Around the world, there are concerns regarding the mental health of staff in our police, security and justice organisations. Criminal justice staff (CJS) are at elevated risk of psychological harm from their direct and/or indirect exposure to other people’s traumatic experiences via their work. Their daily tasks involve full immersion in the details of traumatic experiences of other people via auditory and/or visual means. This exposure can lead to a range of negative consequences for the individual concerned, including burnout, compassion fatigue, and secondary traumatic stress, but also for their employers, and for wider society given the pivotal role they have in protecting our nations and our fundamental human rights to justice and security. Thus, ensuring the good health and wellbeing of these personnel is essential to sustainable development as highlighted by the United Nations goals.
In this special issue, we aim to identify the impact of criminal justice system (CJS) professionals’ work on their mental health and wellbeing, their coping strategies, risk and protective factors associated with psychological distress experienced via their work, and facilitators and barriers to help-seeking.
This issue seeks scholarly articles (original articles, reviews, and brief reports) from both researchers and practitioners concerning the mental health and wellbeing of criminal justice personnel. Included in this broad domain of interest are:
• Articles concerned with the use of psychological approaches to improve mental health and wellbeing of Criminal Justice staff.
• Articles identifying the individual and organizational risk and resilience factors impacting their mental health.
• Articles focusing on strategies/interventions/ programs to lower their psychological distress levels and improve their wellbeing.
Around the world, there are concerns regarding the mental health of staff in our police, security and justice organisations. Criminal justice staff (CJS) are at elevated risk of psychological harm from their direct and/or indirect exposure to other people’s traumatic experiences via their work. Their daily tasks involve full immersion in the details of traumatic experiences of other people via auditory and/or visual means. This exposure can lead to a range of negative consequences for the individual concerned, including burnout, compassion fatigue, and secondary traumatic stress, but also for their employers, and for wider society given the pivotal role they have in protecting our nations and our fundamental human rights to justice and security. Thus, ensuring the good health and wellbeing of these personnel is essential to sustainable development as highlighted by the United Nations goals.
In this special issue, we aim to identify the impact of criminal justice system (CJS) professionals’ work on their mental health and wellbeing, their coping strategies, risk and protective factors associated with psychological distress experienced via their work, and facilitators and barriers to help-seeking.
This issue seeks scholarly articles (original articles, reviews, and brief reports) from both researchers and practitioners concerning the mental health and wellbeing of criminal justice personnel. Included in this broad domain of interest are:
• Articles concerned with the use of psychological approaches to improve mental health and wellbeing of Criminal Justice staff.
• Articles identifying the individual and organizational risk and resilience factors impacting their mental health.
• Articles focusing on strategies/interventions/ programs to lower their psychological distress levels and improve their wellbeing.
