Stressors in forensic organizations: Risks and solutions
Stressors of many types occur in forensic laboratories, with detrimental effects for individuals, laboratory systems, and casework outcomes. These stressors may be general, affecting the entire laboratory or all cases, or specific, affecting individual examiners or single cases. Stressors affecting...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2022-01-01
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| Series: | Forensic Science International: Synergy |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2589871X21000681 |
| _version_ | 1811231641385828352 |
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| author | Thomas Busey Laura Sudkamp Melissa K. Taylor Alice White |
| author_facet | Thomas Busey Laura Sudkamp Melissa K. Taylor Alice White |
| author_sort | Thomas Busey |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Stressors of many types occur in forensic laboratories, with detrimental effects for individuals, laboratory systems, and casework outcomes. These stressors may be general, affecting the entire laboratory or all cases, or specific, affecting individual examiners or single cases. Stressors affecting individual examiners include: vicarious trauma associated with details of worked cases, nonstandard working hours, fatigue, the monotony of repetitious tasks, fear of errors, and severe backlogs. Policies and laboratory cultures can be put in place to minimize the effects of stressors; however, current forensic organizational responses to these stressors may vary from punitive to collaborative approaches. This article presents several models and case studies that can help inform the creation of positive laboratory policies. A system of discipline-wide centralized error reporting, similar to systems used to reduce fatal mistakes in medicine and aviation, could have the potential to identify areas of concern within forensic science practices. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-12T10:49:30Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-f34e3814969945f6b9b3d3bd5b8b2639 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2589-871X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-12T10:49:30Z |
| publishDate | 2022-01-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Forensic Science International: Synergy |
| spelling | doaj.art-f34e3814969945f6b9b3d3bd5b8b26392022-12-22T03:36:19ZengElsevierForensic Science International: Synergy2589-871X2022-01-014100198Stressors in forensic organizations: Risks and solutionsThomas Busey0Laura Sudkamp1Melissa K. Taylor2Alice White3Indiana University, Psychological and Brain Sciences, 1101 E. 10th Street, Bloomington, IN, 47405, USA; Corresponding author.Kentucky State Police Forensic Laboratories, 100 Sower Blvd., Suite 102, Frankfort, KY, 40601, USANational Institute of Standards and Technology, Special Programs Office, 100 Bureau Drive, Gaithersburg, MD, 20899, USAEvolve Forensics, LLC, P.O. Box 232196, Las Vegas, NV, 89105, USAStressors of many types occur in forensic laboratories, with detrimental effects for individuals, laboratory systems, and casework outcomes. These stressors may be general, affecting the entire laboratory or all cases, or specific, affecting individual examiners or single cases. Stressors affecting individual examiners include: vicarious trauma associated with details of worked cases, nonstandard working hours, fatigue, the monotony of repetitious tasks, fear of errors, and severe backlogs. Policies and laboratory cultures can be put in place to minimize the effects of stressors; however, current forensic organizational responses to these stressors may vary from punitive to collaborative approaches. This article presents several models and case studies that can help inform the creation of positive laboratory policies. A system of discipline-wide centralized error reporting, similar to systems used to reduce fatal mistakes in medicine and aviation, could have the potential to identify areas of concern within forensic science practices.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2589871X21000681Forensic scienceLaboratory cultureHigh reliability organizationsCognitive psychology |
| spellingShingle | Thomas Busey Laura Sudkamp Melissa K. Taylor Alice White Stressors in forensic organizations: Risks and solutions Forensic Science International: Synergy Forensic science Laboratory culture High reliability organizations Cognitive psychology |
| title | Stressors in forensic organizations: Risks and solutions |
| title_full | Stressors in forensic organizations: Risks and solutions |
| title_fullStr | Stressors in forensic organizations: Risks and solutions |
| title_full_unstemmed | Stressors in forensic organizations: Risks and solutions |
| title_short | Stressors in forensic organizations: Risks and solutions |
| title_sort | stressors in forensic organizations risks and solutions |
| topic | Forensic science Laboratory culture High reliability organizations Cognitive psychology |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2589871X21000681 |
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