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"Woodhams, Jessica"
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Associations between individual cognitive factors, mode of exposure and depression symptoms in practitioners working with aversive crime material
There is extensive literature on front-line officers and investigators exposure to trauma and its negative impact on them. However, there are analytical practitioners in law enforcement who indirectly work with the traumatic experiences of other people daily, but are seldom the focus of academic research.
Our goal was to conduct the first international study with these practitioners to identify the risk of depression symptoms and establish whether potentially modifiable risk factors (belief in a just world, mental imagery and thought suppression) and work-related characteristics (medium of exposure) are associated with depression.
99 analysts and secondary investigators employed in police and law enforcement organizations from the UK, Europe and Canada participated in the study. The online survey was advertised to employees via their employers but hosted without employer access. Multiple regression was used to analyze the data.
After controlling for age, gender, ethnicity, previous exposure to trauma, and marital status, four potential risk factors were identified. Analytical practitioners with vivid mental imagery, those exposed to crime material via auditory
visual means, those who suppressed intrusive thoughts, and those who believed in a just world reported more depressive symptoms.
The majority of our sample reported clinical levels of depressive symptoms. Four potential risk factors accounted for just under half of the variance in depression scores. We consider strategies that can be used to mitigate the potential negative influence of these factors and suggest that these are established as risk factors for depression symptoms via future longitudinal research.
Journal Article
Impact of Traumatic Material on Professionals in Analytical and Secondary Investigative Roles Working in Criminal Justice Settings: a Qualitative Approach
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.
Journal Article
A model for secondary traumatic stress following workplace exposure to traumatic material in analytical staff
Analytical professionals working in criminal justice and in social media companies are exposed to aversive details of traumatic events. Albeit indirect, exposure in these roles is repeated and can be extreme, including exposure to material containing lethal violence, sexual assault, and serious self-harm, leading to post-traumatic stress disorder and Secondary Traumatic Stress reactions. Incorporating relevant empirical research, this article considers the mechanisms that may contribute to post-exposure post-traumatic stress disorder and Secondary Traumatic Stress reactions in these roles. Building on the Ehlers and Clark model, subsequent extensions, and the authors’ experience of working as, and conducting research with, law enforcement professionals, a new model is proposed to explain post-exposure post-traumatic stress disorder/Secondary Traumatic Stress reactions.
Journal Article
Handbook on the Study of Multiple Perpetrator Rape
Whilst there is considerable literature on rape from various perspectives, there is very little that focuses on rape committed by multiple perpetrators (also referred to as group or gang rape). For the first time, this handbook brings together international multi-disciplinary perspectives on multiple perpetrator rape.
The book is organised to provide readers with a comprehensive account of the thinking, theorising and empirical evidence on multiple perpetrator rape to date. Aspects covered include: different contexts in which multiple perpetrator rape occurs such as gangs, war, fraternities, South Africa; experiences of women and girls as victims and perpetrators; offence characteristics such as leadership and role taking, aggression and violence; the importance of group size; the prosecution of and treatment of offenders; and approaches to prevention.
The contributions to this collection are written by leading academics and practitioners from a variety of disciplines who bring together research and practice on multiple perpetrator rape by presenting new data from a strong theoretical and contextual base. This book will be a key text for students and academics studying multiple perpetrator rape and an essential reference tool for professionals working in the field including police officers, educationalists, forensic psychologists, youth workers, probation staff, lawyers, judges and policy makers.
eBook
“An Adventure That Went Wrong”: Reasons Given by Convicted Perpetrators of Multiple Perpetrator Sexual Offending for Their Involvement in the Offense
There is little empirical research examining the reasons behind multiple perpetrator sexual offending. A limited number of studies provide reasons for offending offered by perpetrators of this type of sexual violence, but only one published study exists where these perpetrators were interviewed regarding their offense. The Multi-Factorial Model of Multiple Perpetrator Sexual Offending (MPSO) proposed that various factors (individual, sociocultural, and situational) play a role in this type of sexual assault, noting in particular the importance of group dynamics and processes. In the current study, 25 convicted perpetrators of multiple perpetrator sexual offending housed in educational centers and prisons in Portugal were interviewed about their involvement and reasons for participating in the offense. The findings suggested that group processes and dynamics play an important part in this type of sexual offending. Furthermore, the results provided some evidence to support the factors proposed by the Multi-Factorial Model of MPSO. These findings have implications for prevention and treatment programs and for the assessment of offenders.
Journal Article
An Interview Study of the Experiences of Police Officers in Regard to Psychological Contract and Wellbeing
In this paper, it is argued that the psychological contract (PC) could provide rich insights into the understanding of employee and employer relations within the police and the stress and wellbeing of officers. Eighteen semi-structured interviews were conducted with active, full-time police officers and these were analysed using framework analysis. More than 100 base-units of meaning were identified which were categorised into six main themes namely ‘Motivation’, ‘Mutual obligations’, ‘Stressors’, ‘Negative consequences’, ‘Mediators’ and ‘Positive impact of the job’. From the interviews, it was apparent that some officers are experiencing PC breach and that this was having a negative impact on their wellbeing. These findings are considered and avenues for improving the situation are discussed.
Journal Article
Suspect Aggression and Victim Resistance in Multiple Perpetrator Rapes
Several research studies have reported an elevated level of aggression in rapes committed by multiple perpetrators compared to rapes committed by lone suspects. Several factors that have been linked to elevated aggression in generic samples of rape were examined for the first time with a sample of multiple perpetrator rapes. Factors that might be associated with victim resistance were also investigated. Victim and offender characteristics, as well as the behaviors displayed by victims and offenders, were extracted from the police files of 89 multiple perpetrator stranger rapes perpetrated against female victims in the United Kingdom. These behaviors were rated for their level of suspect (non-sexual) aggression and victim resistance, respectively. Degree of victim resistance was significantly and positively associated with suspect aggression. Older victims were the recipients of significantly higher levels of suspect aggression. Victims who were incapacitated from drugs and/or alcohol were less likely to be the recipients of suspect aggression. Group leaders displayed more aggression towards the victim than the followers in the groups. The number of perpetrators was significantly related to the degree of resistance displayed by the victim with offences perpetrated by fewer suspects being characterized by more victim resistance. Research regarding cognitive appraisal during criminal interactions and the respective roles of offenders is referred to in considering these relationships.
Journal Article
An Interview Study of the Experiences of Firefighters in Regard to Psychological Contract and Stressors
As the first qualitative study of its kind, this study explored firefighters’ beliefs and experiences about the psychological contract between themselves as employees and their employer, workplace stress, stress-management strategies, and their wellbeing. Eleven interviews were conducted with active firefighters from multiple fire stations in the UK. The interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim. The transcripts were analysed using framework analysis. Five superordinate themes were identified and labelled as ‘Motives’, ‘Mutual obligations’, ‘Stressors and their effects’, ‘Moderators’, and ‘Retention factors’, each of which contained lower level sub-themes. Psychological contract (PC) is a useful construct to measure firefighters’ perceived obligations as their responses reflected multiple facets of PC theory. The current climate of austerity measures appears to be negatively impacting on firefighters in terms of reducing numbers and placing higher task demands on those remaining. Thus, making it very difficult for the UK Fire and Rescue Service (UKFRS) to meet the perceived obligations of their employees. The findings have implications for human resource departments within UKFRS trying to manage the impact of funding cuts and they highlight the potential value of the PC as a construct around which such issues can be explored.
Journal Article
Relationships between psychological contract violation, stress and well-being in firefighters
Purpose
Negative emotions resulting from the broken promises by the organisation or employers, as perceived by an employee are called psychological contract (PC) violation. The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationships between perceived feelings of violation, work-related stress, anxiety and depression. Fairness and self-efficacy are used as mediators to understand the underlying mechanism of associations.
Design/methodology/approach
In total, 97 firefighters completed an online-survey and structural equation modelling was used to examine the multiple mediation models.
Findings
PC violation was positively associated with occupational stress and job-related well-being. Together, fairness and self-efficacy mediated the relationship between feelings of violation and job-related depression. Therefore, the results partially supported the hypotheses.
Originality/value
As the first quantitative study of its kind, this study makes an important contribution to the firefighters literature by investigating the potential influence of PC violation on their work-related stress and well-being. Also, previous studies have failed to identify fairness and self-efficacy as potential mediators of the PC violation.
Journal Article