Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

PTSD and Policing

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Trauma and Resilience in Contemporary Australian Policing

  • 365 Accesses

Abstract

Is PTSD inevitable? My local daily newspaper recently featured an article entitled: “PTSD: The dark cloud that hangs over our police officers”. Police are well aware of the dangers of their profession, physical as well as mental. This chapter examines the PTSD phenomenon from its inception as “Post Vietnam syndrome” to its contemporary widespread application to a variety of traumatic experiences from its detractors to the fears and hopes of the officers themselves. Biological perspectives are examined as is the debate among health professionals around the contemporary “epidemic” that is the PTSD phenomenon. Interviews with the cohort of psychiatrists and psychologists included in my research shed light on the actual incidence of PTSD diagnoses in South Australian policing, and the wider national and international research literature is also reviewed in detail. The New South Wales police autobiographies emanating from the twentieth century show how police organisations of the period had no interest in linking police duties with possible trauma. The question is then considered: “How much or how little has changed?” Police officers interviewed show a very clear awareness of these issues and in some cases significant anxiety as to this possible outcome during a long career in “the job”.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 109.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 139.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 139.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    See Chap. 2 “Power, organisation and police culture,” The job’”.

  2. 2.

    See also “Asking for help” Chap. 6.

  3. 3.

    See Chap. 8, “Resilience.”.

  4. 4.

    See also Chap. 4 “Death and Bodies”.

  5. 5.

    See my reference to these murders in my “Coping” and “Death and bodies” chapters.

  6. 6.

    See Chap. 2 “Power, organisational and police culture, ‘the job’”.

References

  • Addis, N., & Stephens, C. (2008). An evaluation of a police debriefing programme: Outcomes for police officers five years after a police shooting. International Journal of Police Science & Management, 10(4), 361–373.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Alexander, D. (2000). Debriefing and body recovery: Police in a civilian disaster. In Psychological debriefing: Theory, practice and evidence (pp. 118–130).

    Google Scholar 

  • Al-Shahi, R., & Warlow, C. (2000). The current status of psychological debriefing. BMJ, 321, 1032–1033.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • American Psychiatric Association. (1980). Diagnostic Statistics Manual of Mental Disorders. American Psychiatric Pub.

    Google Scholar 

  • American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (DSM-5®). American Psychiatric Pub.

    Google Scholar 

  • Amaranto, E., et al. (2003). Police stress interventions. Brief Treatment and Crisis Intervention, 3(1), 47.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Australian Red Cross (2009). Psychological First Aid: An Australian Guide. Australian Psychological Society.

    Google Scholar 

  • Berger, R., & Weiss, T. (2009). The Posttraumatic Growth model: An expansion to the family system. Traumatology, 15(1), 63.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bistoen, G. (2016). Trauma, ethics and the political beyond PTSD: The dislocations of the real. Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brewin, C. (2003). Posttraumatic stress disorder: Malady or myth? Yale University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Burke, R. J. (2016). Stress in Policing: Sources. Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Calhoun, L. G., & Tedeschi, R. G. (2014). Handbook of posttraumatic growth: Research and practice. Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chae, M. H., & Boyle, D. J. (2013). Police suicide: Prevalence, risk, and protective factors. Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies & Management, 36(1), 91–118.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chopko, B. A., & Schwartz, R. C. (2013). The relation between mindfulness and posttraumatic stress symptoms among police officers. Journal of Loss and Trauma, 18(1), 1–9.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cotton, P. (2016). Victoria Police Mental Health Review. An independent review into the mental health and well-being of Victoria Police employees. Australia.

    Google Scholar 

  • Douglas, B., & Wodak, J. (Eds.) (2016). Trauma related stress in Australia: Essays by leading Australian thinkers and researchers. ACT Australia: Australia 21 LTD.

    Google Scholar 

  • Friedman, M. (2015). Posttraumatic and acute stress disorders. Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gilmartin, K. M. (2002). Emotional survival for law enforcement. ES Press, PMB, 233, 2968.

    Google Scholar 

  • Grogan, S. (2014). Shell shocked Britain: The first world war's legacy for Britain's mental health. Pen and Sword.

    Google Scholar 

  • Herman, J. L. (1997). Trauma and recovery. Basic books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Henry, V. E. (2004). Death work: Police, trauma, and the psychology of survival. Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Horner, P. (2011). Jack Knife: The crashing of a policeman- NSW police and PTSD. New South Wales, Australia, Zeus Publications.

    Google Scholar 

  • Janoff-Bulman, R. (1989). Assumptive worlds and the stress of traumatic events: Applications of the schema construct. Social Cognition, 7(2), 113–136.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jenkins, K. (2015). Independent review into sex discrimination and sexual harassment, including predatory behaviour in Victoria Police. Victoria, Australia, Victorian equal opportunity and human rights commission.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jones, E., & Wessely, S. (2005). Shell shock to PTSD: Military psychiatry from 1900 to the Gulf War. Psychology Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Joseph, S. (2012). What doesn't kill us: A guide to overcoming adversity and moving forward. Hachette UK.

    Google Scholar 

  • Junger, S. (2015). How PTSD became a problem far beyond the battlefield. Vanity Fair.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kelly, B. D. (2015). Shell shock in Ireland: The Richmond War Hospital, Dublin (1916–19). History of Psychiatry, 26(1), 50–63.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kroes, W. H. (1976). Society’s victim, the policeman: An analysis of job stress in policing. Thomas Springfield.

    Google Scholar 

  • La Rowe, K. (2008). Breath of relief: Transforming compassion fatigue into flow. Healer–Warrior. INC. Second edition.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lees, P. (2014). Shell shock: Traumatic neurosis and the British soldiers of the first world war. Palgrave Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lifton, R. J. (1983). The broken connection: On death and the continuity of life. American Psychiatric Pub.

    Google Scholar 

  • Marin, A. (2012). In the line of duty. Ombudsman's report. Ontario, Canada.

    Google Scholar 

  • McFarlane, A. C. (2017). Improving internal practices to support emergency services. In Mental Health strategy for first responders: Tackle stigma &enhance prevention strategies. Melbourne Australia: Criterion Conferences.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mc Farlane, A. C. (2016). Occupational safety, rehabilitation and compensation. South Australia: Adelaide University. Centre for Trauma Studies.

    Google Scholar 

  • McFarlane, A. C. (2011). Many paths, one purpose. Expert forum. Australia: Australian Centre for posttraumatic mental health.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mckay, E. (2005). Crime Scene-True stories from the life of a crime scene investigator. Australia: Viking (Penguin) Australia.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mckay, E. (2010). Forensic investigator. Australia: Viking (Penguin) Australia.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ménard, K. S., & Arter, M. L. (2013). Police officer alcohol use and trauma symptoms: Associations with critical incidents, coping, and social stressors. International Journal of Stress Management, 20(1), 37.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Miller, L. (2015). PTSD and forensic psychology: Applications to civil and criminal law. Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Morris, D. J. (2015). The evil hours: A biography of post-traumatic stress disorder, Health Affairs.

    Google Scholar 

  • Neil, B. (2014). Under siege. Australia: Harlequin Mira.

    Google Scholar 

  • Peters, R. F. (2009). Police under pressure. (A donkey on the edge). New South Wales, Australia: HEAS Publications

    Google Scholar 

  • Raphael, B. (1986). When disaster strikes: How individuals and communities cope with catastrophe. Basic Books (AZ).

    Google Scholar 

  • Raphael, B., & Dobson, M. (2005). Acute posttraumatic interventions: Treating trauma and PTSD. Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rees, B. & J. Smith (2008). Breaking the silence: the traumatic circle of policing. International Journal of Police Science & Management 10(3): 267–279.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rogers, L. K. (1999). PostTraumatic Stress Disorder: A police officer’s report. Proctor Publications.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rivard, J. M., et al. (2002). Acute dissociative responses in law enforcement officers involved in critical shooting incidents: The clinical and forensic implications. Journal of Forensic Science 47(5): 1–8.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rowe, A., & Regehr, C. (2010). Whatever gets you through today: An examination of cynical humor among emergency service professionals. Journal of Loss and Trauma, 15(5), 448–464.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sadulski, J. (2017). Understanding how police cope with stress to promote resiliency: Multiple case study. Northcentral University.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sandiford, H. (1938). War neuroses. Journal of the Royal Army Medical Corps, 71(4), 222–234.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shalev, A. Y., & Bremner, J. D. (2016). Posttraumatic stress disorder: from neurobiology to clinical presentation. Posttraumatic stress disorder: From neurobiology to treatment (p. 1).

    Google Scholar 

  • Schaffer, B. (2014). Way of the Warrior. Self- published.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schiraldi, G. R. (2011). The complete guide to resilience: Why it matters how to build it and maintain it. Resilience Training International.

    Google Scholar 

  • Seligman, M. E. P. (2012). Flourish: A visionary new understanding of happiness and well-being. Simon and Schuster.

    Google Scholar 

  • Seligman, M. E. P. (2015). Positive neuro science.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stinchcomb, J. B. (2004). Searching for stress in all the wrong places: Combating chronic organizational stressors in policing. Police Practice and Research, 5(3), 259–277.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sparkes, A. (2013). The cost of bravery. New South Wales, Australia: Penguin Group, Australia.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sutton, S. R. (2005). True blue: Police stories by those who have lived them. Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Summerfield, D. (2001). The invention of post-traumatic stress disorder and the social usefulness of a psychiatric category. Student BMJ, 9.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tedeschi, R. G., & Calhoun, L. G. (1995). Trauma and transformation: Growing in the aftermath of suffering. Sage Publications.

    Google Scholar 

  • Verity, W. (2014). Our shameful silence on police Suicide. The Drum, Australian Broadcasting Corporation: 20 minutes.

    Google Scholar 

  • Violanti, J. M. (2006). The police: Perspectives on trauma and resiliency.

    Google Scholar 

  • Violanti, J. M. (2014). Dying for the job: Police work exposure and health. Charles C Thomas Publisher.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vincent, N. (2016). Sex discrimination, sexual harassment and predatory behaviour in South Australia Police. Independent review. South Australia: Equal Opportunity Commission.

    Google Scholar 

  • Whybrow, D., et al. (2015). Promoting organizational well-being: A comprehensive review of Trauma Risk Management. Occupational Medicine, 65(4), 331–336.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wiederhold, B. (2013). New tools to enhance posttraumatic stress disorder diagnosis and treatment: Invisible wounds of war. IOS Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Woodberry, J. M. (1987). An examination of stress in the police force. South Australia.

    Google Scholar 

  • Young, A. (1997). The harmony of illusions: Inventing post-traumatic stress disorder. Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Chandlers Hill, SA, Australia

    Andrew Paterson

Authors
  1. Andrew Paterson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2021 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Paterson, A. (2021). PTSD and Policing. In: Trauma and Resilience in Contemporary Australian Policing. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-4416-0_9

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-4416-0_9

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore

  • Print ISBN: 978-981-16-4415-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-981-16-4416-0

  • eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation