Investigating Humor Within a Context of Death and Tragedy: The Narratives of Contrasting Realities

Crime scene investigators (CSIs) are subjected to many complexities of working in a context of death, trauma and tragedy. They experience this context in a more intimate manner than any other member of the criminal justice community. Within these challenging work settings in which human lives have ended, humor can emerge as crime scene investigators attend to their tasks. The research question this study addressed is “How is humor used to negotiate work experiences and make meaning from working in a context that includes death, trauma and tragedy?” CSIs were interviewed and provided narratives from their lived experiences regarding humor during their challenging work. Humans often use storytelling to frame and construct meaning of their lived experiences. For the CSI, the telling and retelling of stories of laughter and stories of tears has several individual and organizational outcomes, including group socialization, negotiating the stresses of the work and meaning making