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Beyond the “Victim”

Secondary Traumatic Stress

  • Chapter
Beyond Trauma

Part of the book series: The Plenum Series on Stress and Coping ((SSSO))

Abstract

A local elementary-school janitor walked into a cafeteria in Florida in the United States, filled with chattering schoolchildren, and shot his supervisor in the chest with a shotgun. As a children and teachers watched in horror, the murderer left the room, fired the remaining shot over the playground, and left the campus. The county sheriff’s office caught the man within an hour. The elementary school implemented its “code blue” system, which kept all children safely in their classrooms, while school counselors from throughout the county converged to provide crisis counseling. School officials informed parents of the events and provided suggestions for helping their children overcome the extreme event. Indeed, the plans for protecting children and promoting their emotional recovery were state-of-the-art, and the school system carried them out effectively. All the “victims” were cared for. All, except the parents of the children. However, they, too, were confronted with the frightening experience. They listened to the stories of the children and the officials. They identified with the reactions of their children. And they felt angry and frightened.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Psychosocial Stress Research Program, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida, 32306-4097, USA

    Charles R. Figley

  2. Department of Clinical and Health Psychology, Utrecht University, and Institute for Psychotherapy, 3584 CS, Utrecht, The Netherlands

    Rolf J. Kleber

Authors
  1. Charles R. Figley
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  2. Rolf J. Kleber
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Utrecht University and Institute for Psychotrauma, Utrecht, The Netherlands

    Rolf J. Kleber

  2. Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida, USA

    Charles R. Figley

  3. Academic Medical Center and University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Berthold P. R. Gersons

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Figley, C.R., Kleber, R.J. (1995). Beyond the “Victim”. In: Kleber, R.J., Figley, C.R., Gersons, B.P.R. (eds) Beyond Trauma. The Plenum Series on Stress and Coping. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-9421-2_5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-9421-2_5

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4757-9423-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4757-9421-2

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