NCJ Number
168111
Date Published
1986
Length
101 pages
Annotation
Critical incident stress was one of several topics covered at a national symposium on police psychological services sponsored by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in 1984.
Abstract
Behavioral scientists at the symposium discussed the emerging role of police psychologists in pre-critical incident situations, the self-image of police officers, post-traumatic stress, and preparation for critical incidents. A stress model was presented to facilitate the mediation of traumatic events by police officers and to help mental health professionals involved in this process. The model focused on post-traumatic stress disorder and treatment interventions (individual treatment, peripheral victims, and group crisis debriefing). Other symposium participants addressed psychological factors in police use of deadly force, post-critical incident counseling, post-traumatic stress responses to violent crime victims, neuro-linguistic counseling as an optional intervention in post-traumatic incident counseling, post-shooting trauma, understanding and assessing traumatic stress reactions, post-concussional syndrome as a disability factor for law enforcement personnel, and trauma debriefing in the Chicago Police Department. References, footnotes, tables, and figures