Interprete umanitario Stress, burnout e coping mechanisms

The aim of this dissertation is to analyze the emotional and psychological impact experienced by interpreters working in the humanitarian field, with a specific focus on stress-related factors, burnout, and coping mechanisms. In the first chapter, this study explores the role of humanitarian interpreters. On the one hand, special emphasis is given to their emotional labor, and the psychological challenges they encounter. On the other, several codes of ethics are analyzed. The second chapter focuses on stress, burnout, vicarious trauma, interpreters’ physiological, psychological responses, as well as their coping strategies. Through a questionnaire-based survey, whose questions and answers are outlined in the third chapter, this study aims at exploring the experience of 22 interpreters working in the humanitarian field, with a particular emphasis on stressors, coping strategies, and the challenge of abiding by a code of ethics. The findings of the survey, as described in chapter four, confirm that interpreters working in the humanitarian field experience high levels of emotional and psychophysical stress. This is mainly due to the emotional labor they must perform, as well as the exposure to potentially traumatic content. According to these results, it seems that there is no direct correlation between experience, gender and a good level of stress management and resilience. Furthermore, it must be stressed that almost all participants advocate for a regular psychological support, for briefing and debriefing sessions and a specific training on coping strategies. Although this research has some limitations, such as its qualitative nature, limited sample size, and potential language barriers, it provides valuable insights into stress and burnout among humanitarian interpreters and emphasizes the importance to further research the topic and to support humanitarian interpreters in their work.