TY - JOUR T1 - Occupational Hazards versus Professional Duty in Reviewing Potentially Traumatizing Evidence JF - Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law Online JO - J Am Acad Psychiatry Law SP - 263 LP - 272 DO - 10.29158/JAAPL.210067-21 VL - 50 IS - 2 AU - Ren Belcher AU - Renée Sorrentino AU - Joel Watts AU - Susan Hatters Friedman Y1 - 2022/06/01 UR - http://jaapl.org/content/50/2/263.abstract N2 - Electronic evidence, including real-time recordings of crimes by police cameras and smart phones, is becoming increasingly relevant to the practice of forensic psychiatry. A developing literature in fields parallel to our own has described vicarious trauma experienced by mental health and legal professionals exposed to traumatic material in the line of duty. The impact of potentially traumatizing media on the forensic psychiatric evaluation and on the individual forensic psychiatrist is unknown. Calling upon the research and practices of adjacent fields, as well as the personal experience of the authors, this article outlines the benefits and hazards of examining graphic media, addresses potential strategies to mitigate its traumatogenic potential (including among trainees), and suggests how future scholarship may improve understanding of these hazards and inform strategies to prevent them. ER -