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Critical Incident Stress and the Child Homicide Investigator

Radford University

TOD W. BURKE

Radford University

This study focuses on the homicide investigator and the death encounter. The authors examined the effects of critical incident stress on the death investigator who has been exposed to the murder of a child. The participants in the study (N = 67) were all actively involved in the difficult business of investigating death by homicide. Included were detectives, criminalists, and personnel from the medical examiner's office. It was found that these investigators experienced significantly higher levels of stress when compared with ordinary adults. In addition, it was determined that exposure to traumatic stimuli at the crime scene involving the death of a child was the most significant predictor variable of stress. The potential effectiveness of critical incident stress management in mediating the effects of this exposure is discussed, and recommendations made for the care and support of death investigators as well as directions for further inquiry.

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