Another Bloody Clean-Up: The Experiences of Trauma Cleaners in South Africa

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 c...

Descripción completa

Guardado en:

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autor principal:	David Du Toit and Buck Whaley
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	University of Johannesburg 2021
Materias:	south africa violent crime homicide suicide trauma cleaners emotional labour Social Sciences H
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/d7c4e92b69bd43d5a1f1de12fcae9ace
Etiquetas:	Agregar Etiqueta Sin Etiquetas, Sea el primero en etiquetar este registro!

id	oai:doaj.org-article:d7c4e92b69bd43d5a1f1de12fcae9ace
record_format	dspace
spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:d7c4e92b69bd43d5a1f1de12fcae9ace2021-11-14T17:11:35ZAnother Bloody Clean-Up: The Experiences of Trauma Cleaners in South Africa2075-24582616-907Xhttps://doaj.org/article/d7c4e92b69bd43d5a1f1de12fcae9ace2021-11-01T00:00:00Zhttps://journals.uj.ac.za/index.php/The_Thinker/article/view/694https://doaj.org/toc/2075-2458https://doaj.org/toc/2616-907XSouth 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.David Du Toit and Buck WhaleyUniversity of Johannesburgarticlesouth africaviolent crimehomicidesuicidetrauma cleanersemotional labourSocial SciencesHENThe Thinker, Vol 89, Pp 95-103 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	south africa violent crime homicide suicide trauma cleaners emotional labour Social Sciences H
spellingShingle	south africa violent crime homicide suicide trauma cleaners emotional labour Social Sciences H David Du Toit and Buck Whaley Another Bloody Clean-Up: The Experiences of Trauma Cleaners in South Africa
description	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.
format	article
author	David Du Toit and Buck Whaley
author_facet	David Du Toit and Buck Whaley
author_sort	David Du Toit and Buck Whaley
title	Another Bloody Clean-Up: The Experiences of Trauma Cleaners in South Africa
title_short	Another Bloody Clean-Up: The Experiences of Trauma Cleaners in South Africa
title_full	Another Bloody Clean-Up: The Experiences of Trauma Cleaners in South Africa
title_fullStr	Another Bloody Clean-Up: The Experiences of Trauma Cleaners in South Africa
title_full_unstemmed	Another Bloody Clean-Up: The Experiences of Trauma Cleaners in South Africa
title_sort	another bloody clean-up: the experiences of trauma cleaners in south africa
publisher	University of Johannesburg
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/d7c4e92b69bd43d5a1f1de12fcae9ace
work_keys_str_mv	AT daviddutoitandbuckwhaley anotherbloodycleanuptheexperiencesoftraumacleanersinsouthafrica
_version_	1718429013339275264

Another Bloody Clean-Up: The Experiences of Trauma Cleaners in South Africa

Ejemplares similares