CJUS 620
JOURNAL ARTICLE REVIEW INSTRUCTIONS
In this assignment, you will critically review 2 recent peer-reviewed articles in a minimum of 2
pages. You may wish to spend some time researching critical review techniques for journal
articles prior to starting this assignment. The paper must follow current APA guidelines. The
page count does not include the title page, abstract, reference section, or any extra material. See
the grading rubric for additional guidance. You must follow the article focus prompts closely.
Microsoft Word is the only acceptable upload format.
For each review, you will select and read one article. At a minimum, you must pay particular
attention to the identification of the premise and supporting points of the article, a synthesis of
the article and the corresponding material in the textbook or a synthesis of the article with your
personal experience with the topic, and a critical evaluation of the premise(s) and supporting
points of the article.
Topic: Journal Article Review 1 must be on the topic of critical incidents or the traumatic
stress of law enforcement.
You can choose a article regarding the topic above.
Running head: CRITICAL INCIDENTS JOURNAL REVIEW 1
Critical Incidents
By: (Name)
Course:
Professor:
Institutional Affiliation:
Date:
CRITICAL INCIDENTS JOURNAL REVIEW 2
CRITICAL INCIDENTS REVIEW
Abstract
Critical incidents are part and parcel of the human society in the contemporary world; as
a result, there is a need to devise appropriate mechanisms of handling such situations. The
incidents, in most instances, are sudden and unexpected, causing trauma and disrupting the
normal operations within a region. The major causes of critical incidents include natural
calamities such as; hurricanes, cyclones, floods, among others; however, some traumatic
experiences occur as a result of human activities like the use of explosive weapons during war.
The magnitude of the calamities is often high, overwhelming the response mechanisms to
address the situation appropriately. As a result, the emotional and psychological effects of the
occurrence, most often emanating from its consequences such as death, injuries, and destruction
of properties, have a lasting impact on the victims (Bott & Tourish, 2016). Hence, there is a need
to design early intervention mechanisms to alleviate the victims fully from the incident through
well-defined sequential approaches to restore normalcy. This review focuses on the early EMDR
intervention and critical intervention technique (CIT) approaches to societies after a critical
incident has transpired.
Main points from early EMDR intervention journal
Disastrous events usually transpire without prior knowledge; thus, the emergency
response teams may fail to adopt appropriate methods to handle a given scenario. For example,
in 2012, a missile fired from Gaza landed on a building in a religious community. Three people
lost their lives in the event, while others were injured in the process, the neighborhood area is
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congested, and they became anxious following the tragic incident (Elan & Brunt, 2015). The
residents were disturbed since they always believe in divine protection; thus, psychologists from
the region sorted the services of EMDR-Israel Association to help the community recover from
the incident.
Early psychological intervention methods were adopted after three months of the missile
incident. Despite the physical impacts of war or calamities, there is always an emotional and
psychological impact of such an occurrence. The earlier intervention mechanisms are aimed at
the treatment and prevention of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The intervention
approaches unveiled that brief trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy (TF-CBT) were
considered to be effective. This is because many trauma victims face transient symptoms of
stress; however, approximately 75 percent of the victims usually recover within three months. At
the same time, other victims are susceptible to secondary complications, which affect their
quality of life and relationship with others (Elan & Brunt, 2015). Traumatic stress is an example
of a risk factor resulting from somatic and psychological complaints; clinical symptoms may be
visible; however, PTSD usually manifests later. Individuals suffering from trauma are likely to
seek medical intervention as a remedy; however, this could be avoided when early interventions
are comprehensively implemented.
EMDR is an evidence-based approach to treating PTSD and has gained global
recognition by the World Health Organization (WHO), among other international bodies. It
conceptualizes a traumatic event through various stages to avoid generalization of facts based on
a single incident. Through this method, a client is asked to explain the traumatic event
highlighting the most pressing issues that require urgent attention. The problems are then
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processed through standard EMDR protocol to initiate a positive cognition process sequentially.
When the patient has gained stability to visualize the event, they are required to develop positive
cognition for the entire scenario with sobriety and bilateral stimulation (BLS). The traumatic
incidents, coupled with its impacts, are regarded as an ongoing activity since the experiences are
not yet consolidated. It digs deeper into the root causes of the incident, its effects, and the current
situation of the victims.
Main points from critical incident techniques (CIT) journal
Critical incidence techniques (CIT) comprise of a set of procedures utilized in the
collection of primary observation of individual behavior to facilitate potential usefulness in
mitigating real challenges. It has been a common phenomenon for investigative teams to gather
information revolving around a problem, which is not a sure way of obtaining the underlying
data. Most of the investigative teams utilize the golden hour, neglecting the possibility of
underlying factors to propel the incident (Bott & Tourish, 2016). It has merits over other
techniques based on its inductive properties of not restricting the respondents into a fixed
paradigm. It allows for a detailed understanding of intricacies and the contextual factors
surrounding such behaviors. Secondly, the CIT interview model is flexible, semi-structured, thus,
incorporating varied views. The interviewers are always striving to eradicate biases in the
process and to offer clarity and dialogue without insinuating unnecessary conversation, which
may add no value to the research. The questions are always in-depth to unravel the chronological
pattern on how incidents transpired from the first to the last.
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Recommendation on the journals
Critical incidents are inevitable within human societies due to the advancement of war
through technological methods and the natural forces of nature. As a result, the success of a
community relies on its ability to handle the disastrous situation to restore normalcy within its
jurisdiction. Most often, the governments have reacted based on “gold rush hour” without
digging more in-depth on the psychological effects of the incident. These journals are
multifaceted and provide a broader view of how disastrous and emergencies can be handled.
Thus, I recommend the journals on the following grounds; first, they offer a comprehensive way
of understanding a situation by interviewing the observers from the society in which it took
place. Thus, it provides a sure means of obtaining first-hand information. Secondly, most of the
response teams have been trained to handle the physical aspects of an incident, neglecting
psychological and emotional impacts. These aspects are usually long-lasting compared to
physical; thus, the journals need to be adopted for addressing such vital areas.
Improvement
In the contemporary world, technology has become part of every intervention
mechanism in offering solutions to perennial human challenges. As the world progresses, social
problems such as war and terrorism attacks have become significant challenges. As a result,
these journals need to incorporate a digital response strategy for critical incidents to ease
information sharing between various stakeholders. Through automated response gadgets, alerts
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about an experience can be enriched, enabling the response teams to focus on high priority cases
that require immediate attention.
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References
Bott, G. & Tourish, D. (2016). The critical incident technique reappraised; using critical
Incidents to illuminate organizational practices and build theory
Elan, S. & Brunt, L (2015). Early EMDR intervention following a community critical incident
Retrieved from; https://connect.springerpub.com/content/sgremdr/9/1/17
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