Second-hand emotion?: exploring the contagion and impact of trauma and distress in the asylum law context

Baillot, Helen; Cowen, Sharon; Munro, Vanessa

Abstract

Applicants' accounts of experiences of fear, trauma, violence, and persecution are central to the process of claiming asylum. These narratives are, at a human level, primed to provoke emotional responses, not only in the narrator but also in those to whom the account is relayed. In this article, we explore the vectors of emotionality that permeate asylum decision-making in the United Kingdom, focusing particularly on the risk faced by the professionals involved of suffering vicarious trauma.

Citation

Baillot, H., Cowen, S., & Munro, V. (2013). Second-hand emotion?: exploring the contagion and impact of trauma and distress in the asylum law context. Journal of Law and Society, 40(4), https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6478.2013.00639.x

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: Nov 11, 2013
• Deposit Date: Apr 14, 2014
• Publicly Available Date: Apr 14, 2014
• Journal: Journal of Law and Society
• Print ISSN: 0263-323X
• Electronic ISSN: 1467-6478
• Publisher: Wiley
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 40
• Issue: 4
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6478.2013.00639.x
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/719552
• Publisher URL: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1467-6478.2013.00639.x/pdf
• Additional Information: This is the pre-peer reviewed version of the following article: "H. Baillot, S. Cowan and V. E. Munro, Second-hand Emotion? Exploring the Contagion and Impact of Trauma and Distress in the Asylum Law Context, (2013) 40(4) Journal of Law and Society, pp. 509-540" which has been published in final form at http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1467-6478.2013.00639.x/pdf. Authors are not required to remove preprints posted prior to acceptance of the submitted version.