Main description:

This book examines how fifty police officers in South Australia keep well and "bounce back" from duty-related traumatic experience in the absence of practical, accessible and timely organisational support. It investigates mechanisms police officers presently use to "normalise" their duty-related traumatic experiences to preserve the delicate professional balance between "coping" and "psychic numbing" and avoid the much publicised perils of a PTSD diagnosis, while being appropriately responsive to colleagues, victims and survivors in their daily work environment.

By revealing how police officers manage trauma-outside of the expectations of mental health professionals, union representatives and police leadership-innovative approaches and recommendations are offered to support first responders in moving from assumptions of post-traumatic stress and through post-traumatic growth. The book considers recent advances in post-traumatic growth and resilience theory and reinterprets exposure in a positive context, as well as preventative experiences in Australia and internationally.

Contents:

Chapter 1. Introduction.- Chapter 2. Power, organisational and police culture, "the job".- Chapter 3. The Feminisation of policing.- Chapter 4. Death and bodies.- Chapter 5. Keeping well, Coping.-Chapter 6. Asking for help.- Chapter 7. Sleep, "The elixir of resilience" .- Chapter 8. Resilience.- Chapter 9. PTSD and policing.- Chapter 10. Posttraumatic growth in Policing.- Chapter 11. Conclusion: Resilience among police in South Australia.