Personal Reflection Paper
BSHS 345
August 26, 2014

Personal Reflection Paper
Invidious comparison is the act of comparing one person to others according to their class, race, sex, or religion. This act can have a negative effect on people who are aware of it. Growing up in California, where the predominant Hispanic races were of Mexican and Central American origin, I was constantly compared to those Hispanic backgrounds. This was frustrating because I am Colombian and the Colombian Culture is very different from the Central American culture. My mind could not understand why people would compare me to them if I am South American. The traditions, food, music, slang, and even accents were different. American non-Hispanic people would call me, among many other things, a “dirty Mexican” or “wet back.” This was extremely frustrating because neither one of my parents hopped the border nor were they dirty. My young mind did not know how that these people were just ignorant so my frustration turned into anger and total repulsion of races of those other backgrounds and countries. A sense of insecurity and even self-hate would overcome me. I did not want to be Hispanic, I wanted to be white, and I wanted to be accepted.
My way of seeing things changed in 2006 when the Immigration Equality Movements became popular. Latino activists would speak at events and in a sense give the people a sense of empowerment and hope. Attending these events made me feel proud of my Hispanic heritage and a love for the Hispanic population as a whole started to grow. I embraced them all as my people regardless of their culture or countries of origin. I marched alongside them in protests, volunteered at events, and helped raise awareness. Instead of allowing the oppression and injustice of Hispanics to continue to consume me, I used that fire to fuel my desire for knowledge.
Stopping invidious comparison seems almost impossible however, educating people on how to avoid doing such things is helpful. Many times someone may compare or stereo type a person or group simply because of their upbringing or experiences they have had. Helping those individuals understand that everyone is different is a great starting point. Bringing to light the fact that stereotypes can fit any group regardless of their class, race, sex, or religion and that not everyone is the same, is highly effective. No specific group is perfection and they are all made up of different strengths and weaknesses. When someone has been affected by invidious comparison, they can find it difficult to progress and move past that category in which they have been placed in. This only diverts an individual from his or her own path to success. In order to break this mentality, the person must learn to focus on their own self as an individual and set goals for improvement.
Vicarious trauma is often times the result from years of unfavorable experiences or events. Seeing members of your group be discriminated can result in feelings of contempt and distrust even if the discrimination was not directed at you personally. I feel that I was able to dissolve the vicarious trauma, which I had experienced, by learning to simply let go becoming active in the community. I came to understand that what others said and thought of me was out of my control and that their opinion should not determine the outcome of my life. Helping others and striving for change was a way for me to feel effective. I focused on sports and my education refusing to become a statistic. Striving for excellence in everything I did became my priority and was ultimately, what broke that negative way of thinking. I believe that the tools that I have learned throughout my life will benefit me as a human service worker because I know what to look for. Human Service workers cater to people with different types of issues and sometimes he or she may find themselves caught in vicarious trauma. There are several factors for this; these are just some of them: * Wanting to change someone’s situation * Encountering trauma stories * Client’s lack of progress * Overly identifying with the client
In some cases, those who work with trauma survivors will empathically take on aspects of the trauma that the survivor has experienced. This can result in symptoms that are similar to those of trauma survivors themselves. Some symptoms can include increased aggression, decreased sex drive, sexual dysfunction, difficulty with boundaries, sleep problems, intrusive imagery, and sudden increase in cynical outlook, depression, issues around trust, intimacy, and greater sensitivity to violence. Making sure to prioritize self-care, maintenance of healthy boundaries with clients and early detection of symptoms can all help to minimize or eliminate the intrusion of Vicarious Trauma into the life of the Human Services worker (Unknown, 2014). Working with special needs populations is taxing on the mind and body therefore, it is important to set boundaries and know your limits. In doing so, the service worker will be more successful in avoiding burn out. It is important to recognize that professional burnout can happen in almost any social work setting, while vicarious trauma unique to direct practice with crisis and trauma populations (McCann, 1998)It may be easy to confuse the two at first because they both share some of the same symptoms. Knowing the differences in the two, along with their risks and symptoms is the best possible way to treat and or prevent either from happening (Figley, 1995). Training on the matter should be made available and mandatory by the agency. Therapy and counseling would also offer a great out let for the service worker to vent about what they have encountered instead of bottling it all in. Agency retreats, seminars, and activities such as yoga have also shown to be beneficial.

References

Figley, C. (1995). Compassion Fatigue. Levittown, PA: Brunner/Mazzel.
McCann, L. S. (1998). Trauma and Victimization: A model of psychology and adaptation. The Counseling Psychologist, 16(4), 531-594.
Unknown. (2014). Human Services Edu. Retrieved from Human Services Guide: http://www.humanservicesedu.org/trauma-pst.html