Impact of Traumatic Material on Professionals in Analytical and Secondary Investigative Roles Working in Criminal Justice Settings: a Qualitative Approach

Abstract

Professionals in analytical and secondary investigative roles are exposed to violent material on a daily basis with full immersion in the details of serious offenses. However, there is limited evidence of the impact of this on their mental health. Therefore, this research aims to explore the impact of traumatic material on the mental health of these professionals in police and law enforcement and the strategies they employ to cope with the nature of their work. Forty semi-structured interviews were conducted with these professionals from UK, Canada, and Europe. Five key themes were identified: “Analyzing material,” “Negative Influences,” “Coping Strategies,” “Additional Risk Factors,” and “Protective Factors.” From the findings, it is evident that these professionals are at significant risk of developing secondary traumatic stress, burnout, and sleep problems. The constant exposure to this material negatively influenced their feelings about their home and social lives. The implications of these findings and avenues for providing a supportive working environment are discussed.

Offender Management: Reducing hazards and building resilience

“…Although increased levels of empathy can make an OM more vulnerable to developing compassion fatigue and secondary trauma (Duran and Woodhams, 2022), many of the essential OM skills identified by the MoJ and Probation Service require a high level of empathetic awareness and attunement. Empathy is the ability to determine what someone else is thinking or feeling and to respond appropriately (Baron-Cohen, 2011).…”

“…Evidence shows that police officers and other professionals experience heightened clinical symptoms, including anxiety, depression, simple and complex trauma, as well as increased levels of suicidal ideation and alcohol abuse (Foley et al, 2021;Syed et al, 2020). Working with offenders exposes OMs to daily traumatising information and situations, leading to burnout, compassion fatigue and secondary traumatic stress (Duran and Woodhams, 2022;Hurrell et al, 2017). Organisational factors can increase the experience of mental health problems (Sutton et al, 2022) and have a legal duty of care and ethical responsibility to create and maintain working environments that protect workers from harm (Management of Health & Safety, 1999).…”

Associations between individual cognitive factors, mode of exposure and depression symptoms in practitioners working with aversive crime material

“…In a previous interview study (Duran & Woodhams, 2022 ) with 40 international analytical practitioners, their responses also imply that the medium of exposure, mental imagery, thought suppression and belief in just world could be potential risk factors for psychological distress. Therefore, based on our theoretical arguments and qualitative research findings, we aimed to advance our knowledge of how specified individual and work-related characteristics could act as risk factors for depressive symptoms in these roles.…”

“…depression and PTSD) (Beck, 1976 ; Beevers et al, 1999 ; Duran & Woodhams, 2023 ). Duran and Woodhams ( 2022 ) found that analytical practitioners cope with the nature of their work by actively suppressing unwanted intrusive thoughts related to traumatic material when they come to mind. However, in the literature (Ehlers & Clark, 2000 ), this is considered maladaptive because the suppression of recollections of the traumatic event can increase the likelihood of them coming back to mind (Miller et al, 2019 ).…”

“…Many analytical practitioners report joining law enforcement to help people in society (Duran & Woodham, 2022 ) suggesting that they believe, through their work, they can be agents for justice and good. According to the just-world theory, some people believe that the world is a just place and people get what they deserve – good things happen to good people and bad things happen to bad people (Dalbert, 2009 ; Lerner, 1980 ).…”