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Submission 2
Anshu Moghe 246413041
DLHS, Manipal Academy of Higher Education (Bangalore)
Research Methodology and Ethics MPY1202
23-09.2024
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Aim
This research paper describes how adverse experiences during childhood influence career choice
in professional 'helping' careers: social work, counseling, and medicine.
It searches for the understanding of how the accumulating damage from early trauma influences
the choice to enter these professions as well as long-term career adaptability and professional
well-being.
Objectives
1. To examine the relationship between adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and the
decision to pursue a career in a helping profession.
2. To explore the role of cumulative harm in shaping career adaptability and
professional well-being in individuals from helping professions.
3. To analyze how different forms of ACEs (e.g., family dysfunction, abuse, neglect)
affect career trajectories in social work, counseling, and medical professions.
4. To identify the psychological and motivational factors that mediate the relationship
between childhood trauma and career choice.
5. To recommend trauma-informed interventions that support helping professionals with
histories of ACEs.
Hypotheses:
H1: The percentage of adverse childhood experiences, ACEs, is greater in helping professions
than it is for those in non-helping professions.
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H2: Participants from non-helping professions will have significantly lower adverse childhood
experiences (ACEs) levels than participants from helping professions.
H3: For the group of helping professions, significant variability will exist between high ACE
score and low ACE score participants in the level of adaptability in careers.
H4: Victims of previous ACEs would more likely report that they selected their profession as a
form of healing or self-therapy over others.
Operational Definitions of Variables
● Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs):
Definition: Traumatic experiences before the age of 18, including physical, emotional, or
sexual abuse; neglect; household dysfunction, such as parental substance abuse, mental
illness, or domestic violence (Scott, 2020).
The Adverse Childhood Experiences International Questionnaire will be used to measure
ACEs, wherein exposure to different types of traumas is assessed.
● Career Choice in Helping Professions:
Non-Helping Professions: Those careers that are not primarily in caregiving and
emotional support, mainly business, engineering, law, or other fields that are not
classified as clinical fields (Bryce et al., 2021).
Helping Professions: Careers of care and support to others, which may include a social
worker, counselor, psychologist, nurse, and medicine (Bryce et al., 2021).
Career choice will be classified by self-reporting from participants who are currently
studying or working in those professions.
● Career Adaptability:
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Definition: The ability of individuals to adjust to challenges and transitions at work and
in their careers. It is experienced when people manage stress and accommodate the
demands and pressures of working (Kim & Smith, 2021).
Career adaptability will be measured using the Career Adapt-Abilities Scale, which
analyzes factors like confidence, control, curiosity, and concern.
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References
Barnett, M. (2007). What brings you here? An exploration of the unconscious motivations of
those who choose to train and work as psychotherapists and counsellors. Psychodynamic
Practice, 13(3), 257–274. https://doi.org/10.1080/14753630701455796
Bryce, I., Pye, D., Beccaria, G., McIlveen, P., & Du Preez, J. (2021). A systematic literature
review of the career choice of helping professionals who have experienced cumulative
harm as a result of adverse childhood experiences. Trauma Violence & Abuse, 24(1),
72–85. https://doi.org/10.1177/15248380211016016
Kim, J., & Smith, C. K. (2021). Traumatic experiences and female university students’ career
adaptability. The Career Development Quarterly, 69(3), 263–277.
https://doi.org/10.1002/cdq.12272
Scott, K. (2020). Adverse childhood experiences. InnovAiT Education and Inspiration for
General Practice, 14(1), 6–11. https://doi.org/10.1177/1755738020964498
