The weight of the badge: An investigation of the unconscious relationship between childhood trauma and occupational choice in members of the FDNY and NYPD (New York City)

The present study had two goals: (1) to determine whether members of the FDNY and NYPD had histories of early trauma that were significantly greater in quantity or quality than those of members of other union professions in New York City and (2) to determine whether the nature of the trauma, should it have been found to exist, was different between members of the FDNY and NYPD. It was hypothesized that histories of early trauma would have occurred more frequently or to a greater degree among members of the FDNY and NYPD than among other New York City union workers. It was also hypothesized that the nature of the trauma experienced would have consisted of loss among members of the FDNY, and of abuse by or punitive relationships with early caretakers for members of the NYPD. Participants included 28 members of the FDNY, 30 members of the NYPD, and 30 other New York City union workers, all male and matched according to potentially confounding demographic variables. They were administered the Life Events Checklist of the Clinician Administered PTSD Scale (CAPS), the Childhood Maltreatment Inventory (CMI), and the Structural Analysis of Social Behavior (SASB), Medium Form, in order to assess these hypotheses. Results revealed significant mean differences between firefighters and police officers with respect to two loss-related responses on the CAPS, confirming the hypothesis that firefighters experienced more loss during childhood. However, no significant differences were found supporting the hypothesis that police officers experienced early abuse by or punitive relationships with caretakers during childhood. Results also revealed a significant counterintuitive finding, namely, that other union workers in New York City reported poorer early relationships with caretakers than did either firefighters or police officers.