Purpose

The purpose of this study is to examine the ways in which police officers connect their own direct and secondary trauma exposure to negative collateral effects on police-public interactions.

Methods

Data are drawn from in-depth, semi-structured interviews with 48 police officers from across the U.S., representing a range of professional and personal backgrounds. Data were examined using a blended inductive/deductive coding strategy.

Results

Officers' narratives show that trauma exposure and related deteriorations in mental health are seen as an inevitable part of police work. Officers linked trauma exposure to negative cognitions about the perception of danger, the controllability of events, and the overarching nature of humanity. Finally, officers connected these negative cognitions directly to the frequency and quality of their contact with the public. Specifically, officers described (1) avoidant behaviors including physical and emotional avoidance of situations that could result in further psychological or bodily harm, and (2) approach behaviors including more defensive, hostile and enforcement-based approaches to the public.

Conclusions

Findings provide support for a cognitive-behavioral framework to explain the reported effects of police trauma exposure on interactions with the public. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

中文翻译：

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“在那之后，我对让任何人休息一下持怀疑态度”：官员对与公众互动的创伤暴露的后果

目的

本研究的目的是检查警察如何将他们自己的直接和继发性创伤暴露与对警察-公众互动的负面附带影响联系起来。

方法

数据来自对来自美国各地的 48 名警察的深入、半结构化访谈，这些警察代表了一系列专业和个人背景。使用混合归纳/演绎编码策略检查数据。

结果

警官的叙述表明，创伤暴露和相关的心理健康恶化被视为警察工作不可避免的一部分。官员们将创伤暴露与对危险的感知、事件的可控性和人性的总体性质的负面认知联系起来。最后，官员将这些负面认知直接与他们与公众接触的频率和质量联系起来。具体而言，官员们描述了 (1) 回避行为，包括对可能导致进一步心理或身体伤害的情况的身体和情感回避，以及 (2) 接近行为，包括对公众采取更具防御性、敌意和基于执法的方法。

结论

调查结果为认知行为框架提供支持，以解释所报告的警察创伤暴露对与公众互动的影响。讨论了对研究和实践的影响。