Journal of Student Research 2018

11 Examining the Lived Experiences of Individuals with Multiple Childhood Traumas aspects of care that can be improved upon. Applying the trauma informed care approach when working with clients such as these would minimize the risk of harm by reducing the chance that the worker would ask questions that could trigger an individual’s feelings during the original trauma (SAMHSA, 2014). Research Questions There are three main research questions that were considered. The research questions are as follows: 1. What are the adverse childhood experiences that were experienced by Social Work students? 2. How does the frequency and severity of childhood trauma impact a child? 3. What drove these individuals to choose a career in Social Work? In the original ACE study, researchers generated a survey that consisted of questions pertaining to participants’ first 18 years of life in the setting they considered to be “home” with their parent/guardian(s) (Felitti et al., 1998). Family dynamics are the patterns of relations or interactions between family members (Frewen et al., 2015). In order to evaluate and establish these patterns, researchers developed questions that would directly reflect how each participant interacted with various individuals in their household. One question reads, “Did a parent or other adult in the household often swear at you, insult you, put you down, or humiliate you?” (Felitti et al., 1998, p. 248). These questions were not only aimed at how the participant interacted with household members, but also the interactions of other individuals that were witnessed by the participant. Another question reads, “Was your mother or stepmother often pushed, grabbed, slapped, or had something thrown at her?” (Felitti et al., 1998, p. 248). Questions such as these were added to identify the risk factors of not only experiencing abuse first-hand, but also witnessing it. According to another related study on childhood trauma, “a growing literature suggests that witnessing violence can also have a significant impact on a wide range of adverse psychological outcomes” (Frewen et al., 2015, p. 2). Literature Review Family Dynamics

Categories of Abuse

In the ACE study there were three categories of childhood abuse: psychological, physical, and sexual (Felitti et al., 1998). There were then