Document Type
Article
Publication Date
3-1-2017
Publication Title
Journal of Police and Criminal Psychology
Abstract
Police officers are regularly exposed to traumatic critical incidents. The substantial mental, behavioral, and social costs of police trauma indicate a substantial need for prevention. We have refined and enhanced a previously tested Swedish program to the harsh conditions of U.S. inner cities. The program was designed to strengthen resilience during stressful encounters and teach methods of coping after exposure, thereby preventing the emergence of maladaptive symptoms and behaviors with adverse effects on professionalism. In an uncontrolled demonstration project, junior officers were trained by senior officers to engage in imaginal rehearsal of specific dangerous situations while incorporating optimal police tactics and healthy emotional reactions. A class of 32 officers in the police academy engaged in the program, and they and the trainers reported high satisfaction with it. After their first year of field work, 22 officers were reassessed. Compared to pre-training, these officers showed significant increases in the use of positive reframing and humor and significant reductions in anxiety and alcohol use over the year. Trauma symptoms did not increase. These results offer preliminary evidence for the feasibility and effectiveness of this trauma prevention program for new police officers.
Keywords
Imagery, Police, Primary prevention, Stress, Trauma
Volume
32
Issue
1
First Page
1
Last Page
10
DOI
10.1007/s11896-016-9191-z
ISSN
08820783
Rights
© The Author(s) 2017
Recommended Citation
Arble, Eamonn; Lumley, Mark A.; Pole, Nnamdi; Blessman, James; and Arnetz, Bengt B., "Refinement and Preliminary Testing of an Imagery-Based Program to Improve Coping and Performance and Prevent Trauma among Urban Police Officers" (2017). Psychology: Faculty Publications, Smith College, Northampton, MA.
https://scholarworks.smith.edu/psy_facpubs/112
Comments
Peer reviewed accepted manuscript.