Critique of Quantitative Study: Stress of a Police Job

Maslach and Schaufeli (1993) argued that when professionals are burned-out, job performance quality is jeopardized. They also indicate that burnout is not limited to the police service, as they state that “burnout has been extended beyond the traditional borders of the human services”. They may concur, for the reason that burnout is not limited to policing, that stress should not be proclaimed as inherent to the police service.

United States Law Enforcement officers are constantly under pressure. Their job requires them to serve and protect mankind, under any circumstances, at all times. Because of this, officers run the risk of putting themselves in harmful situation. This may include apprehending a violent assailant, or entering harmful locations. In this study, I used books and articles such as, Criminal Justice Today, to get an understanding of the dangers Law Enforcement Officer face in the line of duty. When performing task outside the prescient, office4rs are put into dangerous situations because of their surroundings, offender’s actions, and officer mistakes. Due to the high stress of this job, it not only affects their performance, but their health as well.

     It is important that law enforcement officers are able to handle stress and build his or her zone of stability. Officers have a ready-made support system in each other. They better understand the special problems and feelings that come with the job that friends and family members don’t. That doesn’t necessarily mean that this relationship with their fellow officers will cure all. Sometimes, because of the “macho” image that police officers uphold, they will give back negative feedback in a situation where an officer needs comfort. For example, an officer shoots someone in the line of duty and is having an emotional struggle with it, and a fellow officer (who

7) The need to be in constant emotional control. Law enforcement officers have a job that requires extreme restraint under highly emotional circumstances. They are told when they are extremely excited, they have to act calm. They are told when they are nervous, they have to be in charge. They are taught to be stoic when emotional. They are to interact with the world in a role. The emotional constraint of the role takes tremendous mental energy, much more energy than expressing true emotions. When the energy drain is very strong, it may make the officer more prone to exhaustion outside of work, such as not wanting to participate in social or family life. This energy drain can also create a sense of job and social burnout.

As I acknowledged before, many may argue that police officers face high stress situations. Well, according to the article "The Search for Reasonableness in Use-of-Force Cases:

“Because the concept of "off duty" does not exist for most law enforcement officers, they experience a higher rate of divorce, alcoholism, and suicide. Stress is simply defined as an elevation in a person's state of arousal or readiness, caused by a stimulus or demand. As stress arousal increases, health and performance actually improve. Within manageable levels, stress can help sharpen our attention and mobilize our bodies to cope with threatening

In addition, police officer exposed to high levels of stress relate to their job have been at an increased risk for adverse health problems, including depression, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress disorder, (Grant & Terry, 2012).

As crime coexists with humanity, the presence of the police force ensures the suppression of crime and the safety for our society. Every occupation has its own work stress. What is unique is all the different stress found in one job. Aside from the heroic services police officers perform in their duty, they experience overwhelming stress in their daily duty. Police stress refers to the negative pressures related to police work (Police Stress, n.d.). In order to maintain peace and order, there must be an effective police force up and running. For that to happen, departments need to be aware and deal with the negative effects caused by police stress. Whereas, police officers must conquer their stress in order to work at their

Stress has been linked to hypertension, heart attacks, diabetes, asthma, chronic pain, allegeries, headaches, skin disorders, cancer, immune system weakness and decrease blood count (Cummings et al, 2005). It has also been linked to an increase risk of alcoholism and drug use. High levels of stress can lead to higher absenteeism, larger staff turnover and low productivity. The symptoms are evident in the quantitative data, with an

Stress levels were not as bad as they are today but there were still some stress (Reedy). 20 years ago and beyond there not as many dash cams in cop cars. The lack of dash cams lead to cops having more freedom. More freedom lead to less stress. One cop said that when he first started being a cop they would go out to bars and drink in the parking lot while on the job (Reedy). Sense the 20 years ago and beyond, the current situations cops face have lead them to more stress.

The history of policing can be traced back to the beginning of time. When looking at the subject of police work there is a large culture and history that follows along with it. There are many topics that can be analyzed when identifying, and describing the elements and the significances that are associated with policing. A large element of the police job that plays a large factor in the work and attributes to the policing culture is the amount of stress that an office will face while performing on the job. Another part of the job that plays a large part in the culture

Interestingly, physical danger is ranked low on the list of stresses by police officers! A study of 2376 Buffalo NY police officers found that compared to the white male population police officers had higher mortality rates for cancer, suicide, and heart disease (Constant). Suicide is one of the worst effects that stress can have on police officers.

Stress is a common factor among law enforcement. Although the men and women who work in law enforcement are expected to handle extreme circumstances while being on the job many are affected. Contributing influences such as violence, cruelty, and killing someone in the line of duty are some of the situations faced on a routine basis. It is not customary for people to witness and be involved in traumatic violence on a frequent basis.

The validity of psychological tests has been an issue for multiple decades. Psychologists are often reluctant to rate with any specificity the police candidates they evaluate” (Bohm & Haley, 2014, p. 233). It is difficult to validate one’s claims of stress when it is used very loosely. The perceived stress scale is dependent on how it affected them. A stress questionnaire will be given and put on file.

General stressors are not as crucial as critical incidents, but can be if not dealt with over a long period of time. Some examples of general work stressors most commonly cited by police officers that cause stress are: paperwork, public disrespect, shift work, death notifications, domestic violence calls, or frustration with the courts (National Institute of Justice Journal, 2000).