Work Situations and Posttraumatic Symptomatology among Crime Scene Investigators

Crime scene investigators (CSIs) are often exposed to traumatic events and their aftermaths as a part of their work. Consequently, more common presence of the prominent posttraumatic symptoms (for example flashbacks and avoidance of places and things that could resemble the trauma for instance) among CSIs, as compared to the population in general, is not surprising. This article presents part of a larger study about trauma among CSIs, in which 85% of Slovene investigators working in the field were involved. Results confirm that the prevalence of posttraumatic stress disorder among crime scene investigators is more frequent than in the general population. Exploratory factor analysis showed five stressful work factors: working hours, work content, recognition of CSI's work value, working circumstances and working for the police. The correlation of factors with individual posttraumatic symptoms (especially hyper-vigilance, avoidance, re-experiencing and posttraumatic impairment) reveals that the stress of work lies not only in organizational factors like shift work and night shifts, but in operational factors as well (for example crime scene investigation of murder and suicide cases).