Description
1. Describe a few ethical issues when investigating death scenes and explain how violating these can impact an investigation.
One ethical issue when investigating a death scene would be investigators not being respectful or taking the matter of the scene lightly. As an investigator it’s their duty to protect the body from view of others and to protect the crime scene.
Them not being respectful of that or taking the matter lightly would be a violation because from the outside looking in, the deceased loved one’s might think that they don’t care enough to process the scene properly or to get them the answers that’s needed. Another ethical issue would be investigators thinking and treating all death investigations as the same.
No two cases are alike. There might be some similarities but not alike. Thinking that you’ve dealt with a case like this before and treating it as such could be a violation because important clues could be overlooked. The investigator is already biased and expecting the outcome of the new case to be the same as the old case when that could very well not be the case at all. Investigators should proceed new cases with an open mind. There’s nothing with referring make to a case that’s similar but it should be a referral not doing things the same.
2. Identify and explain some of the job-related stressors faced by medicolegal death investigators and homicide detectives, and further explain some of the most common warning signs of stress and what some appropriate coping mechanisms would be.
Medicolegal death investigators and homicide detectives are seen as being the tough guys that can deal with the most horrific crime scenes not realizing that they are people too and sometimes what you see can start to take a toll on the body. Some of the job-related stressors that these individuals deal with would be not feeling like you could show weakness.
This can start to take a toll because being strong isn’t always easy. Sometimes they may come across a crime scene and feel as though they can’t give themselves a chance to process and get their mind right because someone is watching and expecting them to have it all together, not realizing that they’re people too.
Another job-related stressor would be over time developing PTSD. What you see and the things that you encounter can trigger PTSD. Wanting to get help mentally isn’t an easy feat. People tend to shun mental health like it’s the plague, thinking that if they seek help then something is wrong with them and that they’re crazy when again that’s not the case. Warning signs would be getting burnout, not having time for yourself or the things that you enjoy doing because you’re always focused on the job. Not sleeping enough. Being easily agitated. Relying on substances to help you sleep or cope.
Appropriate coping mechanisms would be getting an adequate amount of sleep. Finding an outlet, some people like to work out and others like to write. Whatever works best for you to escape the reality of work for a while. Mediation, talking to someone, getting a pet. All of these could be good coping mechanisms.
