NCJ Number
93608
Journal
American Journal of Police Volume: 3 Issue: 1 Dated: (Fall 1983) Pages: 111-126
Date Published
1983
Length
16 pages
Annotation
Military police are more likely than civilian police to perceive their jobs as stressful, and the former are significantly more likely than their civilian counterparts to exhibit physiologicial ailments and behavioral patterns which have been found to be associated with high stress levels.
Abstract
Questionnaries were completed by 92 military police personnel performing law enforcement duties at a major U.S. Army post. These responses were compared with 150 questionnaires completed by members of the selected civilian police department. An additional 41 questionnaires were completed by the sample of commissioned officers at the Military Police School, but these are excluded from the analysis except where indicated. To determine the perceived level of job stress, respondents provided a brief description of their job duties and were then asked how stressful they considered the job to be. A five-category Likert-scale was used. To obtain information on the medical history of the respondents, all were asked if they had experienced medical problems in the past year regarding six illnesses frequently associated with stress: high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, ulcers, frequent or migraine headaches, and diarrhea. Other measures involved marital difficulties and admitted alcohol abuse. The military police more frequently than their civilian counterparts perceived their jobs as stressful and experienced physical ailments associated with stress, suggesting that the military police's lower participation in organizational decisionmaking may result in less worker satisfaction and greater stress. Tabular data, 4 footnotes, and 15 references are provided.