ABSTRACT
This chapter delves into the psychological impact of trauma experienced on a daily basis by forensic investigators, the people who investigate and remediate fatal crime and disaster scenes. Crime scene or forensic investigators regularly witness, and must attend to or deal with, horrific violence, destruction and carnage. Many develop anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), a condition which can manifest in numerous ways that interfere with their abilities to work effectively including becoming withdrawn, overreactive and less able to control emotions. Mental issues can include compartmentalisation, reduced cognitive ability and memory loss.
These can lead not only to loss of work hours, poor judgement and decision making, but also to flagging morale. Any and all of these factors can jeopardise human safety and the accuracy of the investigations with which these people are charged. Corporate analytical psychology is a particularly useful tool to help these responders to return to and maintain psychological resilience. The Jungian approach investigates multiple psychological layers. By utilising depth psychology with forensic investigators, psychological growth and restoration are fostered not only in the intrapsychic world of sufferers, but, interpersonally and in their corporate systems, where the aim is to help them perform their duties with greater resilience.
