How are counterterrorism practitioners affected by exposure to violent material?

This project concluded in 2024.

So What?

Continued exposure to violent material might cause harm to counterterrorism workers, potentially driving them out of a field that needs their knowledge, experience, and abilities.

Project Summary

This project will develop a baseline understanding of how practitioners are affected by exposure to violence and will outline the implications this may have on the homeland security workforce.

Purpose/Objectives

The project seeks to explain how counterterrorism professionals are affected by exposure to violent materials, to what extent vicarious trauma is affecting the counterterrorism workforce, and what tools exist or may be modified to mitigate these potential harmful impacts on the homeland security enterprise.

Method

Rather than subject individuals to viewing violent materials, researchers will survey and interview a population already exposed to the content. They will disseminate a Qualtrics survey to various mission centers across the homeland security enterprise and hold longer, unstructured interviews to parse out greater detail.

Researchers will measure levels of exposure, ranging from low (data sets, open-source, non-graphic material) to high (visiting active conflict locations with terrorist insurgent actors). A control group of similarly situated professionals who do not deal with violent subjects will be used to differentiate from typical workplace burnout versus vicarious trauma.

• Analysis of interview and survey responses
• Workshop to discuss how results are relevant
• Policy report

Reports and Publications

Vicarious Trauma in Counterterrorism Practitioners This report aims to address the distress that affects those in counterterrorism careers in relation to the consumption of media containing traumatic materials.

Research Team

	Joseph Young, Ph.D. University of Kentucky Professor Director, Patterson School of Diplomacy and International Commerce Expertise: Cross-national causes and consequences of political violence
	Daisy Muibu, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Security Studies Expertise: Counterterrorism and criminal justice reform