‘I put my “police head” on’: Coping strategies for working with sexual offending material
| Published date | 01 September 2019 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0032258X18808294 |
| Date | 01 September 2019 |
| Author | Jo Bryce,Ruth Parkes,Nicola Graham-Kevan |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Article
‘I put my “police head” on’:
Coping strategies for
working with sexual
offending material
Ruth Parkes, Nicola Graham-Kevan and Jo Bryce
University of Central Lancashire, Preston, UK
Abstract
This paper explores the coping strategies of UK police staff who are exposed to sexual
offence material (SOM). Eleven police staff completed a questionnaire then took part in
semi-structured interviews. Themes were identified using Interpretative Phenomen-
ological Analysis (IPA). This paper explores the theme ‘Coping strategies for working
directly with material’, focusing on the most common strategies employed: ‘Detach-
ment’, ‘Avoidance’ and ‘Process-driven’ approaches. Links between coping and different
features of SOM are examined, including victim characteristics and audio content. The
impact of organisational factors which make coping strategies more or less effective are
also explored, along with potential sources of support.
Keywords
sexual offending material, police, emotional regulation, coping strategies, interpretative
phenomenological analysis
Exposure to material relating to sexual offending is a key feature of the role of police
officers and civilian police staff, particularly in teams such as public protection units,
CID and specialist online child abuse investigatio n teams. The dramatic increase in
reporting of child sexual abuse over the last four years (Bentley et al., 2016) and the
proliferation of offences such as producing indecent images of children, online solicita-
tion and grooming (Bryce, 2017) means that the volume and intensity of direct exposure
to sexual offence material for professionals is increasing (Babchishin et al., 2015).
Exposure includes viewing indecent images of the sexual abuse of children, interviewing
Corresponding author:
Ruth Parkes, University of Central Lancashire, Eden Building, Victoria Street, Preston, PR1 2HE, UK.
Email: rparkes@uclan.ac.uk
The Police Journal:
Theory, Practice and Principles
2019, Vol. 92(3) 237–263
ªThe Author(s) 2018
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DOI: 10.1177/0032258X18808294
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victims and perpetrators of sexual offences, watching and reading online communication
within perpetrator networks, and reading electronic communications in which
victims are being groomed by perpetrators (Wolak and Mitchell, 2009). In order
to support police staff in undertaking their duties, it is important to understand
the strategies they use to cope with exposure to this material, the usefulness of
these strategies and the organisational factors which may help or hinder the efficacy
of the coping mechanisms employed.
Within the small body of literature exploring police exposure to sexual offence
material, the focus has primarily been on examining the impact the work has had on
the psychological well-being and behaviour of staff. Police samples examined in previ-
ous studies are primarily US-based ‘Internet crimes against children’ task force staff
(Craun et al., 2015; Wolak and Mitchell, 2009) or Internet Child Exploitation (ICE) team
members (Powell et al., 2014, 2015). Impact has been framed in terms of burnout
(Maslach, 1981), secondary traumatic stress (Figley, 1995) or vicarious traumatisation
(McCann and Pearlman, 1990). The DSM-5 (American Psychiatric Association, 2013)
definition of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) now recognises that those who are
repeatedly exposed to trauma through hearing or seeing the event indirectly as part of
their work are more vulnerable to PTSD, and makes specific reference to sexual assault
and exposure to trauma through various media. The updated definition of PTSD there-
fore arguably renders the construct ‘secondary traumatic stress’ obsolete in the context of
research exploring exposure to sexual trauma in the workplace.
Factors found to affect coping ability in professionals working with sexual trauma
include personal trauma history (Way et al., 2004) and high levels of rumination and
empathy (Clarke, 2011). Lower levels of negative reactivity have been linked to greater
emotional intelligence (Dean and Barnett, 2010; Sandhu et al., 2012) and having a
positive perspective, for example the belief that individuals have the capacity to change
for the better (Slater and Lambie, 2010). There are inconsistencies within the literature
regarding the impact of factors such as the length of time a person has spent in a role
involving sexual offences. Some studies show higher levels of negative sequelae for less
experienced practitioners, while others indicate a greater impact for those who have
spent many years in the role (Steed and Bicknell, 2001). Highly experienced staff have
shown signs of permanent emotional hardening or dulling due to the cumulative effects
of working with trauma material (Sandhu et al., 2012), which may in itself be seen as a
coping strategy.
When reviewing studies of practitioners who work directly with perpetrators of sexual
offences and those who work only with the materials relating to the sexual offences,
Leicht (2008) identified a marked difference in coping strategies. Those who work
closely with the offender but not the victim, such as probation officers, tended to employ
emotion-based coping strategies, such as separating the offender from their behaviour,
attempting to understand the motivation to offend, and recognising some clients as also
being victims by looking at their personal history of abuse. Those who had little or no
contact with the offender as part of their role, such as police staff examining computer-
based evidence of offending, tended to employ problem-solving coping strategies,
including humour, varying their workload and keeping firm work/life boundaries.
Nash’s 2014 study of police ‘Offender Managers’, who have much more contact with
238 The Police Journal: Theory, Practice and Principles 92(3)
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