Running head: RESEARCH ARTICLE CRITIQUE 1

Research Article Critique

Michelle A Hill
Wayne State University















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The article, Law Enforcement Preferences for PTSD Treatment and Crisis Management
Alternatives, discuss how underutilized evidence-based treatments for posttraumatic stress
disorder are and various forms of effective treatment and their preference amongst law
enforcement personnel. A total of 379 participants were involved in the study; each being a
member of law enforcement and having an array of trauma antiquities. The question is to find if
police officers with PTSD received Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) as compared to Critical
Instance Stress Debriefing (CISD), will their symptoms be alleviated at a greater rate? Each
participating officer rated their experience and preference of treatment options that were tested.
The opinions of the each treatment were weighted on a version of the Credibility Scale (CS),
which uses a 1-7 Likert scale ranging from not at all to extremely. The scale assesses the
degree to which participants find different treatment descriptions credible. (Becker, Meyer,
Price, Graham, Arsena, Armstrong, and Ramon, 2009).
In this study, the dependent variable is the effectiveness/credibility, in terms of the CS, of
the different interventions. The said traumatic event that each participant was experiencing in
the study is also an important variable, along with the varying treatments and the police officer
personnel samples. If any treatments were found equal on the CS, an ANOVA (analysis of
variance) was used by using CS scores as a dependent variable again, but limiting comparisons
of various treatments to only being between CPT and CISD. Participants were asked to answer a
simple, straight to the point questionnaire about the different interventions in order to rate
effectiveness on the CS. If a variable was defined in a different way, there is a chance that
findings could be slightly altered. However, even when the comparisons and questions were
limited, the same results of CPT being preferred in regards to the CS remained evident. If CPT
was not used in this study, results could be extremely altered. In addition, using detectives or
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SWAT officers from inner cities may also have had different results, since their traumatic
experiences are likely to much different than most officers,
For the study, the sample included a total of 379 different law enforcement participants.
Different members of law enforcement personnel included cadets, criminal justice students,
active duty officers from a large southwestern city, and police officers from a university campus.
71% of the sample were male while 29% were female. In addition, 51% were Caucasian, 28%
Latino/Hispanic, and 10% were African Americans. The mean age of the sample was 32. The
strategy that was used was rather diverse. Many participants were from large cities that were
likely to have higher crime ratings and therefore higher risk of traumatic stress from the job. In
addition, a fair difference between males and females were used. There are a larger amount of
male officers employed than female, so to have a higher percentage in the sample is fair. There
was also a fair division of ethnicities in comparison to the various ethnicities currently employed
in law enforcement careers. The diversity of the sample helped to create a fair depiction of real
life scenario and statistics. If this sample was altered to only include female officers, or only
cadets/students, findings could be much different. Females are found to be more prone to PTSD
and cadets/students arent as experienced in the field to fully understand the situations and
effects of PTSD. The location from which the majority of law enforcement individuals were
sampled was also important to the study. Without a fair sample of participants, the studys results
may have been altered.
In order to collect the data from this study, the Credibility Scale was used. This scale, as
previously mentioned, was compromised of the 1-7 Likert scale that summarized and assessed
the degree of participants opinions and depictions on the credibility of each treatment
intervention. The original Likert scale, used for depression, was modified to fit the study. Three
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questions were changed and made more straightforward for the participants..based on the
recommendations of individuals who have extensive experience with this population ((Becker
et al., 2009). After participants read the traumatic experience, they were asked to answer a set of
questions and rate their preference of each intervention therapy after reading and experiencing
the intervention. If data had been collected differently, such as exposure to numerous treatments,
results could have been different. This is because the effects of one treatment intervention may
have still had a lingering effect while the participant was undergoing the next treatment
intervention. This would obviously be a flaw in testing. In addition, if data was collected in terms
of a different scale, preference of treatment may not have been as dominant of a characteristic in
the study.
As mentioned in the sampling process, cultural considerations were used in this study.
Individuals with different ethnicities and members from different economic classes were used as
participants in the study. This helped show equality and a decently fair generalized portion of
society within the sample. The study may have benefitted from including a larger number of
different ethnicities, such as Asian Americans, Indian Americans, etc. This could have altered
results, as some cultures perceive and cope with trauma and stress differently.
The findings of the study showed a clear indication that majority of law enforcement
individuals preferred CPT for treatment of PTSD in order to alleviate symptoms in comparison
to CISD. The research study could have been improved by only selecting members of law
enforcement who currently are suffering severe effects of PTSD because of similar situations and
then testing the different treatment methods. Using a scale, such as the CS, can be very useful
when assessing results of different interventions. By choosing a larger and more diverse sample
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of individuals who suffer first hand from PTSD experiences, this study may have been much
different.
When it comes to a target population, this article could prove very effective. It includes
findings of an array of different variables and samples and also provides similar evidence from
other studies that have been conducted. The article also includes a huge difference between the
interventions, favoring CPT. The intervention activities and processes are sensitive to the unique
characteristics of my target population. The interventions are commonly used for PTSD and each
intervention provided participants with a summary and overview explaining its purpose and use.
The intervention activities also allowed participants from the target population to be a part in
playing a role in positively influencing those suffering common effects from law enforcement.
If I wanted to implement this intervention, it may be challenging because evidence based
treatment is so underutilized in PTSD clients. There is a generalized notion that people arent
willing to participate in PTSD treatment and that offering it wouldnt be as helpful as it really
would be. In addition, many PTSD patients are commonly treated with other interventions,
especially medication, rather than strategies such as CPT. Shifting intervention strategy from
medication to Cognitive Processing Therapy and opening peoples minds about different
interventions could be a huge barrier within my agency.
The problem is that effective interventions for PTSD arent being implemented as they
should be. The theory and activities found in the article help to show that people suffering from
PTSD or at risk of PTSD are much more open to the idea of treatment than what is generally
believed. In addition, the article and study shows the clear preferences amongst law enforcement
individuals and how important it is to start implementing this intervention strategy into different
police departments across the nation.
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I asked the question, if police officers with PTSD received Cognitive Processing Therapy
as compared to Critical Instance Stress Debriefing, a common intervention strategy within police
and military departments, will their symptoms be alleviated at a greater rate? The theory in the
article shows that CPT would be more affective in alleviating PTSD symptoms.
The research shows that although CISD is commonly used, it doesnt show high success
rates and is not preferred by individuals who have PTSD symptoms. The article and research is
evidence based and used an array of sample participants and variables. It also used sound data
gathering and had previous statistics and findings to back up its more in-depth findings.
In my opinion, using the evidence based practice process is extremely useful in social
work. It helped me to address a problem that I identified but was not familiar with at all. EBPP
allows professionals to assess a variety of different types of interventions and see the results of
each in order to become more competent, knowledgeable, and ultimately, a better advocate for
their client. When it comes to areas that social workers havent been too familiarized with, EBPP
can assist workers with scientific based evidence in order to help them make decisions. Without
it, many workers would blindly walk into situations or be unaware of the differences associated
with so many interventions. The only disadvantage I can think of is that you are relying on other
people still and their findings may not always correlate the best with your client or intervention.
Ultimately, though, a social worker and their clients can gain so much from evidence based
practice theories.





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References

Becker, C.B., Meyer, G., Price, J.S., Graham, M., Arsena, A., Armstrong, D.A., and Ramon, E.
(2009). Law enforcement preferences for PTSD treatment and crisis management
alternatives. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 47, 245-253. doi:10.1016/j.brat.2009.01.
001