![]() ![]() The APA included “sexual violence” within the core premise of trauma and added “repeated or extreme indirect exposure to aversive details of a traumatic event” as a qualifying stressor to meet criteria for diagnosis of PTSD. In 2013, as the Air Force launched the DoD’s first Special Victims Counsel Program, the American Psychiatric Association (APA) revised the PTSD diagnostic criteria set forth in the Fifth Edition of its Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5). Understanding Vicarious Trauma and its Role in Military Justice Nationwide recognition that PTSD is no longer a mental health condition ascribed exclusively to combat veterans and that trauma could be experienced through indirect and secondhand exposure. This article advocates for mitigating vicarious trauma through a comprehensive strategic plan that calls for The Department of the Air Force’s Judge Advocate General’s Corps (JAG Corps) to (1) employ a supervisory licensed mental health professional and embed at least one licensed mental health professional within each of the five litigation circuits, (2) enhance and standardize education and training in vicarious trauma for trial participants and supervisors, and (3) implement psychological assessments at various stages of a military judge, litigator, and paralegal’s assignment in litigation-centered roles. This article first examines the impact of secondhand exposure to traumatic events on trial participants’ mental health in certain types of cases and discusses nationwide efforts to combat vicarious trauma. If such efforts are not prioritized, the DoD runs the risk that its support team personnel and trial participants will develop vicarious trauma, which, in turn, will negatively impact the quality of care crime victims receive, the quality of representation and advocacy, and the objectivity of judges in military courtrooms. However, reforms aimed at curtailing the psychological impact of repeated and secondhand exposure to trauma on advocates and advisors, as well as investigators, prosecutors, defense attorneys, victims’ counsel, and members of the judiciary, remain a mere afterthought. Eradicating sexual assault from our ranks remains the focus. Over the last two decades, significant resources-funds, personnel, and training-have been devoted to improving the Department of Defense’s (DoD) efforts to enhance sexual assault prevention and response, victim protection and support, and military justice investigative and judicial processes. All of these are symptoms commonly associated with vicarious trauma, a form of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Repeated exposure to such evidence and the trauma suffered by others can lead to feelings of guilt, dreams or recollections of the event, increased alcohol and substance consumption, disturbed sleep and increased irritability, loss of faith in humanity, and hypervigilance. Among these are witness testimony and gruesome photographic and video evidence related to rape and other sexual assaults, child abuse, domestic violence, child pornography, and various acts of violence. ![]() ![]() Mitigating vicarious trauma requires a comprehensive strategic plan that calls for the JAG Corps to develop and implement policies and initiatives to identify and mitigate vicarious trauma and its effect on Department of the Air Force military judges, litigators, and paralegals.ĭepartment of the Air Force military judges, litigators, and the paralegals who assist in the investigation and prosecution of serious crimes are often exposed to shocking and horrific details of criminal misconduct.
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