No Burnout at this Coal-Face: Managing Occupational Stress in Forensic Personnel and the Implications for Forensic and Criminal Justice Agencies

Kelty, Sally F.; Gordon, Heidi M.

doi:10.1080/13218719.2014.941092

Cited by 30 publications

(49 citation statements)

References 21 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Currently, similar symptoms are observed in people of different occupations [3][4][5][6][7]. Initially emerged as a medical problem, burnout syndrome is considered today as an urgent problem of stress management, as professional burnout negatively affects the performance of professional activities.…”

Section: Behavioural Symptomsmentioning

confidence: 90%

The problem of professional burnout in stress management

Makasheva

Громова

et al. 2016

SHS Web of Conferences

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract. The problem of professional burnout is extremely relevant in current stress management. By its nature, professional burnout is a unique type of stress syndrome that is characterized by emotional exhaustion. It leads to loss of energy and interest in one's job. A burnout could be the result of such syndromes as -burnout and boreout. It could emerge as the reaction of the organism to the high working intensity and stress working conditions or due to the boredom and absence of the sphere for professional realization. Both syndromes negatively influence the professional activity and require serious research and an adequate approach to the study. Studies have been conducted in the higher educational environment and among production employees. The studies were conducted with the application of the existing tests for revealing the "boreout" and "burnout" syndromes. Studies have shown that the syndrome "burnout" is common among workers with free working regulations, whose work requires greater independence, initiative and responsibility. According to the results of the study, the employees who are more free in the performance of their professional duties (teachers, managers) are less subjected to the boreout syndrome. For the prevention and control of professional burnout company management needs to apply the achievements of stress management.

show abstract

Section: Behavioural Symptomsmentioning

confidence: 90%

The problem of professional burnout in stress management

Makasheva

Громова

et al. 2016

SHS Web of Conferences

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…However, other human and organizational factors, such as workplace stress have generally been neglected in the published literature. Only a few studies have paid attention to forensic examiners' stress at the workplace, such as the stress experienced by forensic digital examiners exposed to internet crimes against children (e.g., [21,38]); crime scene examiners exposed to horrific crimes (e.g., [11]); and forensic odontologists exposed to mass casualties (e.g., [39]).…”

Section: Part One: Workplace Stressmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Forensic examiners operate in a stressful environment (8,10,11). Some organizational stress factors are common in many workplace environments, such as workload volume and number of working hours (11). There are also stress factors that are specific and unique to the forensic science discipline (9), which further contributes to the "high stress occupation" of forensic examiners ( [8], p. 34).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Moreover, there are often unreasonable expectations placed on the forensic examiners not to ever make any mistakes (13,14). In addition, forensic examiners can be directly exposed to emotionally distressing elements from crime scenes or disturbing case details (9,11).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Organizational and Human Factors Affecting Forensic Decision‐Making: Workplace Stress and Feedback

Almazrouei

Dror

Morgan

2020

Journal of Forensic Sciences

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Although forensic examiners operate in a stressful environment, there is a lack of understanding about workplace stress and feedback. These organizational and human factors can potentially impact forensic science judgments. In this study, 150 practicing forensic examiners from one laboratory were surveyed about their experiences of workplace stress, and the explicit and implicit feedback they receive. Forensic examiners reported that their high stress levels originated more from workplace-related factors (management and/or supervision, backlogs, and the pressure to do many cases) than from personal related factors (family, medical, and/or financial). The findings showed that a few (8%) of the forensic examiners sometimes felt strong implicit feedback about what conclusions were expected from them and that some (14%) also strongly felt that they were more appreciated when they helped to solve a case (e.g., by reaching a "match" as opposed to an "inconclusive" conclusion). Differences were found when comparing workplace stress and feedback levels across three core forensic science fields (forensic biology, chemistry, and latent prints) and across career stages (early, mid, and late). Gaining insights into the stress factors within a workplace and explicit and implicit feedback has implications for developing policies to improve the well-being, motivation, and performance of forensic examiners.

show abstract

Identifying the critical skillset of top crime scene examiners: Why this matters and why agencies should develop top performers

Kelty

Ribaux

Robertson

2023

WIREs Forensic Science

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Processing a crime scene is complex. When scenes are processed well, higher quality specimens can be detected and collected. Inadequately managed scenes increase risk of ineffective investigations and poorer justice outcomes. Government reports from around the world have stated that some crime scene examiners outperform their peers. If processing a crime scene is vital for optimal outcomes, then who should we employ, and train, for this complex and challenging role? What skills do they need? In 2010, the seminal work into the technical and non‐technical skills of top crime scene examiners commenced in Australia. This team used empirical techniques from occupational psychology and business management to identify a cluster of 7 key cognitive, social, leadership skills, and technical/scientific knowledge to develop a profile of top crime scene performers. This work was published in a series of papers between 2012 and 2017. In 2023, the original work was combined with current international empirical findings to build a robust, comprehensive, and more generalizable picture of the holistic skillset of top crime scene examiners. The rationale for developing a skillset is to assist forensic agencies to create targeted recruitment procedures and inform the content of early career training programs for their crime scene teams. With recruitment and training done well, organizations are better placed to attract, develop, and retain personnel with potential to excel in complex roles. When top examiners attend scenes, it is possible the risk of poorer justice outcomes arising from crime scene work could be reduced.This article is categorized under: Forensic Science in Action/Crime Scene Investigation > Crime Scene Examination Forensic Science in Action/Crime Scene Investigation > Education and Formation Forensic Science in Action/Crime Scene Investigation > From Traces to Intelligence and Evidence

show abstract

No Burnout at this Coal-Face: Managing Occupational Stress in Forensic Personnel and the Implications for Forensic and Criminal Justice Agencies

Cited by 30 publications

References 21 publications

The problem of professional burnout in stress management

The problem of professional burnout in stress management

Organizational and Human Factors Affecting Forensic Decision‐Making: Workplace Stress and Feedback

Identifying the critical skillset of top crime scene examiners: Why this matters and why agencies should develop top performers

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About