Individual characteristics, secondary trauma and burnout in police sexual and violent offending teams
| Author | Michelle Rydon-Grange,Clarabella Gray |
| Published date | 01 June 2020 |
| Date | 01 June 2020 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/0032258X19847499 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Article
Individual characteristics,
secondary trauma and
burnout in police sexual
and violent offending
teams
Clarabella Gray
North Wales Clinical Psychology Programme, Bangor University, Bangor,
UK
Michelle Rydon-Grange
Ty
ˆLlywelyn Medium Secure Unit, Bryn-y-Neuadd Hospital,
Llanfairfechan, UK
Abstract
The traumatic nature of work conducted by specialist police staff places them at risk of
developing work-related stress and psychological health difficulties. The study examined
risk and resilience factors for secondary trauma, burnout and mental ill-health. A con-
venience sample of police staff (N¼78) from several specialist sexual and violent
offending teams completed an online survey. Results indicated that coping self-efficacy,
dispositional mindfulness and psychological flexibility are resilience factors and insecure
attachment style is a risk factor for secondary trauma, burnout and mental ill-health.
Psychological approaches may be beneficial in promoting a resilient police workforce and
maintaining operational effectiveness.
Keywords
Secondary-trauma, burnout, resilience, attachment
Corresponding author:
Clarabella Gray, North Wales Clinical Psychology Programme, School of Psychology, Brigantia Building, Bangor
University, Bangor LL57 2DG, UK.
Email: clarabella.gray@gmail.com
The Police Journal:
Theory, Practice and Principles
2020, Vol. 93(2) 146–161
ªThe Author(s) 2019
Article reuse guidelines:
sagepub.com/journals-permissions
DOI: 10.1177/0032258X19847499
journals.sagepub.com/home/pjx
Introduction
Police specialist sexual and violent offending teams frequently have contact with
traumatised individuals, distressing situations and challenging subject matter
(Atkinson-Tovar, 2003; Cross and Ashley, 2004; Karlsson and Christianson, 2003).
Alongwiththerapidgrowthoftheinternet, one area of specialist policing that has
expanded over the last decade is the investigation of online child sexual abuse (MacEa-
chern et al., 2015). In 2017 the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse in
England and Wales was informed that suspected incidents of online child sexual abuse
referred to the UK’s largest police force had increased by 700%over the previous three
years (Bowcott, 2018).
Police staff investigating the production, possession and distribution of indecent
images of children using electronic devices are often involved in lengthy investigations,
requiring extensive contact with distressing material (Powell et al., 2014). As with other
specialist police teams, this places staff at risk of experiencing secondary trauma, burn-
out and developing psychological difficulties (Powell et al., 2014; Tehrani, 2016; Tur-
goose et al., 2017). For example, recent res earch has highlighted the cogn itive and
emotional stress of homicide investigations on specialist police staff (Roach et al.,
2017). Furthermore, child homicide investigations have been found to exacerbate the
negative impact on staff due to both victim and investigator factors e.g. whether inves-
tigators have children the same age as the victim and the helplessness of children (Roach
et al., 2018).
Research on secondary traumatic stress in the helping professions emerged in the
1980s, focusing upon emergency service workers (Dunning and Silva, 1980; Durham
et al., 1985; Hartsough and Myers, 1 985). Secondary trauma can be defin ed as the
indirect traumatisation of a person through the stress of helping, wanting to help, or
knowing about a traumatised individual or event (Figley, 1995). The term is often used
interchangeably with compassion fatigue (Figley, 2002; Joinson, 1992) and is also
synonymous with vicarious traumatisation (McCann and Pearlman, 1990), despite subtle
differences in definition and use existing (Elwood et al., 2011; Stamm, 1997).
As with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), symptoms of secondary trauma
include emotional arousal, avoidance and intrusive thoughts or memories. It is
hypothesised to occur quickly and unexpectedly in the context of contact with one
or more traumatic events (Elwood et al., 2011; Figley, 1995). The concept of second-
ary traumatisation developed from research on job burnout (Maslach, 1981; Maslach
and Johnson, 1982). Unlike secondary trauma, burnout is hypothesised to emerge
gradually in relation to long-term work-related stress, resulting in physical, emotional
and psychological exhaustion (Maslach et al., 1996). It is not unique to those working
withvictimsoftraumaorthehelpingprofessions and leads to a sense of reduced
professional accomplishment and difficulties in work performance (Maslach et al.,
2001; Schaufeli et al., 2009).
In contrast to the constructs described above, compassion satisfaction can be under-
stood as existing at the opposite end of the responses to work spectrum. It has been
defined as the fulfilment a person receives from being able to do their work effectively
and contribute to the wellbeing of others (Stamm, 2005). It is considered to be essential
Gray and Rydon-Grange 147
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