Abstract:
There is a paucity of research into traumatic incidents concerning police
workers (Hart et al. 1995). There are also few studies relating the
prolonged and repetitive exposure to traumatic stressors, or 'sequential
trauma' (Gersons and earlier 1990; 1992). Whilst it was acknowledged that
organisational stress contributes to adaptive or maladaptive well being,
dependent on transactional variables between the person and their
environment, it was also argued that further along the stress continuum,
there exists gross stress reactions similar to Post Traumatic stress
Disorders (PTSD; DSM-IIIR; American Psychiatric Association 1989) and
newly revised PTSD criterion (DSM-IV; American Psychiatric Association
1994). However PTSD exclusively relates to a single event of overwhelming
magnitude (Davidson and Foa 1991), whilst sequential trauma relates to
mUltiple event exposure (Peters-Bean 1990b; 1996). It was argued that the
magnitude of stimuli in trauma is not as important as the management of
the trauma. Rather trauma is an artefact of person-environment
transactions and the operation of 'traumatic signatures' which can be
used adaptively or maladaptively in certain scenarios. Models of
sequential trauma were proposed and tested. These notions are discussed
in relation to three studies: an interview booklet survey (N=89); a
Metropolitan Police Survey (N=134) and a Main U.K. Forces Survey (N=528)
Results and implications for police workers and further research was
discussed. It was found that trauma signatures may possibly assist in the
processes involved with encountering trauma, primary and secondary
appraisal mechanisms, coping post-event and physiological and
psychological well-being with reference to individual and organisational
outcomes.