Resilience Report

Have you ever wondered what’s it 's like to be a cop? Or what cop’s families go through on a day to day basis? This book Emotional Survival for Law Enforcement written by Kevin M. Gilmartin, Ph.D. gives us an outline on the difficulty and stress that law enforcement officer and their families face on daily basis. Dr. Gilmartin discusses the stages of hypervigilance. And the long-term effects of hypervigilance and the toll it takes on the officer and his or her family.

It is safe to say that one of the most arduous and taxing, both physically and mentally, occupations in the country right now would be that of a police officer. Just imagine having to witness half of the atrocities these brave men and women must endure through, knowing that to them it is “just another day at the office.” Unfortunately, police officers are not, by any means, impervious to these scenes and some are even traumatized by it. This is why it is up to their fellow officers, their brothers and sisters of the badge, to assist them in coping with their experiences. After all, who else could understand what they are going through if not the people they trust with their own lives out on the streets?

In starting my Independent Study on resilience, I have decided to break down my research into three phases; staring with gathering and reading information on the topic. I wanted to begin with a few articles that could provide a brief overview on the subject.

Emotional Survival for Law Enforcement: A Guide for Officers and Their Families by Kevin Gilmartin, a law enforcement veteran, demonstrates the emotional struggles an officer can go through when they start their career without realizing there can be emotional struggles. Police officers in training anticipate graduating from the academy and being able to start their career, what they do not realize is the toll that their career can take on their personal lives. The life of a new police officer is full of excitement and strictly on learning what their job entitles, that they may not realize the

Emotional Survival for Law Enforcement by Kevin M. Gilmartin, Ph.D. is a book that seeks to inform and instruct those seeking to be in law enforcement, law enforcement professionals and their families of the realities of a career in law enforcement- professionally and personally. And how to best prepare for emotional survival of “on-duty and off-duty” life. It also compares and contrasts what happens to officers at the beginning of this journey and what typical happens to officers overtime; focusing mainly on what happens to officers that don’t know the techniques of emotional survival. Though it

The Book Emotional Survival for Law Enforcement by Dr. Kevin M. Gilmartin is a guide for officers and their families on the journey through law enforcement and how to coop with the ever demanding job officers face. This book discussed the demands of the job and how officers change throughout the course of their career. I will elaborate on several factors that were discussed in the book and how officers, with the proper training, can help combat the stress of the high demand place on them.

Over decades, the research of resilience has developed from understanding individual’s resilience qualities and protective factors, to the process of resilience and the interventions that promote resilience (Richardson, 2002; Wright et al., 2013). Recently, the focus of resilience shift to the neurobiological process because of the development of science and technology (Wright et al., 2013). While these literatures emerging, there are two noteworthy issues. First, the outcome of the studies were mainly emphasized on main-stream population (Ungar, 2006). Second, little attention was given to resilience across cultures (Ungar, 2006; Ungar et al., 2005). Hence, it is important to investigate how resilience is being defined and understand in different cultures; what are the challenges when conducting a cross cultural research; and what are the key elements when implementing intervention in different cultures.

Emotional Survival For Law Enforcement by Kevin M. Gilmartin, is not a book that sugar coats the reality of policing but is written in a way to help police officers and those who want to understand the job. Not everyone is familiar with why police officers act the way they do and reading Kevin Gilmartin’s book provides an insider in the daily lives of police officers, the dangers the job and how it affects their families. The first chapters started off explaining the excitement of new recruits or those entering the academy. These young men and women are excited for the new opportunities coming their way but it is not all excitement. Their lives are all about policing and even their friends are fellow officers; they lose friends outside the

Where there's a Will, There's a Way was a very inspirational piece for me to read. I directly connect with some of the key pieces of this article. IM in the process of bouncing back as we speak. redefining myself with a new drive and work ethic to make myself successful. And it seems I been searching for this thing called resilience all my life I just didn't know what it was. From the understanding I get if mastered resilience could bring balance to your life. Learning the five key elements and applying them to your life could definitely bring about a more positive outcome of your goals and ambitions. "Resilience is not about struggling alone; it is about the use and mobilization of ordinary human process". Harrington,A.(2012). Everything

The resilience methodology seeks to build on strengths and strengthen the supports and opportunities of the child. Resilience plays a vital role in assisting a child in settling into a new placement, without experiencing major emotional difficulties. Three factors that promote resilience are secure base, Self-esteem and Self-efficacy(Grotberg, 2000). These can be influenced by positive experiences on a daily basis, some which will be highlighted throughout the assignment.

Resilience is best defined as the elasticity of the oceans waves. After crashing all the way to the rocky shore they pull back, recovering from the shallow circumstances they were thrown into. Being resilient is being able to rise to the occasion in times of hardship. When facing life's disadvantages we have to look for what we can learn from it, apply that knowledge, and move on looking toward a better tomorrow.

Resilience, as described by the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, is the “capability of a strained body to recover its size and shape after deformation caused especially by compressive stress,” (Resilience). Humans are resilient bodies, as in the way our civilizations succeed every natural, artificial, or socially constructed impediment that hinders our progression as individuals. Resiliency is an ineffable essence, that permits humanity to succumb to the stressors in their lives and then evolve into something even grander. Rising from the ashes, we as humans, reflect phoenixes as fire burns upon our backs, we are resilient.

There is nothing more honorable than an individual choosing to serve his community and his country as a law enforcement officer. With some margin of error they are a very respectable and hardworking people, but in their line of work there are challenges that most people will never have to face. The most obvious being the heightened amount of responsibility and the burden of maintaining a good public image along with the inherent dangers of working in the profession. The stress placed on these men and women builds up and in many of them they begin to develop problems at home and problems with themselves. Some are as innocent as high blood pressure while others can be as serious as insomnia, increase in suicidal thoughts or actions, post-traumatic stress disorder, and heart diseases to name a few. Not only are officers lives threatened while on duty, negative mental and physical strain can develop into serious problems for the officers that affects them wherever they are in their day to day life. A study done shows that 72% of female officers and 43% of male officers had health problems related to the stressful work environment that police officers are subject to. They are exposed to death and human suffering and any person would find that difficult to bear. We at home are not helping matters either as we treat them how we treat most all people who have hit a mental crisis point, we skirt the topic and instead of treating them and helping them we tell them to just get over it

After getting rejected from multiple software internship opportunities, I have begun to understand that rejection is a milestone of success, not an attribute of failure. It is not a step down the ladder but the opportunity to learn and take two steps up it. Although the lady I asked to race said no, this experience further validated Holiday’s thoughts on ego’s negative impact on success and the importance of resilience toward rejection for the learning process.

What makes one person successful, while another individual, experiencing the same environment, struggles to find their place in life? With many challenges in life, one’s mental state can have a direct effect on their current and future happiness. The science of resilience looks at five key factors; spiritual, family, social, physical and emotional (Harrington, 2012). Mental strength and support in the end will determine much.