Vicarious Trauma and the Performance of Anti-Crime Police Officers in Kamkunji Division in Nairobi City County, Kenya

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Date
2022-06
Authors
Righa, Donatha
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Abstract
The brunt of vicarious trauma on performance has attracted much attention worldwide. The police service world over is faced with growing numbers of officers who suffer vicarious trauma while on duty. There has been an increase of informed cases of police personnel absconding duty. Performance at work is wanting as indicated by the number of cases recorded in the Occurrence Book and going uninvestigated. This study sought the relationship of vicarious trauma and performance of anti-crime police officers in Kamkunji Division, in Nairobi County, Kenya. The study is important in that in any organization, productivity, efficiency and effectiveness is determined by optimal performance at work. This cannot be achieved when the employees are traumatized. The population for the study were the anti-crime police officers in Kamkunji division in Nairobi City County. The target population was 140 anti-crime police officers from the various police stations working in Kamkunji division. The population sample size consisted of 4 officers in charge police stations and 4 officers in charge of anti-crime sections purposively selected, 8 corporals and 42 police constables selected through simple random. The sample size totaled 58 officers. The research instruments used was a Likert scale questionnaire and an in-depth key informant interview guide was prepared and used for interviews for the purposive respondents. A pilot study for the research was undertaken at Industrial area Police station in Makadara division, in Nairobi County to assess the validity and reliability of the research tools. The primary data gathered was computed by the usage of the Mean Average to derive descriptive statistics. The data was presented in frequency distribution tables and percentages. The findings of the research will go a long way in aiding not only the police department on the ways of handling officers suffering from vicarious trauma but also managers of other institutions as well. Recommendations of dealing with vicarious trauma and areas of further studies based on the findings have also been made.
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Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of arts in Leadership and Security Management in the School of Security,Diplomacy and Peace Studies, Kenyatta University
Keywords
Vicarious Trauma, Performance of Anti-Crime, Police Officers
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