"Good policing is not impossible. The reactions that have been associated with stressors are not inevitable. Many officers retire in good physical and emotional health and 100 back on their careers with pleasure. In a situation where stressers have led to maladaptive behavior on the part of individuals or organizations, change is called for. Change must be constant, as social conditions in the world around us vary. The police represent a force for the order necessary for society to function. It is not an easy job, but it is one that is worth doing well."
Stress in policing remains a serious concern for individual officers, their families, their organizations and society at large. As an editor of the Psychological and Behavioural Aspects of Risk series, Ronald J. Burke brings together the latest research findings and intervention strategies, shown to be effective, by an international group of experts. The contributors comprise of a group of high profile researchers and writers who are experts in their respective fields. This edited collection addresses such issues as: The increased risk of international terrorism Racial profiling Police Culture Police integrity Police suicide Inadequate police training The work of police officers exposes them to sources of stress that increase several risks in terms of their psychological and physical health, their family relationships, physical injuries, emotional trauma, ambiguity about their roles in society. Shift work, and undercover work add additional burdens to officers and their families. Police work also places risks on the communities in which officers serve in terms of officers being inadequately trained to deal with mentally ill citizens.
This analysis of police occupational stress draws primarily from a study conducted in two police departments in upstate New York. The study combined several methods of inquiry, including interviews, focus groups, personal observations, and questionnaires. One of the departments had undergone diversification and the other had not. Although the departments differed in diversity, both agencies were pursuing community-policing philosophies. The analysis focused on the relationship between stress and police reform, notably ongoing changes related to community-oriented policing and diversification of the police force. Older officers reported being more stressed than did younger officers. This was typically related to cumulative exposure to client problems, slower-than-hoped-for advancement, or less-than-anticipated recognition. Another primary factor was exposure to turbulent work environments over time, which became the occasion for discomfort with approaching retirement. Organization-related stress, compared with person-related stress, was identified by officers as the principal problem underlying stress. Organizational-related interventions, therefore, are required in preventing and ameliorating stress. There are current trends in policing that involve greater involvement of line officers in the organizational factors that affect their occupational duties. One is problem-oriented policing, which can include solutions to problems within the organization. Interventions have highlighted the importance of police union involvement and team efforts. Organizational peer interactions were also identified as a source of stress. These were based in gender-related and race-related diversity among personnel. Organizational reform to prevent and ameliorate stress must be based in an analysis of the roots of stress related to organizational practices and environments. Officers must then be involved in systematic efforts to plan and implement interventions that can relieve the organizational circumstances that cause and perpetuate stress.
The objective of this book is to demonstrate how adopting a career perspective can provide a more comprehensive conceptualization of traumatic stress processes as they apply to police officers and agencies and provide a framework that can be used to guide research and intervention agenda in ways that reflect the changes that can occur over the course of a police career that can span decades. The book examines the nature and effectiveness of the police role in dealing with adverse events as they unfold within a career perspective. It begins with pre-employment experiences and their implications for operational well-being and concludes with a discussion of the implications of a police career for disengagement or retirement from this role. It draws upon empirical research to provide an evidence-based approach to traumatic stress risk management and well-being in contemporary policing. Based on state-of-the-art research, the book provides a framework that police agencies can use to develop their officers and their organizations in ways that enhance their capability to confront an increasingly uncertain future in ways that maximize the interests of front-line policing. Areas of discussion include incorporation of police trauma into a life-career course perspective; changing context and nature of police work; recruitment, selection, and socialization in the context of critical incident and terrorist work; changing gender balance; training in uncertain times; managing risk and vulnerability; organizational context; family dynamics; inter and intraorganizational teams; health and mental health; consequences of long-term exposure to hazards; and disengagement and retirement. The text will be of significant interest to police organizations and agencies whose officers face a high risk of experiencing disaster and traumatic stress, law enforcement managerial and supervisory personnel, human resource and health and safety professionals, and mental health professionals and consultants. The text will also be relevant to those researching traumatic stress, disaster stress, and emergency management as well as other protective services.
This training manual is designed to help administrators, managers, and supervisors foster a safer, more pleasant work environment and groom well-adjusted, more proficient officers.
This book is designed to help law enforcement professionals overcome the internal assaults they experience both personally and organizationally over the course of their careers. These assaults can transform idealistic and committed officers into angry, cynical individuals, leading to significant problems in both their personal and professional lives.
Police Burnout is the synthesis of Dr. Fishkin's sixteen years experience as a police psychologist, and is a must read for all police officers, family members, police and public safety administrators, as well as mental health specialists who work in the area of law enforcement. It is a modern classic in the field of police psychology.
The police fight a different kind of war, and the enemy is the police officer's own civilian population: those who engage in crime, social indignity, and inhumane treatment of others. The result for the police officer is both physical and psychological battering, occasionally culminating in the officer sacrificing his or her life to protect others. This book focuses on the psychological impact of police civilian combat. During a police career, the men and women of police agencies are exposed to distressing events that go far beyond the experience of the ordinary citizen, and there is an increased need today to help police officers deal with these traumatic experiences. As police work becomes increasingly complex, this need will grow. Mental health and other professionals need to be made aware of the conditions and precipitants of trauma stress among the police. The goal of this book is to provide that important information. The book's perspective is based on the idea that trauma stress is a product of complex interaction of person, place, situation, support mechanisms, and interventions. To effectively communicate this to the reader, new conceptual and methodological considerations, essays on special groups in policing, and innovative ideas on recovery and treatment of trauma are presented. This information can be used to prevent or minimize trauma stress and to help in establishing improved support and therapeutic measures for police officers. Contributions in the book are from professionals who work with police officers, and in some cases those who are or have been police officers, to provide the reader with different perspectives. Chapters are grouped into three sections: conceptual and methodological issues, special police groups, and recovery and treatment. The book concludes with a discussion of issues and identifies future directions for conceptualization, assessment, intervention, and effective treatment of psychological trauma in policing.
