Vicarious Trauma Series Provides Coping Assistance to Forensic Professionals

• NCJ Number: 254422
• Author(s): Becky Lewis
• Date Published: November 2019
• Length: 1 page
• Agencies: NIJ-Sponsored
• Award: A proposal to operate the National Criminal Justice Technology Resource Center.

Annotation

This article provides the background for and features of an October 2019 webinar series entitled, “Handling Difficult and Disturbing Cases for Coroners and Medical Examiners.”

Abstract

This webinar series stemmed from the concerns of Dr. Brondolo, deputy commissioner of the New York City Medical Examiner’s Office during a number of the City’s disasters, including 9/11. When he left that office, he addressed the need for research and the development of resources to assist coroners and medical examiners deal with the aftermath of such tragic and stressful events. The results of this research, which was conducted under a partnership between St. Johns University and Kent State University, were presented as part of a National Institute of Justice (NIJ) Forensic Technology Center of Excellence (FTCoE) webinar series on experiencing and coping with exposure to vicarious trauma. This webinar series examines common strategies and resources derived from existing research and provides guidance for forensic practitioners and the broader criminal justice community in understanding job-related vicarious trauma and how to cope with it constructively. Topics in the webinar series are outlined in this article. Other FTCoE resources on this issue are also briefly described.