Occupational stress in forensic linguistic practice

Authors

  • Solly Elstein University of Birmingham
  • Krzysztof Kredens Aston University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1558/jalpp.20003

Keywords:

burnout, forensic linguistics, mental wellbeing, professional identity, occupational stressors, vicarious trauma

Abstract

As an occupational stressor, working with disturbing material can lead to burnout and vicarious trauma. A profession where exposure to potentially disturbing data tends to be common is that of the forensic linguist, both as an academic researcher and an expert witness in investigative and court settings. Yet, very little is known about the nature of occupational stress in forensic linguistic practice or the coping strategies forensic linguists employ. We address this knowledge gap by drawing on the intersubjective perspective of twelve practitioners, who were interviewed about aspects of their work. We apply thematic analysis to the data to find out what kinds of situations potentially detrimental to psychological wellbeing they encounter in their everyday practice, and how they respond to those situations. We find that, while the practitioners acknowledge the disturbing nature of case data, they are rarely affected by it, at least ostensibly so. This could be due to a number of coping strategies they mention, such as desensitisation; talking to others; putting a distance between themselves and the work; mentally preparing themselves for what they will be seeing, hearing or reading; and seeing their work as contributing positively to society.

Author Biographies

  • Solly Elstein, University of Birmingham

    Solly Elstein is an ESRC-funded doctoral researcher in Applied Linguistics at the University of Birmingham. She holds an MA in Social Research from the University of Birmingham, an MA in Forensic Linguistics from Aston University and a BA (Hons) in Philosophy and Linguistics from the University of Oxford. She currently works in the analysis of online talk using corpus linguistics and conversation analysis. Address for correspondence: Department of English Language and Linguistics, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TT. Email: [email protected]

  • Krzysztof Kredens, Aston University

    Krzysztof Kredens is a Senior Lecturer in Forensic Linguistics in the College of Business and Social Sciences at Aston University. His research is based at the Aston Institute for Forensic Linguistics, where he heads the Centre for Forensic Text Analysis. He has a variety of research outputs in forensic linguistics and ample casework experience, both as an expert witness and in policing contexts. He is registered on the UK National Crime Agency’s Expert Advisors Database. Address for correspondence: Aston Institute for Forensic Linguistics, Aston Triangle, Birmingham B4 7ET.

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Published

2023-04-13

Issue

Section

Articles

How to Cite

Elstein, S., & Kredens, K. (2023). Occupational stress in forensic linguistic practice. Journal of Applied Linguistics and Professional Practice, 17(1), 50-72. https://doi.org/10.1558/jalpp.20003