The Role of Resilience and Internal Locus of Control as Protective Factors Against Secondary Trauma and Poor Wellbeing in UK Police Family Liaison Officers

The Family Liaison Officer (FLO) role within Policing is to support a victim’s family members during their most challenging time, whilst also playing a key part in the ongoing criminal investigation. Given the trauma FLOs witness while assisting families, it is surprising that the impact of this role has not been subject to much academic research to date. This paper aims to explore the effects of family liaison work on police officers in England and Wales who undertake this role. Using a cross-sectional survey, Secondary Traumatic Stress and wellbeing levels were measured in a sample of FLOs (N=394). Alongside examining the impact of the role, this paper identifies and explores the influence of several potential ‘protective factors’ against the impact of negative events: Locus of Control (LoC) (Rotter, 1966) and resilience. Very high levels of secondary trauma were found in the FLOs sample, with the greatest predictor of poor wellbeing found to be the non-work-related effects of personal distress experienced in the past twelve months, resilience levels, and LoC measures. The implications of these findings are discussed in terms of improving police occupational health and for further academic research.