Trauma-informed approaches in police

Dr Karen Goodall, Dept. Clinical and Health Psychology, University of Edinburgh

Overview

Drawing on two research projects conducted with officers following ACEs and trauma-informed training:

Introduce Adverse Childhood Experiences- and trauma-informed approaches
Discuss relevance to police
Present insights into officers’ views on mental health in police

Adverse Childhood Experiences are…

Commonly occurring events that additively increase stress on a developing child or young person

How do ACEs impact development?

Being exposed to high levels of stress in childhood is thought to impact neurodevelopment in two main ways:

Disrupts development in areas of brain that control planning, memory and impulsive behaviours

Sensitises stress responding leading to high alert to threat and difficulties calming after a threat
References: Guidi et al., 2021; Misiak et al., 2022

What are the long-term risks from ACEs?

High ACEs linked to vulnerability to a range of negative outcomes:

Physical health conditions, such as heart disease, obesity, diabetes

Dysfunctional coping strategies such as substance use

Mental health conditions such as depression, anxiety and PTSD

References: Bellis et al., 2014; Scheffler et al., 2020; Tabb et al., 2022; Vig et al, 2020

Why are ACEs relevant to policing?

10% of people have experienced 4 or more ACEs (Bellis et al., 2014)

46% of prisoners have experienced 4 or more ACEs (Prost et al., 2020)

95% officers experienced 1 ACE -59% physical abuse -62% emotional abuse (McDonald et al, 2022)

ACE score associated with higher work stress in police (McDonald et al., 2022)

Trauma-informed workforce:

Realises the impact of trauma and adversity on people who come into contact with a service, and those who work within it

Recognises the signs of trauma

Responds in ways that prevent further harm or re-traumatisation

Recognises importance of wellbeing in the workforce

References: SAMHSA, 2014; Scottish Executive, 2018; NHS Education Scotland, 2020

Five insights from focus groups and interviews with police officers and police staff

Insight 1: Recognising trauma in self and others

Being able to reflect on the potential impact of trauma and ACEs enabled officers to reflect on Understanding the long-term impact of childhood adversity and trauma and how it presents allowed officers to reflect on how they viewed their work and how the work had impacted them:

“…the majority of stuff we are involved in is traumatic, to anybody and yeah I wear a police uniform, I’m a police officer, I’m big and strong, but I am a human being, I have vulnerabilities” (Study 2, P)

Insight 2: Empowering conversations

Trauma-informed training empowered officers to notice sign or symptoms and advocate for someone in their care

At the same time, it empowered them to address mental health with colleagues

“It would make them more willing to take that step to saying to somebody, “Are you ok? Like, I’ve noticed a change in you and that,” but definitely from the training, it would, impart them with that knowledge, but whether they’d want to act on it, that’s another question.” (Study 2, P10).

Insight 3: Support paradox

The impact of everyday exposure to potentially traumatic events was perceived to be under-recognised in police, particularly by senior staff:

“I think where the, when you see other emergency services especially, we’re the worst - they don’t care” [Study 2: P8]

On the other hand, it was widely noted that mental health issues were high on the agenda and mental health support was available, but accessing formal support was not a typical part of police culture

“…it was all done in the best, with the best of intentions but to actually have the group, a couple of counsellors come down and speak with this, you know, as a shift, they didn’t really get a positive response from that.” [Study 1, P9]

Insight 4: Slowly-changing culture

The view that ‘getting on with’ equates to resilience is slowly changing, but cultural aspects still hamper support seeking

“People would be more willing to come forward with it, but... the type of job we do and the fact that we’re male-dominated, there will be almost that locker room type environment of ‘just get on with it’”

Endorsement from colleagues was particularly effective in changing the culture

“...there was another death in custody, and the next team became involved and they were a bit sceptical and some of the staff reached out and said, ‘Listen we’ve been through this. It’s the best thing ever.’ So it is getting there, to show that it's alright to talk, it's alright to be supported.” (Study 2, p11)

Insight 5: Top-down as well as bottom-up

Recognition of trauma and its impact should be embedded with the organisation at all levels, rather than stand-alone support packages:

“..supervisors, so sergeants, inspectors, senior management teams, should be given an enhanced level of training so that they can support the people that do the job for them, to ensure that their wellbeing is being met, which would then obviously have a positive impact in terms of how people engage with others. You know, its going back to the cycle of your attitude affects my behaviour, which affects my attitude, which affects your behavior.” (Study 2, P11)

Contact

karen.goodall@ed.ac.uk 

Collaborators:

Karri Gillespie-Smith and Zara Brodie, University of Edinburgh

Kimberley Collins, Teeside University

Kirsty Deacon, Children's reporter

Caroline LLoyd, University of Dublin

Gillespie-Smith, K., Brodie, Z., Collins, K., Deacon., K. & Goodall, K. (2020). Moving towards Trauma-Informed policing: An exploration of police officer’s attitudes and perceptions towards Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs). Scottish Institute of Policing Research. Microsoft Word - ACEs SIPR Full Research

Report.docx Goodall, K. (20200).Centre for Research and Evidence on Security Threats (CREST). Trauma-informed policing. https://crestresearch.ac.uk/comment/trauma-informed-policing/