Secondary Traumatic Stress: Prevalence and Symptomology Amongst Detective Officers Investigating Child Protection Cases

Alison D Maceachern,Sharon Jackson,Divya Jindal-Snape,Ashley A Dennis

doi:10.1007/s11896-018-9277-x

Abstract

It has been increasingly recognised that individuals exposed to the trauma of others within their professional roles can be affected by secondary traumatic stress (STS). Despite this recognition, there is a dearth of literature examining the prevalence of secondary traumatic stress amongst police officers in the UK. This study aims to meet this gap. Sixty-three Detective Officers from Family Protection Units (FPU(s)), primarily engaged in child protection/abuse investigations, self-reported their experiences and symptoms associated with STS through a questionnaire. Findings indicate that over half of the respondents experienced STS symptoms with 11% reporting levels of symptoms that were in the high or severe range. This study is significant in that it provides empirical evidence of issues that have so far been little documented in the UK and considers the implications for policing policy and practice in terms of the health and well-being of serving police officers.

Highlights

Exposure to trauma can impact on the health and well-being of individuals (MacEachern et al 2011; Palm et al 2004)
The empirical focus of such trauma research in police officers has been on the individuals who have been directly exposed to trauma with the aim to develop treatment associated with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) (Palm et al 2004)
In order to assess the extent to which police officers in the sample were exposed to the trauma of others, participants were asked to estimate the prevalence of trauma amongst clients/witness/complainer’s with whom they had conducted investigations

Summary

Introduction

Exposure to trauma (e.g. terrorism, natural disasters, child abuse) can impact on the health and well-being of individuals (MacEachern et al 2011; Palm et al 2004). A body of literature considers the ways in which police officers can be affected through exposure to traumatic situations. The empirical focus of such trauma research in police officers has been on the individuals who have been directly exposed to trauma with the aim to develop treatment associated with PTSD (Palm et al 2004). There is a notable research literature that has sought to understand a wide range of PTSD-associated phenomena amongst police officers such as the influence of gender, ethnicity and personality traits in the development of PTSD (Hodgins et al 2001; Lilly et al 2009; Pole et al 2001). In comparing police women to female civilians, police women have been shown to have less severe PTSD symptomology (Lilly et al 2009)

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Conclusion