A Bourdieusian Approach to Protecting the Wellbeing of Intimate Partner Violence Research Teams

Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) (domestic violence or abuse) is a gendered, global issue. Scholarly interest has been stimulated by reported escalations in IPV during the COVID-19 pandemic with further impetus from the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. IPV research is critical to improved interventions and service provision; however, it raises issues for researcher safety and wellbeing because of the risk of vicarious trauma. Nursing researchers may experience sustained exposure to distressing information during the data collection and data analysis phases of IPV research. This paper demonstrates the application of a Bourdieusian approach to protecting the wellbeing of an IPV research team. Through methods of reflection and synthesis we used Bourdieu's Theory of Practice framework and associated concepts of capital, field and habitus to develop a model to inform researcher wellbeing. Consideration of participant wellbeing is the foundation upon which researcher wellbeing is based. Researcher wellbeing is strengthened by an understanding of how vicarious trauma may manifest in researchers. Providing support through manageable workloads, self-care, and socialising is fundamental. As individual researchers have differential access to these resources, harnessing the collective resources of the team improves wellbeing. Including team members with lived experience of IPV contributes to team capital as do partnerships with service delivery organisations. Team processes to monitor workload, ensure debriefing, and provide specialised training are helpful. This paper has provided an understanding of a Bourdieusian approach to mitigating risk through the implementation of multi-faceted support strategies for the development of cultural and social capital within the research team.