Another Bloody Clean-Up

D. du Toit, B. Whaley
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Abstract

South Africa has one of the highest violent crime rates globally, where physical and emotional trauma is used in homicides and suicides. While this is apparent to the ordinary South African, what is less clear is what happens after the police and forensics have done their job at a crime scene: Who cleans up the bloody mess? In South Africa, as in many other nations, trauma cleaners restore the scenes where homicides and suicides have been committed, and where industrial accidents have taken place. Little to no scholarly research has been conducted on the experiences of the cleaners of trauma scenes. Cleaning up these scenes consists of labour charged with violence that most cannot countenance, but which the cleaner must face. Drawing on 13 qualitative interviews, this article explores the challenges of cleaning up a site where violent and/or traumatic acts have occurred, and how the cleaners develop strategies to cope with their own concomitant trauma. The cleaners are exposed to various health and safety issues, as well as the emotional trauma associated with cleaning up horrific accidents and crimes. Findings show that trauma cleaners emotionally distance themselves from the violence to which they bear witness and use emotional labour, spirituality, humour, and debriefing as coping strategies. In its conclusion, this article suggests a greater acknowledgement of trauma cleaners’ responsibilities and recommends that proper physical and emotional training is necessary to ensure their wellbeing.
另一场血腥清理
南非是全球暴力犯罪率最高的国家之一,在那里,身体和情感创伤被用于杀人和自杀。虽然这对普通南非人来说是显而易见的,但不太清楚的是,警察和法医在犯罪现场完成他们的工作后会发生什么:谁来清理血迹?在南非,就像在许多其他国家一样,创伤清理人员修复了杀人、自杀和工业事故发生的场景。几乎没有学术研究对创伤现场的清洁工的经历进行过研究。清理这些场景需要充满暴力的劳动,这是大多数人无法容忍的,但清洁工必须面对的。通过13个定性访谈,本文探讨了清理发生暴力和/或创伤行为的场所所面临的挑战,以及清洁工如何制定策略来应对自己的附带创伤。清洁工面临着各种各样的健康和安全问题,以及与清理可怕的事故和犯罪有关的情感创伤。研究结果表明,创伤清理者在情感上与他们目睹的暴力行为保持距离,并使用情感劳动、灵性、幽默和汇报作为应对策略。在结论中,这篇文章建议更多地认识到创伤清洁工的责任,并建议适当的身体和情感训练是确保他们健康的必要条件。
本文章由计算机程序翻译,如有差异,请以英文原文为准。
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