Predictors of traumatic stress symptoms in police personnel exposed to sexual trauma
| Author | Ruth Parkes,Nicola Graham-Kevan,Jo Bryce |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/0032258X211031511 |
| Published date | 01 December 2022 |
| Date | 01 December 2022 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Article
The Police Journal:
Theory, Practice and Principles
2022, Vol. 95(4) 734–749
© The Author(s) 2021
Article reuse guidelines:
sagepub.com/journals-permissions
DOI: 10.1177/0032258X211031511
journals.sagepub.com/home/pjx
Predictors of traumatic stress
symptoms in police personnel
exposed to sexual trauma
Ruth Parkes, Nicola Graham-Kevan and Jo Bryce
School of Social Work, Care and Community, University of Central Lancashire, Preston, UK
Abstract
This article presents findings from a survey which explored exposure to sexual offence
material in Police personnel (N= 384). Factor analysis determined that two types of
coping strategies were employed: ‘detachment’and ‘avoidance’, with a further factor
regarding ‘negative coping beliefs’. Two types of adverse impact analogous to post-
traumatic stress disorder symptoms were identified: ‘cognitive/affective changes’and
‘increased suspicion/vigilance’. Multiple regression analysis found that avoidance-based
coping strategies, holding negative beliefs about coping, being a parent, and having
personally experienced sexual abuse were all predictive of increased levels of traumatic
stress symptoms.
Keywords
Police, sexual trauma exposure, traumatic stress, coping strategies
Interest in the psychological consequences of exposure to sexual offence material
(SOM) in Police personnel has increased over the last 10 years (Hurrell et al., 2018;
Tehrani, 2016). Adverse impacts include intrusive images and sleep disruption
(Perez et al., 2010;Powell et al., 2015), self-consciousness about relationships with
children and reduced sexual intimacy with partners (Craun et al., 2015;Wol ak a nd
Mitchell, 2009), overprotectiveness and distrust of others (Bourke and Craun,
2014a;Parkes et al., 2019b;Powell et al., 2014). A smaller body of literature
addresses the coping strategies used to manage SOM exposure (Burns et al., 2008;
Craun and Bourke, 2014;Parkeset al., 2019a). Most studies hadsmall samples due to their
Corresponding author:
Ruth Parkes, School of Social Work, Care and Community, University of Central Lancashire, Eden Building
room 326, Victoria Road, Preston PR1 2HE.
Email: rparkes@uclan.ac.uk
qualitative methodologies and provide insight into the lived experience of Police personnel.
Bourke andCraun (2014b) study offers a larger-scale quantitative examination of the coping
strategiesused in this context(N= 677), and applies a copingtool (COPE scale, Carveret al.,
1989) measuring general coping ability. This study found that self-reported difficulty with
viewing indecent images and using ‘denial’coping strategies werelinked to higher levelsof
secondary traumatic stress (STS). Effective supervisor support was correlated with lower
STS scores.Overall, one quarter of participantsin this study scored severe or high levelsof
STS.
Coping has been measured in range of professionals (Connor-Smith and Flachsbart,
2007) including social workers (Bride, 2007), first responders (Avraham et al., 2014),
and emergency telephonists (Adams et al., 2015). When examined alongside measures
of delayed recovery, emotional-based and avoidance-based strategies have been found
to be maladaptive, while task-based and detachment-based strategies have been de-
scribed as adaptive (Endler and Parker, 1990;Nelson and Smith, 2016;Roger et al.,
1993). Studies have also found that problem-focused coping rather than emotion-
focused coping is linked to more positive outcomes (Endler and Parker, 1990;Shin
et al., 2014). These findings illustrate the challenges of utilising adaptive coping
techniques in a Policing context, which involves highly stressful situations charac-
terised by uncertainty.
There is some evidence that coping ability may be linked to stable personality traits.
Neuroticism has been linked to the use of maladaptive strategies such as denial and
disengagement, while conscientiousness has been positively related to active coping
and planning (Jakˇ
si´
c et al., 2012). Other studies have found that high levels of ex-
traversion and low levels of neuroticism were linked to reduced adverse impact in Police
personnel who were exposed to general trauma (Madamet et al., 2018) or sexual trauma
(Tehrani, 2016). However, focussing exclusively on an individual’s personality traits
deflects attention away from employers’responsibilities to provide adequate support
resources and a work environment conducive to effective coping. Successful man-
agement of work-related trauma should involve a constructive interaction between the
work environment, the individual, and the resources provided to support recovery from
trauma exposure (Paton, 1997).
Police organisations have ‘the power to shape the professional and personal
identities’of their employees, with ‘adefining influence on psychological well-
being’(Burke and Paton, 2006:p.196).Officers are expected to fulfil a dual role in-
volving inconsistent emotional demands; being both approachable public servants and
enforcers of the law (Schaible and Six, 2016), with masculinism and cynicism historically
being emblematic of Police culture (Loftus, 2008,2010). It is within this milieu that Police
personnel must develop what they think are the most appropriate coping strategies for
dealing with stress and distress. The cultural importance of impression management in
Policing suggests that in terms of emotional labour (Hochschild, 1983), officers may be
inclined to engage in ‘surface-acting’(Grandey,2000) when faced with tra umatic situations,
to hide their real feelings from others. In their meta-analysis of emotional labour studies,
Hülsheger and Schewe (2011) found that surface acting was consistently de trimental to
Parkes et al. 735
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