Trauma is an occupational hazard in the security sector. Security institutions face significantly higher exposure to traumatic experiences than many other professions, through repeated contact with violence, human suffering, abuse, and high-pressure environments.

At the same time, security sector governance and reform processes often take place in contexts shaped by conflict, high levels of violence, or long-standing patterns of exclusion, exploitation, and abuse. Increasingly, there is recognition that trauma can influence behaviour, decision-making, institutional culture, and relationships with communities in ways that directly affect the effectiveness and sustainability of reform efforts. 

I love being a police officer, but it is making me ill.

This guide was developed by DCAF as a practical resource to support security sector institutions in understanding, assessing, and addressing the impacts of trauma in a structured, responsible, and context-sensitive way. It treats trauma not as an individual failing or solely a clinical issue, but as an organizational and governance challenge that leaders and oversight actors have a responsibility to address.

It highlights how trauma incurred through repeated exposure to violence, conflict, discrimination, or abuse can affect not only individual personnel, but also entire organizations and the communities they serve, shaping trust, accountability, and operational outcomes. 

The guide is intended primarily for leaders and managers within the military, police, gendarmerie, national guard, and similar institutions, as well as for those responsible for oversight, accountability, and reform.

It builds on DCAF’s earlier work on trauma as a missing element in security sector governance and draws on a wide range of trauma-informed practices. Rather than prescribing a single model, it identifies common risk patterns and offers approaches that can be adapted to different institutional, legal, and cultural contexts. 

While the guide provides foundational information on trauma and its effects, it is not a clinical manual. Instead, it focuses on leadership awareness, evidence-informed decision-making, and organizational measures that enable institutions to respond to trauma, strengthen resilience, and fulfil their duty of care.

It also serves as a resource for oversight bodies and partners seeking to engage constructively with trauma-related risks in the security sector. 

Read more on this topic:

- Addressing trauma as a missing element in security sector governance and reform
- Quick reference guide: Entry points for addressing trauma in police reform programmes