Organizational support for the potentially traumatic impact of video evidence of violent crime in the criminal justice system: ‘We’re almost making more victims’
| Published date | 01 September 2023 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/02697580221112436 |
| Author | Arija Birze,Cheryl Regehr,Kaitlyn Regehr |
| Date | 01 September 2023 |
https://doi.org/10.1177/02697580221112436
International Review of Victimology
2023, Vol. 29(3) 385 –405
© The Author(s) 2022
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DOI: 10.1177/02697580221112436
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Organizational support for the
potentially traumatic impact of
video evidence of violent crime
in the criminal justice system:
‘We’re almost making more
victims’
Arija Birze
University of Toronto, Canada
Cheryl Regehr
University of Toronto, Canada
Kaitlyn Regehr
University of Canterbury, UK
Abstract
As graphic video evidence becomes a standard element in the investigation and prosecution of
violent crime, criminal justice organizations must consider and address exposure to and impact
of this potentially traumatizing workplace material for criminal justice professionals. Using a
discovery-oriented qualitative design and a long-interview method of data collection, this study
explores organizational responses to the exposure of criminal justice professionals to a growing
volume of video evidence of violent crime. Repeated exposure to high-quality video evidence
has the effect of placing criminal justice professionals in the midst of traumatic events, resulting
in responses that are akin to trauma contagion. However, organizational awareness and the
acceptance of trauma and support systems have not kept pace with the exponential rise in
exposure, often being deployed when the person is no longer able to continue in their role. As
a result, affected individuals may over-rely on equally affected colleagues for support, intensifying
the cycle of trauma contagion. Organizational responses to reduce trauma contagion and the
psychological burden on professionals working with video evidence of violent crime should occur
Corresponding author:
Arija Birze, Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work, University of Toronto, 246 Bloor Street W, Toronto, ON M5S
1V4, Canada.
Email: Arjia.birze@utoronto.ca
1112436IRV0010.1177/02697580221112436International Review of VictimologyBirze et al.
research-article2022
Article
386International Review of Victimology 29(3)
at three levels: prevention through moderating exposure; preparation through creating a culture
of awareness and acceptance; and intervention through systematic and formal supports.
Keywords
Video evidence, traumatic exposure, organizational support, collegial support, trauma contagion,
peer support
As surveillance, security, webcam, personal, and eyewitness cell phone cameras play an ever
expanding role in our digitally mediated lives, these devices often serve as a valuable source of
video evidence in the investigation and prosecution of violent crimes (Brayne et al., 2018; Dodge,
2018; Dodge et al., 2019; Henry and Powell, 2016, 2018; Henry et al., 2018; Kimpel, 2021; Powell
and Henry, 2018, 2019; Powell et al., 2015; Sandberg and Ugelvik, 2017; Spencer et al.,2018,
2019). Indeed, according to Biber (2017: 21), the public and the criminal justice system have
‘assimilated visual knowledge to the extent that we now demand it wherever probative work needs
to be done. Claims without images seem more difficult to substantiate’. Consequently, those work-
ing throughout the criminal justice system are increasingly required to intimately engage with this
potentially traumatic content by way of locating, analysing, documenting, interpreting, disclosing,
and deliberating upon video recordings of violent crime. Of course, the potential trauma for those
dealing with the footage is not comparable to the victim/survivors depicted within it (Regehr et al.,
2021b). However, as viewers now have access to visual and audio information not previously per-
ceptible, this form of evidence is potentially a site of trauma, amplifying its impact, causing injury
far beyond the original act, and as such, requiring its own policy and safety protocols for all
involved (Birze et al., 2022b; Regehr et al., 2021b).
Research on occupationally derived stress and trauma among police officers and other justice
system actors has traditionally focussed on direct traumatic exposure to physical events (Lee et al.,
2020; Regehr et al., 2021a; Skogstad et al., 2013; Wagner et al., 2020). Effects of such exposure in
police officers and other public safety personnel, for instance, include avoidance of situations that
may result in further risk of psychological or physical harm, depersonalization, emotion dysregula-
tion, and hostile, defensive, and enforcement-based approaches to the public (Hofer et al., 2021;
Park et al., 2021). In addition, following the example of research on workplace empathy-based
stress responses – such as secondary traumatic stress or vicarious traumatization – that arise from
indirect exposure to others’ traumatic experiences among the helping and other professions (Brady,
2017; Branson, 2019; Molnar et al., 2020; Pirelli et al., 2020; Slack, 2020), a limited but growing
body of research is examining indirect secondary traumatic stressors and their effects in profes-
sions or roles within the justice system, such as police officers (Brady, 2017), lawyers (Leclerc
et al., 2020; Seamone, 2013; Zwisohn et al., 2018), judges (Edwards and Miller, 2019; Polak et al.,
2019), and jurors (Haragi et al., 2020; Lonergan et al., 2016; McQuiston et al., 2019). To this end,
the DSM-5 now includes in its criteria for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), indirect exposure
to aversive details of the trauma in the course of occupational duties, with specific mention of first
responders (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). As such, some scholars have begun to exam-
ine the traumatic impact of digital evidence more broadly, sometimes briefly discussing the par-
ticularly traumatic potential of video (e.g. online child sexual abuse material including still images
and text; (Bourke and Craun, 2014; Burruss et al., 2018; Denk-Florea et al., 2020; Powell et al.,
2015; Seigfried-Spellar, 2018). Importantly, almost no research has specifically addressed what
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