Bringing it All Together Part 2

• Focus on mental health of those in the criminal justice system (CJS)

• Emphasizes resilience in context

• Highlights the importance of reflection in building resilience

Building Awareness and Resilience

• Objective: Enhance awareness and resilience for CJS workers

Importance of Mental Health Awareness

• Working in CJS can impact personal mental health

• Significance of fostering

  • Awareness

  • Wellbeing

  • Resilience

• Need for healthy coping mechanisms to manage stress

CJS Occupational Stressors

Examples of Stressors

• Unpredictable and stressful environments

• Risk of physical victimization

• Exposure to secondary/vicarious trauma

• Culture of ‘toughness’

• Organizational pressures

• Overload, overtime, understaffing

• Role conflict

Understanding Resilience

Definition of Resilience

• Process of adapting well in adversity, trauma, or significant stressors

Key Concepts

• Strength-based approach

• Dynamic process; not a fixed state or trait

• Enhances through learning and training

• Common experience, though often perceived as rare

Public Health Prevention Model

• Tertiary: Intervene for those already experiencing problems

• Secondary: Target at-risk populations to prevent symptom development

• Primary: Provide support and education to the entire population

Resilience in Context

Stressors by Category

• Organisational practices and characteristics

• Criminal justice system-specific practices

• Public practices and characteristics

• Nature of police work itself

Organisational Stressors

Key Stressors

• Lack of support

• Heavy workload

• Interpersonal conflict

• Time pressure

• Overly bureaucratic processes

Outcomes of Stressors

• Occupational stress

• Anxiety and depression

• Psychiatric symptoms

• Burnout

• Suicidal ideation

Addressing Organisational Stressors

Strategies

• Changing police culture

• Expanding training and promotion programs

• Training police leaders on awareness of organizational stressors

• Increasing police officer numbers

• Promoting support-seeking

Responsibility for Mental Health

Roles and Responsibilities

• Sleep: Prioritize sleep and maintain good sleep hygiene

• Organisations: Support and encourage help-seeking, provide crisis support

• Individuals: Seek help and practice mental health supporting habits

Building Your Own Resilience

• Techniques and approaches for enhancing personal resilience

Building Resilience Through Reflection

Borton’s Question Model

Review

• Evaluate key aspects of events:

  • What happened?

  • What went well?

  • What could be improved?

  • Impressions of the event and its implications

So What?

• Assess personal representation and performance

• Consider actionable steps for similar situations in the future

Now What?

• Reflect on actions needed for improvement

• Identify what to repeat and what to change in future actions

Further Learning

• Reference: Copley, Selina. "Reflective Practice for Policing Students."

Conclusion

• Now what?

  • Reflective questions to consider:

    • Describe events & outcomes

    • Assess personal performance

    • Plan future actions

Thank you for listening!