RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
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
FD American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law
SP 263
OP 272
DO 10.29158/JAAPL.210067-21
VO 50
IS 2
A1 Ren Belcher
A1 Renée Sorrentino
A1 Joel Watts
A1 Susan Hatters Friedman
YR 2022
UL http://jaapl.org/content/50/2/263.abstract
AB 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.