Child protection work is one of the most difficult and complex areas of human services practice. Working within a trauma-laden environment often means that practitioner susceptibility to trauma-related mental health issues is an occupational hazard. However, many practitioners are reluctant to seek support when they start to experience symptoms of traumatic stress. This paper considers current literature relating to child protection workers’ exposure to work-related traumatic material, resulting traumatic stress symptomology and organisational responses to practitioner distress. Results from a recent doctoral study that explores the experiences of child protection practitioners based in Queensland will be presented. Findings from the study were derived from qualitative in-depth, semi-structured interviews. The study findings indicate that the organisational culture within statutory child protection agencies creates an environment where practitioners are labelled as incompetent or not suitable for child protection work when they disclose experiencing symptoms of traumatic stress. The experience of bullying and retribution by supervisors and colleagues and the fear of rejection by the workgroup were also found to be significant barriers for workers seeking support.

中文翻译：

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你不能说：组织文化是儿童保护工作者寻求创伤压力症状帮助的障碍

儿童保护工作是人类服务实践中最困难和最复杂的领域之一。在充满创伤的环境中工作通常意味着从业者对与创伤相关的心理健康问题的易感性是一种职业危害。然而，许多从业者在开始出现创伤性压力症状时不愿寻求支持。本文考虑了与儿童保护工作者接触与工作相关的创伤材料、由此产生的创伤压力症状和组织对从业者痛苦的反应有关的当前文献。将介绍最近一项博士研究的结果，该研究探讨了昆士兰州儿童保护从业者的经验。研究结果来自定性的深度半结构化访谈。研究结果表明，法定儿童保护机构内的组织文化创造了一种环境，当从业者披露经历创伤性压力的症状时，他们会被贴上不称职或不适合儿童保护工作的标签。主管和同事的欺凌和报复的经历以及对工作组拒绝的恐惧也被发现是工人寻求支持的重大障碍。