Vicarious trauma - Literature review Example

A magical profession: literature review al affiliation A magical profession: a literature review In “A Magical Profession”, Ali Hetherington addresses the various challenges that sign language interpreters go through in the course of their profession. Hetherington clearly states that the major problem is that there is insufficient literature regarding the challenges associated with the sign language profession, thus giving the illusion that interpreters do not face any challenges. Hetherington approaches the issue directly and states that sign language interpreters are not magicians and that the roles they perform are complex.

In practice, the profession can be emotionally drowning, thus the need for supervision and supportive programs for the professionals (Hetherington 2011, p. 1). Hetherington is a professional interpreter of 15, meaning that they have directly dealt with the challenges facing interpretations. Hetherington cites several literary sources in the course of the study. However, Hetherington seems a bit biased in the literature used seeing as most of the literature cited seems to agree with the problem at hand.

Hetherington gives no consideration to literature that may be contrary to the study’s standpoint. The study uses qualitative methodology whereby participants are taken through semi-structured interviews about their personal experiences in the profession (Hetherington 2011, p. 6).Ideally, Hetherington (2011, p. 7) uses emotional appeal in documenting the study in that the participants were allowed to answer to open-ended and non-leading questions thus ruling out objectivity. However, the study methodology is unbalanced considering that only female participants were used, yet the profession attracts males as well.

Hetherington structures the study in a logical manner such that each section leads to the other, allowing for easy understanding of the work. For example, the introduction is followed by a literature review, methodology, findings, discussion, and finally the conclusion. This study is an important contribution to sign language interpretation research. In essence, the study reveals that interpreters should be adequately prepared before taking on their roles and supervised during actual practice (Hetherington 2011, pp. 26-27). Additionally, assignments should not be interchanged so as to maintain emotional sensitivity.

ReferenceHetherington, A., 2011. A Magical Profession? Causes and Management of Occupational Stress in Sign Language Interpreting Profession. In L. Leeson, S. Wurm, M. Vermeerbergen (Eds.). Signed Language Interpreting: Preparation, Practice And Performance (Pp. 138-159). Manchester, UK: St. Jerome Publishing.