:The journal regularly publishes special collections that can be proposed by guest editors and discuss in detail pressing questions of humanitarian action. Given the diversity of our readership, the editors seek submissions that transcend disciplinary and sectional divisions and promote rigorous and inclusive discourse around the challenges, problems, and practices of humanitarian action.

Sl.	Authority	Responsibilities	Communication Details
1	Ministry of Education (GoI), Department of Higher Education	Sanctioning Authority	https://www.education.gov.in/ict-initiatives
2	Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur	Host Institute of the Project: The host institute of the project is responsible for providing infrastructure support and hosting the project	https://www.iitkgp.ac.in
3	National Digital Library of India Office, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur	The administrative and infrastructural headquarters of the project	Dr. B. Sutradhar bsutra@ndl.gov.in
4	Project PI / Joint PI	Principal Investigator and Joint Principal Investigators of the project	Dr. B. Sutradhar bsutra@ndl.gov.in Prof. Saswat Chakrabarti will be added soon
5	Website/Portal (Helpdesk)	Queries regarding NDLI and its services	support@ndl.gov.in
6	Contents and Copyright Issues	Queries related to content curation and copyright issues	content@ndl.gov.in
7	National Digital Library of India Club (NDLI Club)	Queries related to NDLI Club formation, support, user awareness program, seminar/symposium, collaboration, social media, promotion, and outreach	clubsupport@ndl.gov.in
8	Digital Preservation Centre (DPC)	Assistance with digitizing and archiving copyright-free printed books	dpc@ndl.gov.in
9	IDR Setup or Support	Queries related to establishment and support of Institutional Digital Repository (IDR) and IDR workshops	idr@ndl.gov.in

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