By Tom "Grif" Griffin, BA, CSCSA, CBPA
Well, it depends. For me the answer actually came before the question several years ago. My pre-teen daughter, Megan, who was prone to ear infections, woke up one day before school to find some blood from a sore ear on her pillowcase. She didn’t want the pillowcase to be cleaned until she had a chance to show it to me. And she was determined to do this. We talked a little about what the bloodstain indicated, and then the pillowcase found its way to the washing machine.
About 10 years later, Bentley, her son, had a nosebleed and shared his memories when he and I were discussing this blog. He writes: “I had gotten a pretty bad bloody nose and had gone down to the bathroom to let it drip in the sink while I got toilet paper to plug my nose. But when I was done I had forgotten to rinse the blood out of the sink. You ended up finding it and asking me to hold a tape measure to it so you could photograph it.”
I imagine many, if not most, people in forensics and law enforcement have family who want to share some aspect of our careers. No doubt many of you have made a presentation at a school class delving into the wonders of forensic science and the types of careers available. During a parent-teacher conference, Megan’s middle school science class teacher asked me to be a guest instructor for one day. The students previously had crafted basic molecules using toothpicks and small marshmallows. They also had experimented with allowing drops of red Kool-Aid to strike paper at different angles and observe the shapes produced.
The enthusiasm of Megan’s classmates was refreshing and stimulating while I was there. I passed around laminated circular to elliptical bloodstains similar to the stains the students had produced. My session also included talking about a Colorado-based group - NecroSearch, International - dedicated to assisting law enforcement in efforts to locate buried bodies. I told the class we buried pigs in our research for two reasons. First, there is the physiological similarity between pigs and humans. Second, at that time in Colorado, human cadavers were not allowed to be used in such research. I was amused when several students offered to be buried for the study!
And, that day reaffirmed for me the great respect we owe teachers who spend time in and out of school devoting their lives to future generations. Since I was only instructing for one day, I had the luxury of pulling all of the rabbits out of my hat. Imagine the pressure on those teachers having to go back the next school day and find bigger rabbits to pull out of new hats to keep the students interested!
Nancy, my wife, has ended up with the most unexpected experiences to share and recall. Early in our marriage, I alerted her to the presence of two life-size casts of human crania sitting upside down on the top shelf of our refrigerator so gelatin could solidify. They were going to be used in an experiment I was conducting to study possible back spatter in a case I was working. Naturally, Nancy appreciated the heads up, so to speak. Over the years during excursions throughout Colorado, she has also been treated to the occasional crime scene tour: “This was the site of an assault.” “Over there we recovered the body of a homicide victim.” “Here I had to crawl along the ledge of a cement culvert to capture overhead photographs.” Hmm, does any of this sound familiar?
As professionals, we should be aware of the darker side of our occupation and the effect it has on us – mentally, emotionally, spiritually, physically – and taking action to address them. For example, there was, and may still be, the alleged bragging rights to how long one has gone without sleep to process crime scenes. We should be concerned for how this approach will (notice I didn’t say “might”) affect our abilities to do an already taxing job. Then there is the pressure that we essentially have only one chance to do it thoroughly and correctly and not miss subtle evidence. During the past decade or two, we as practitioners and those in administrative roles have begun discussing these side effects to our work. Likewise, our families also may be negatively impacted by the nature of our work.
While the physical toll was being acknowledged in past years, the mental and emotional tolls were either downplayed or minimally addressed. Joe Slemko, a bloodstain pattern analyst in Canada, was one of the first individuals to share his personal experiences of the effects with his work, personality changes, and interactions with his family. Joe discussed these challenges at a meeting of the International Association of Bloodstain Pattern Analysts (IABPA)several years ago. Meanwhile, Doug Young, Senior Criminalist with the Thornton, Colorado Police Department, has taken the initiative of addressing the topics of emotional well-being, available counseling, and sharing “warning signs” that our work is affecting us in an unhealthy fashion. Most recently, Doug led a discussion about this at the IABPA San Diego conference October 2022.
My singular moment for realizing my profession had an effect on my family was late in the evening of April 20, 1999, outside of Columbine High School. Upper-level personnel had decided that no scene processing including a preliminary walk-through and initial documentation was going to happen until the next day as bomb teams were still searching the school for and finding explosive devices. I called home to share an update that my wife and children already had anticipated – I wasn’t coming home that night. Nancy asked if I had time to talk to Megan. My immediate thought was that she might need some reassurances since she was a high-schooler. I was dumbstruck when I heard her say she was worried how being on scene was affecting ME! That moment is still crystal clear after almost twenty-four years. Two years later I spoke about this personal experience to those at the annual conference of The Association for Crime Scene Reconstruction (ACSR). It was gratifying and reassuring that several attendees came up afterwards and thanked me for sharing my family’s story.
The components and duties of our profession do affect our family in ways we might not realize. We should be asking our loved ones more directly and more often how they feel about our jobs, and how they themselves and others are affected. And, most importantly, we should look in the mirror and ask these same questions of ourselves.
Then, bring everyone together for a group hug!
(Note: For more information, refer to “Trauma and coping mechanisms exhibited by forensic science practioners: A literature review” by Donia P. Slack. It appeared in Forensic Science International: Synergy 2 (2020) 310-316. Also search for websites such as https://www.emdria.org/about-emdr-therapy/.)