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How Distressing Material Shapes Investigator Well-Being
Dr. Fazeelat Duran, Assistant Professor in Psychology at the University of Birmingham, joins the Forensic Focus Podcast to talk about the psychological impact of working with distressing material in law enforcement roles. Drawing on her recent longitudinal study — the first of its kind to follow newly recruited secondary investigators and analysts from day one through 18 months in role — Dr. Duran explains how repeated, indirect exposure to traumatic material shapes mental health over time. She walks through the trajectory her team observed at six, 12, and 18 months, the concept of "dosage of exposure," and why early warning signs often go hidden in the first six months when the novelty effect masks the emotional toll to come. The conversation then turns to coping strategies, the difference between adaptive and maladaptive responses (including the trap of thought suppression), and the idea of a psychological contract between staff and the organisation — and what happens when that contract is breached through unmanageable workloads, limited staffing, and a lack of allocated time for well-being resources. Dr. Duran and host Paul also discuss what organisations should be doing differently, why a one-size-fits-all approach to support fails this group, and the next phase of Dr. Duran's work, including brain imaging findings and a new study on neurodivergence in this workforce. #SecondaryTraumaticStress #MentalHealth #LawEnforcement #Wellbeing #PsychologicalContract #DigitalForensics #DFIR 00:00 Introducing Dr Fazeelat Duran 02:09 Secondary Trauma Explained 03:42 Research Gap and Longitudinal Study Design 11:17 Early Warning Signs 12:51 Proactive Tailored Support 18:02 Mixed Methods Evidence 19:49 Dosage of Exposure 22:59 Daily Volume and Attrition 25:16 Coping Shifts Over Time 26:45 Maladaptive Coping Patterns 29:05 Isolation and Social Strain 30:34 Workload and AI Pressure 33:08 Psychological Contract Breach 35:23 Building a Caring Culture 37:25 Early Support and Preparation 40:27 Signs, Symptoms and Self Care 42:30 Neurodivergence Research 44:51 Closing Reflections 👉 Visit Forensic Focus: https://www.forensicfocus.com 🎧 Video/Transcript: https://www.forensicfocus.com/podcast/how-distressing-material-shapes-investigator-well-being/ 📝 Show Notes Ongoing Exposure to Distressing Material is Associated with Worsening Mental Health in UK Law Enforcement Staff: a Longitudinal Interview Study – https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11896-026-09809-2 Dr Fazeelat Duran, University of Birmingham – https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/staff/profiles/psychology/duran-fazeelat National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC) Academic Centres of Excellence – https://news.npcc.police.uk/releases/npcc-creating-nine-policing-academic-centres-of-excellence-p-aces 👉 Follow Forensic Focus RSS | https://www.forensicfocus.com/feed YouTube | https://youtube.com/@ForensicFocus Podcast | https://forensicfocus.com/podcast LinkedIn Page | https://linkedin.com/company/forensicfocus LinkedIn Group | https://linkedin.com/groups/693917 X (Twitter) | https://x.com/ForensicFocus Facebook | https://facebook.com/forensicfocus Bluesky | https://bsky.app/profile/forensicfocus.bsky.social Instagram | https://instagram.com/forensicfocus TikTok | https://tiktok.com/@forensicfocus Mastodon | https://dfir.social/@forensicfocus
Forensic Focus
https://www.forensicfocus.com
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