Safer Viewing: A Study of Secondary Trauma Mitigation Techniques in Open Source Investigations.

Human rights investigators often review graphic imagery of potential war crimes and human rights abuses while conducting open source investigations. As a result, they are at risk of developing secondary trauma, a condition that can produce a range of cognitive and behavioral consequences, including elevated anxiety and distress, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder. Human rights organizations have traditionally been slow to recognize the risk of secondary trauma. However, in recent years, several university programs offering students practical experience in open source human rights investigations have implemented training on secondary trauma mitigation. We administered a survey to students in these programs to determine whether they are implementing recommended mitigation techniques and to document what techniques they find helpful. From 33 responses, we identified six general practices as helping mitigate secondary trauma: processing graphic content, limiting exposure to graphic content, drawing boundaries between personal life and investigations, bringing positivity into investigations, learning from more experienced investigators, and employing a combination of techniques. We also identified recommendations for institutions to protect the right to health of investigators and to support secondary trauma mitigation, both through frequent training and through practices such as labeling graphic content and emphasizing self-care. The article concludes with areas for future research.

Typical consonant cluster acquisition in auditory-verbal children with early-identified severe/profound hearing loss.

Early-identified severe/profound hearing loss (HL) following universal newborn hearing screening (UNHS) has been associated with improved speech and language outcomes. However, speech outcome reports have typically been based on broad measures of speech intelligibility and/or singleton consonant accuracy, with little known about production of consonant clusters. Using a prospective design, the range and accuracy of consonant clusters produced by a homogenous cohort of 12 children early-identified with severe/profound HL aged 3- and 4-years were examined. All children demonstrated bilateral aided thresholds within a range of 15-25 dB HL across all frequencies, were optimally amplified with cochlear implants (11/12) or hearing aids (1/12), and attended auditory-verbal (AV) early intervention. Standardized speech and language assessments were administered. Consonant clusters were strategically sampled in single-word and conversational speech contexts. All standard scores for speech, receptive, and expressive language were within normal limits. All children produced consonant clusters commensurate with expectations for typically-developing hearing peers at 3- and 4- years-of-age. Children's production of phonetically complex morphophonemes (final consonant clusters marking grammatical morphemes) was also in keeping with developmental expectations. Factors which contributed to these encouraging outcomes require further investigation.