Cognitive and Emotional Stressors of Child Homicide Investigations on U.K. and Danish Police Investigators

• Author: Jason Roach,Kathryn Sharratt,Thomas Skou Roer,Ashley Cartwright
• DOI: 10.1177/1088767918759695
• Date: 01 August 2018
• Published date: 01 August 2018
• Subject Matter: Articles

https://doi.org/10.1177/1088767918759695

Homicide Studies

2018, Vol. 22(3) 296 –320

© 2018 SAGE Publications

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DOI: 10.1177/1088767918759695

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Article

Cognitive and Emotional

Stressors of Child Homicide

Investigations on U.K. and

Danish Police Investigators

Jason Roach1, Kathryn Sharratt1,

Ashley Cartwright2, and Thomas Skou Roer3

Abstract

In a previous paper, key differences in the form and manifestation of cognitive and

emotional stress experienced by investigators of adult and child homicide were

identified, along with a cursory look at how investigators commonly deal or cope with

these effects. In this article, the findings from 11 interviews with U.K. and Danish police

officers with experience of investigating both adult and child homicides suggest that child

homicide investigations can have a profoundly different effect on police investigators

that can vary between officers. The effects experienced and coping strategies employed

were similar among officers in Denmark and the United Kingdom, and these included

becoming more emotionally closed and engaging in regular sport and exercise. The

findings hold important implications for police training and for the welfare of current

and future police homicide investigators particularly where the victim is a child.

Keywords

police, child homicide, criminal investigation, stress, coping strategies

Introduction

Although the public may find police work glamorous and exciting, particularly that

relating to homicide, evidence indicates that police investigators do not (Huey & Broll,

2015). Indeed, most police are far more exposed to acute and chronic life stressors at

1University of Huddersfield, UK

2Leeds Beckett University, UK

3Institute for Criminal Investigation, Intelligence and Analysis, Broendby, Denmark

Corresponding Author:

Jason Roach, University of Huddersfield, Ramsden Building, Huddersfield HD1 3DH, UK.

Email: j.roach@hud.ac.uk

759695HSXXXX10.1177/1088767918759695Homicide StudiesRoach et al.

research-article2018

Roach et al. 297

work and, consequently, are at greater risk of developing symptoms of poor mental

health including anxiety, depression, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) than

those in other professions (Anshel, 2000; Kohan & O’Connor, 2002; Violanti, 2005),

particularly, those who investigate homicide (Roach, Cartwright, & Sharratt, 2017).

The present article builds on the findings of a previous study that identified com-

mon effects experienced by police investigators involved with homicide investigations

(N = 99; Roach et al., 2017). Cognitive stressors identified included intrusive thoughts,

a preoccupation with a case, and the influence of cognitive bias, with emotional stress-

ors including disrupted sleep patterns, low mood, and feelings of intense emotional

pressure to resolve a case for the sake of a victim’s family. From interviews with a

sample of U.K. and Danish homicide investigators, the present article explores quali-

tative differences in both the form and intensity of different cognitive and emotional

effects experienced by homicide investigators, depending on whether the victim is a

child (or children) or an adult (or adults), and examines the ways in which investiga-

tors deal (or cope) with these. We begin with a brief discussion of the research litera-

ture pertaining to “stressors” identified in police work and criminal investigation.

Well-Being and the Police Investigator

Much of the existing literature on police well-being can be categorized into two areas:

the first being the impact of organizational stressors, for example, bureaucracy and its

effect on well-being (Violanti et al., 2017), and the second being the impact of differ-

ent operational stressors linked to various roles and functions within policing.

Operational stressors more commonly refer to the nature of the police work, for exam-

ple, being exposed to traumatic events such as road traffic collisions (RTA) or inci-

dents of domestic violence (DV). This is the principal focus of stress generation

explored in the current study, primarily the cognitive and emotional effects experi-

enced by police homicide investigators. To our knowledge, operational stress remains

an underresearched area of the cause of police stress when compared with organiza-

tional factors, such as the allocation of resources and wider working conditions.

Such stressors can certainly negatively affect officers’ well-being with, in the most

severe of cases, continuous exposure to traumatic events resulting in individuals expe-

riencing depression or PTSD (Greenberg, Brooks, & Dunn, 2015). When one consid-

ers the common operational duties of homicide investigators, then it is safe to state that

the danger of exposure to both primary (e.g., being continually exposed to the death of

a human being) and secondary trauma, which occurs through indirect exposure (e.g.,

hearing accounts from witnesses and family and friends about the death of a loved

one), is likely to be different and more acute than for those working in other areas of

policing (e.g., policing crowds or working on burglary investigations). It is important

to state here that it is not only the case that exposure to primary traumatic events can

produce severe mental distress and a deterioration in officers’ well-being, but that

exposure to secondary traumatic events can also result in traumatic symptoms, posing

a real danger for homicide investigators (Figley, 1995; Newell & MacNeil, 2010;

Roach et al., 2017).