Trauma and Resilience in Contemporary Australian Policing

This book examines how fifty police officers in South Australia keep well and "bounce back" from duty-related traumatic experience in the absence of practical, accessible and timely organisational support. It investigates mechanisms police officers presently use to "normalise" their duty-related traumatic experiences to preserve the delicate professional balance between "coping" and "psychic numbing" and avoid the much publicised perils of a PTSD diagnosis, while being appropriately responsive to colleagues, victims and survivors in their daily work environment. By revealing how police officers manage trauma-outside of the expectations of mental health professionals, union representatives and police leadership-innovative approaches and recommendations are offered to support first responders in moving from assumptions of post-traumatic stress and through post-traumatic growth. The book considers recent advances in post-traumatic growth and resilience theory and reinterpretsexposure in a positive context, as well as preventative experiences in Australia and internationally.