Short description
It is the worst news to deliver. It will change the lives of those affected decisively and remain seared in their minds forever. “We regret to inform you that your relative has been found dead today”. In the case of an unnatural death, for instance due to a (traffic) accident, a suicide or violent crime, it is the duty of the police to inform relatives of their loved one’s death. The way police officers communicate and interact with relatives can have an enormous influence on how they cope with the news in the aftermath. Depression, self-endangering behaviour, suicidal tendencies, phobias and apathy are among the long-term effects that some victims suffer from[1]. All of these can be ameliorated by a responsible approach to communicating and interacting with the bereaved.
In all of this, it is crucial to differentiate between initial reactions to the loss of a loved one and the feeling of helplessness that relatives are bound to experience in the face of their fundamental need for information regarding the circumstances of the death and the steps taken by the responsible authorities. To protect the bereaved, the police should seek to help them grasp the facts and prevent feelings of helplessness (but not feelings of loss or grief) from arising. Even small bits of information that explain why certain questions cannot be answered yet are extremely valuable since they can help reassure relatives that their crisis is being taken seriously and that they are being respected as citizens.
The blended learning course
To develop the blended learning course “DNR - Death Notification with Responsibility”, we applied for an ERC (European Research Council) Proof of Concept Grant in October 2016. The DNR course is based on the findings of the research funded by our interdisciplinary ERC Starting Grant “Narratives of Terror and Disappearance (University of Konstanz, 2010-2015). The project led by Professor Kirsten Mahlke revealed that withholding information deliberately or unintentionally and/or preventing relatives from accessing the materiality of death can have long-term negative effects on their grieving process, create a ghost-like social reality, foment mistrust in the state and its executive organs and inhibit cultural activity. These insights can be put to further use in police training.
The DNR course can supplement existing training and continuing education structures, providing materials for both e-learning and classroom teaching. Based on tried-and-trusted teaching models and taking current research into account, the course is expected to contribute to the development of national standards in police expertise regarding these kinds of delicate interactions between the state and its citizens. Failed attempts at delivering death notifications, or attempts perceived as deficient in some way, can have grave consequences both for the relatives and the police officers involved.
The blended learning course will train police officers by means of a multi-dimensional educational model that is composed of classroom teaching, training and e-learning components on a range of topics relating to death notifications. This includes experiential learning units in which police officers can practice delivering death notifications, view best practice video material (including experience reports from those affected) and complete a number of virtual exercises outside the classroom. One important characteristic of the course is its inclusion of witness reports and statements from relatives in the form of short texts, audio and video clips, which will enable participants to change their perspective.
Project focus
An underlying assumption of this project, which is accompanied by continuous empirical surveys, is that the delivery of death notifications through the police begins long before the actual visit to the victim’s family and, from a police perspective, continues even after the family has been informed. It seeks to establish an enhanced understanding of death notifications that does justice to the crisis a sudden loss is likely to engulf the surviving family members in. On the one hand, this demands continued communication and a continued transmission of information that goes well beyond the initial notification (coordinating contact person in the police force, continuity of the information flow). It also affects the police’s responsibilities to provide protection to victims and prevention from danger during the entire death investigation process on the other hand. In connection with this, the project will also reflect on the conflicting interests of relatives and police investigators, especially as this can cause insecurities regarding the best course of action.
Death notifications can be delivered well and without causing additional damage if the operation follows a coordinated and standardised plan that provides a framework for such sensitive interactions with the potential to produce long-term consequences.
[1] As suggested in the EU guideline 2012/29 and in Trappe 2000, p. 18, we use the term “victim” in a broad sense that also includes grieving relatives.