JOB STRESS IN POLICEMEN - RESEARCH PAPER

• NCJ Number: 18043
• Author(s): W H KROES; B L MARGOLIS; J J HURRELL
• Date Published: Unknown
• Length: 70 pages
• Corporate Author: National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Publication Format: Document
• Publication Type: Statistics
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

REPORT OF AN INTERVIEW STUDY DESIGNED TO IDENTIFY WHICH POTENTIAL STRESSORS ARE PERCEIVED AS SIGNIFICANT SOURCES OF STRESS IN POLICE WORK.

Abstract

ONE HUNDRED THIRTY POLICEMEN (100 FIELD POLICE AND 30 ADMINISTRATORS AND SUPERVISORS) WERE ASKED ABOUT THEIR BACKGROUND, THEIR PERCEPTIONS OF JOB STRESS, AND THEIR HEALTH STATUS. FOUR MAJOR QUESTIONS WERE ASKED: WHAT WAS BOTHERSOME ABOUT HIS JOB; WHAT HE THOUGHT BOTHERED OTHER POLICEMEN; HOW HE RATED FIVE SPECIFIC STRESSORS; AND WHAT WAS THE LAST TIME HE FELT PARTICULARLY UNCOMFORTABLE IN HIS JOB. SOURCES OF STRESS MENTIONED MOST OFTEN IN RESPONSE TO THE FIRST TWO QUESTIONS WERE COURTS, ADMINISTRATION, EQUIPMENT, AND COMMUNITY RELATIONS. ADMINISTRATION, CRISIS SITUATIONS, CHANGING SHIFT ROUTINE, AND ISOLATION/BOREDOM WERE THE STRESSORS CITED MOST OFTEN IN RESPONSE TO QUESTION THREE. THE FOUR CATEGORIES OF NEGATIVE INCIDENTS REPORTED MOST OFTEN BY POLICEMEN INVOLVED ADMINISTRATION, LINE OF DUTY, NEGATIVE PUBLIC REACTIONS, AND COURTS. RESPONSES OF POLICE ADMINISTRATOR TO QUESTIONS ONE AND TWO CITED ADMINISTRATION, EQUIPMENT/MANPOWER, COMMUNITY RELATIONS, AND COURTS AS THE MAJOR STRESSORS. WORK OVERLOAD, WORK AMBIGUITY, AND COMMUNITY RELATIONS WERE IDENTIFIED AS THE MOST PREVALENT OF SPECIFIC JOB STRESSORS. THE MOST FREQUENTLY CITED NEGATIVE INCIDENTS INVOLVED ADMINISTRATION, COMMUNITY RELATIONS, DISCIPLINARY ACTIONS, AND NEW ASSIGNMENTS. (RESPONSES TO ALL QUESTIONS ARE PRESENTED IN TABULAR FORM AND BROKEN DOWN). RESEARCHERS CONCLUDED THAT MUCH OF THE ADMINISTRATOR'S PSYCHOLOGICAL JOB STRESS STEMS FROM THE FACT THAT HE IS THE 'MAN IN THE MIDDLE'. THE MOST SIGNIFICANT STRESSORS FOR THE PATROLMEN WERE JUDGED TO CENTER AROUND SITUATIONS OR CIRCUMSTANCES WHICH PRODUCE A THREAT TO HIS SENSE OF PROFESSIONALISM. MANY MAJOR AND MINOR HEALTH PROBLEMS DESCRIBED BY BOTH PATROLMEN AND ADMINISTRATORS WERE IMPLICATED AS STRESS CONSEQUENCES. IT WAS SUGGESTED THAT SERIOUS ATTEMPTS AT REDUCTION OF SPECIFIC JOB STRESSORS WERE WARRANTED FROM THE POINT OF VIEW OF THE EFFECTIVE FUNCTIONING OF THE POLICE DEPARTMENT AND OF THE POLICEMAN. A LIST OF REFERENCES IS INCLUDED.