NCJ Number
143087
Date Published
1991
Length
6 pages
Annotation
This paper examines the concept of psychological debriefing as a technique within the British Prison Service and other agencies, summarizes the results of research into how it has been used by practitioners, and outlines what is needed for the procedure to be used effectively within the Prison Service.
Abstract
In commenting on psychological debriefing, Mitchell (1983) states that "a critical incident stress debriefing will generally alleviate the acute stress responses which appear at the scene and immediately afterwards and will eliminate, or at least inhibit, delayed stress reactions." This paper describes the phases of psychological debriefing presented by Mitchell (1983) and Dyregrov (1989). The phases are an introduction, fact-finding, a focus on thoughts and feelings, normalization, the development of coping strategies, and disengagement. To obtain a cross-section of views on what is involved in psychological debriefing and personnel needs, five groups of individuals were interviewed: three governors III's, eight Prison Service psychologists, two clinical psychologists, six prison officers, and two life-sentence inmates. Based on the information obtained in the interviews, the remainder of the paper discusses the purpose of psychological debriefing, timing of the debrief, group versus individual debriefs, a model of psychological debriefing, skills used in the debriefing process, and evaluation of psychological debriefing. 4 references