The pandemic and the forensic linguistics caseworker’s wellbeing

effects and recommendations

Authors

  • Roser Giménez Universitat de Barcelona and Laboratorio SQ-Lingüistas Forenses
  • Solly Elstein University of Birmingham
  • Sheila Queralt Laboratorio SQ-Lingüistas Forenses

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1558/ijsll.19548

Keywords:

COVID, pandemic, lockdown, forensic linguist, caseworker, mental wellbeing

Abstract

Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, countries have implemented different measures to control the spread of the disease. Policies like lockdowns can negatively impact citizens’ wellbeing (e.g. Rossi et al. 2020), including professionals working with sensitive data and in legal settings (e.g. Barros et al. 2020). For the first time, this article addresses how this general crisis may have affected forensic linguistics caseworkers’ practices and wellbeing. In November 2020, a fixed-response questionnaire was circulated among the forensic linguistics online community. Results show that the most consequential changes in the caseworkers’ professional practices brought about by the pandemic have to do with their working environment and schedule. Following the discussion of the results, some recommendations regarding caseworkers’ self-care are outlined and discussed. Given the constant changes in policies and the evolution of the pandemic, further surveys and a general discussion concerning practitioners’ wellbeing would benefit this professional community.

Author Biographies

  • Roser Giménez, Universitat de Barcelona and Laboratorio SQ-Lingüistas Forenses

    Roser Giménez García is a doctoral researcher at the University of Barcelona and coordinator of the Text Analysis Unit at Laboratorio SQ. She holds a Master of Arts in Forensic Linguistics and is an admitted legal expert in forensic linguistics by the Official Association of Doctors and Graduates in Philosophy and Arts and Sciences of Catalonia and a member of many associations devoted to forensic linguistics. She is co-author of Soy lingüista, lingüista forense.

  • Solly Elstein, University of Birmingham

    Solly Elstein is a doctoral researcher at the University of Birmingham funded by the Economic and Social Research Council. She works in the fields of corpus linguistics and conversation analysis after graduating with an MA in Forensic Linguistics (Aston University) in 2019.

  • Sheila Queralt, Laboratorio SQ-Lingüistas Forenses

    Dr Sheila Queralt Estevez is the founder and director of Laboratorio SQ. She is an admitted legal expert in forensic linguistics by the Official Association of Doctors and Graduates in Philosophy and Arts and Sciences of Catalonia and a member of many associations devoted to forensic linguistics. She is the author of the Decalogue for Requesting a Linguistics Expert Report and Atrapados por la lengua, and co-author of Soy lingüista, lingüista forense and Fundamentos de la lingüística forense.

References

Bai, Y., Lin, C. C., Lin, C. Y., Chen, J. Y., Chue, C. M. and Chou, P. (2004) Survey of stress reactions among health care workers involved with the SARS outbreak. Psychiatric Services 55(9): 1055–1057. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ps.55.9.1055

Barros, A. J. S., Teche, S. P., Padoan, C., Laskoski, P., Hauck, S. and Eizirik, C. L. (2020) Countertransference, defense mechanisms, and vicarious trauma in work with sexual offenders. Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law 48(3): 302–314. Retrieved on 9 February 2021 from http://jaapl.org/content/jaapl/48/3/302.full.pdf

Bell, H., Kulkarni, S. and Dalton, L. (2003) Organizational prevention of vicarious trauma. Families in Society: The Journal of Contemporary Social Services 84(4): 463–470. https://doi.org/10.1606/1044-3894.131

Beyond Blue (2021) Working from home safely and productively. Beyond Blue. Retrieved on 28 February 2021 from https://coronavirus.beyondblue.org.au/impacts-on-mywork/working-from-home/safely-and-productively.html

Billings, D., Cohen, R., Coles, J. Y., Contreras-Urbina, M., Dartnall, E., Fields, A. et al. (2015) Guidelines for the prevention and management of vicarious trauma among researchers of sexual and intimate partner violence. Sexual Violence Research Initiative. Pretoria, South Africa. Retrieved on 9 February 2021 from https://www.svri.org/sites/default/files/attachments/2016-06-02/SVRIVTguidelines.pdf

Blackwell, S. (2013) History of forensic linguistics. In C. A. Chapelle (ed.) The Encyclopedia of Applied Linguistics. Oxford: Blackwell. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781405198431.wbeal0508

Boone H. N. and Boone D. A. (2012) Analyzing Likert data. Journal of Extension 50(2): 1–5. Retrieved on 9 February 2021 from https://archives.joe.org/joe/2012april/pdf/JOE_v50_2tt2.pdf

Bouziri, H., Smith, D. R., Descatha, A., Dab, W. and Jean, K. (2020) Working from home in the time of COVID-19: how to best preserve occupational health? Occupational and Environmental Medicine 77(7): 509–510. https://doi.org/10.1136/oemed-2020-106599

Bradbury?Jones, C. and Isham, L. (2020) The pandemic paradox: the consequences of COVID?19 on domestic violence. Journal of Clinical Nursing 29(13–14): 2047–2049. https://doi.org/10.1111/jocn.15296

Buil-Gil, D., Miró-Llinares, F., Moneva, A., Kemp, S. and Díaz-Castaño, N. (2020) Cybercrime and shifts in opportunities during COVID-19: a preliminary analysis in the UK. European Societies 23: S47–S59. https://doi.org/10.1080/14616696.2020.1804973

Burns, C. M., Morley, J., Bradshaw, R. and Domene, J. (2008) The emotional impact on and coping strategies employed by police teams investigating internet child exploitation. Traumatology 14(2): 20–31. https://doi.org/10.1177/1534765608319082

Calderon-Anyosa, R. J. C. and Kaufman, J. S. (2021) Impact of COVID-19 lockdown policy on homicide, suicide, and motor vehicle deaths in Peru. Preventive Medicine 143. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ypmed.2020.106331

Champion, D. J. and Sear, A. M. (1969) Questionnaire response rate: a methodological analysis. Social Forces 47(3): 335–339. https://doi.org/10.2307/2575033

Choi, B. C. and Pak, A. W. (2005) A catalog of biases in questionnaires. Preventing Chronic Disease 2(1). Retrieved on 9 February 2021 from http://www.cdc.gov/pcd/issues/2005/jan/04_0050.htm

Clarke, I. and Kredens, K. (2018) ‘I consider myself to be a service provider’: discursive identity construction of the forensic linguistic expert. International Journal of Speech, Language and the Law 25(1): 79–107. https://doi.org/10.1558/ijsll.34457

Clason, D. L. and Dormody, T. J. (1994) Analyzing data measured by individual Likerttype items. Journal of Agricultural Education 35(4): 31–35. https://doi.org/10.5032/jae.1994.04031

Cullen, W., Gulati, G. and Kelly, B. D. (2020) Mental health in the COVID-19 pandemic. QJM: An International Journal of Medicine 113(5): 311–312. https://doi.org/10.1093/qjmed/hcaa110

Elstein, S. (2019) ‘I think I’m quite unshockable’: a thematic analysis of the forensic linguistics professional’s wellbeing. Unpublished master’s dissertation, Aston University.

Ermshar, A. L. and Meier, A. M. (2014) Forensic psychology: preparing female clinicians for challenging offenders. Women & Therapy 37(1–2): 72–82. https://doi.org/10.1080/02703149.2014.850336

Foddy, W. (1993) Constructing Questions for Interviews and Questionnaires: Theory and Practice in Social Research. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511518201

Fovet, T., Thibaut, F., Thomas, P. and Lancelevée, C. (2020) French forensic mental health system during the COVID-19 pandemic. Forensic Science International: Mind and Law 1. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fsiml.2020.100034

Government of Spain (2020) Plan para la transición hacia una nueva normalidad. Retrieved on 9 February 2021 from https://www.lamoncloa.gob.es/consejodeministros/resumenes/Documents/2020/PlanTransicionNuevaNormalidad.pdf

Halford, E., Dixon, A., Farrell, G., Malleson, N. and Tilley, N. (2020) Crime and coronavirus: social distancing, lockdown, and the mobility elasticity of crime. Crime Science 9(11). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40163-020-00121-w

Hartley, J. (2014) Some thoughts on Likert-type scales. International Journal of Clinical and Health Psychology 14(1): 83–86. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1697-2600(14)70040-7

ILO (International Labour Organization) (2020) Managing Work-Related Psychosocial Risks during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Geneva: ILO. Retrieved on 28 February 2021 from https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---ed_protect/---protrav/---safework/documents/instructionalmaterial/wcms_748638.pdf

JISCM@il (n.d.) FORENSIC-LINGUISTICS Home Page. https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgibin/webadmin?A0=FORENSIC-LINGUISTICS

Johnson, A. and Coulthard, M. (2010) Introduction: current debates in forensic linguistics. In A. Johnson and M. Coulthard (eds) The Routledge Handbook of Forensic Linguistics (1st edn) 1–15. London and New York: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203855607

Kim, A. W., Nyengerai, T. and Mendenhall, E. (2020) Evaluating the mental health impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic: perceived risk of COVID-19 infection and childhood trauma predict adult depressive symptoms in urban South Africa. Psychological Medicine 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033291720003414

Kuki K., Yamaguchi Y., Makinodan M., Honda M., Ueda J., Okazaki K., Okamura K. et al. (2020) Effects of contact with COVID-19 patients on the mental health of workers in a psychiatric hospital. Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences 75(2): 67–69. https://doi.org/10.1111/pcn.13179

Lai, M., Heydon, G. and Mulayim, S. (2015) Vicarious trauma among interpreters. International Journal of Interpreter Education 7(1): 3–22.

Lallie, H. S., Shepherd, L. A., Nurse, J. R., Erola, A., Epiphaniou, G., Maple, C. and Bellekens, X. (2021) Cyber security in the age of COVID-19: a timeline and analysis of cyber-crime and cyber-attacks during the pandemic. Computers & Security 105. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cose.2021.102248

Lidén, M. (2020) The impact of COVID-19 on criminal investigations and proceedings in Sweden: a snapshot of practitioners’ realities. Forensic Science International: Synergy 2: 325–332. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fsisyn.2020.11.001

Liebrenz, M., Bhugra, D., Buadze, A. and Schleifer, R. (2020) Caring for persons in detention suffering with mental illness during the Covid-19 outbreak. Forensic Science International: Mind and Law 1. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fsiml.2020.100013

López-Fonseca, Ó. (2020) Los delitos se redujeron un 73,8% los primeros 15 días del confinamiento. El País. Retrieved on 28 February 2021 from https://elpais.com/espana/2020-05-01/los-delitos-se-redujeron-un-738-los-primeros-15-dias-delconfinamiento.html

Mind (2021) Coronavirus and isolation: supporting yourself and your colleagues. Mental Health at Work. Retrieved on 28 February 2021 from https://www.mentalhealthatwork.org.uk/toolkit/coronavirus-and-isolation-supporting-yourself-and-your-colleagues/

Moreno, C., Wykes, T., Galderisi, S., Nordentoft, M., Crossley, N., Jones, N. et al. (2020) How mental health care should change as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Lancet Psychiatry 7(9): 813–824. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2215-0366(20)30307-2

Newell, J. M. and MacNeil, G. A. (2010) Professional burnout, vicarious trauma, secondary traumatic stress, and compassion fatigue. Best Practices in Mental Health 6(2): 57–68.

Ogunwale, A., Majekodunmi, O. E., Ajayi, S. O. and Abdulmalik, J. (2020) Forensic mental health service implications of COVID-19 infection in Nigeria. Forensic Science International: Mind and Law 1. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fsiml.2020.100026

Peterson, R. A. (2000) Constructing Effective Questionnaires. London and Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781483349022

Pfefferbaum, B. and North, C. S. (2020) Mental health and the COVID-19 pandemic. New England Journal of Medicine 383: 510–512. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMp2008017

Pirelli, G., Formon, D. L., Maloney, K. (2020) Preventing vicarious trauma (VT), compassion fatigue (CF), and burnout (BO) in forensic mental health: forensic psychology as exemplar. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice 51(5): 454–466. https://doi.org/10.1037/pro0000293

Ravindran, S. and Shah, M. (2020) Unintended consequences of lockdowns: COVID-19 and the shadow pandemic. National Bureau of Economic Research Working Papers 27562. Retrieved on 9 February 2021 from https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nbr:nberwo:27562

Rettie, H. and Daniels, J. (2020) Coping and tolerance of uncertainty: predictors and mediators of mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic. American Psychologist August 3. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1037/amp0000710

Rossi, R., Socci, V., Talevi, D., Mensi, S., Niolu, C., Pacitti, F., Di Marco, A. et al. (2020) COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown measures impact on mental health among the general population in Italy. Frontiers in Psychiatry 11(790). https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2020.00790

Shuy, R. W. (2006) Linguistics in the Courtroom: A Practical Guide. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Talevi, D., Socci, V., Carai, M., Carnaghi, G., Faleri, S., Trebbi, E., Di Bernardo, A. et al. (2020) Mental health outcomes of the CoViD-19 pandemic. Rivista di Psichiatria 55(3): 137–144. https://doi.org/10.1708/3382.33569

UN (United Nations) (2020) Policy Brief: COVID-19 and the Need for Action on Mental Health. Retrieved on 28 February 2021 from https://www.un.org/sites/un2.un.org/files/un_policy_brief-covid_and_mental_health_final.pdf

Wang, C., Pan, R., Wan, X., Tan, Y., Xu, L., Ho, C. S. and Ho, R. C. (2020) Immediate psychological responses and associated factors during the initial stage of the 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) epidemic among the general population in China. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 17(5): 1729. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17051729

WHO (World Health Organization) (2021) #HealthyAtHome - Mental Health. World Health Organization. Retrieved on 28 February 2021 from https://www.who.int/campaigns/connecting-the-world-to-combat-coronavirus/healthyathome/healthyathome---mental-health

Published

2021-05-21

Issue

Section

Articles

How to Cite

Giménez, R., Elstein, S., & Queralt, S. (2021). The pandemic and the forensic linguistics caseworker’s wellbeing: effects and recommendations. International Journal of Speech, Language and the Law, 27(2), 233-254. https://doi.org/10.1558/ijsll.19548