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Causes of stress in the police
Causes of stress in the police
Causes of stress in the police
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INTRODUCTION This research proposal is written to apply for endorsement to examine the interrelationship between police officers and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The goal of this research is to determine how the stress of law enforcement may cause PTSD amongst police officers. This research will also analyze the effects that PTSD has on the individual’s personal and professional life and the people associated with those officers. Post-traumatic stress disorder is a mental health condition that develops after facing or experiencing a horrific event. To protect the public, law enforcement officers must be psychologically competent to fulfill the obligations of the position. This research is significant because there are officers with …show more content…
However, there are rarely any programs that help officers handle the stress of working in law enforcement. By all means, programs for officers suffering with PTSD should be put into speculation. This research will raise awareness of preventable, yet an incurable disorder among police officers. The public has an understanding of the post-traumatic stress disorder involving military personnel, but at the same time, civilian employees are developing the disorder as …show more content…
Work-related factors and demographic factors will be assessed and in addition, determine what police officers are experiencing or experienced post-traumatic stress disorder. If so, did their agency accommodate them by providing stress management training and was it beneficial. To collect accurate data, a survey/questionnaire will be given out to six different police departments in each county in Maryland. Critical incidents with law enforcement agency’s employees have to be recognized to get a true understanding of the issue and how to fix the issue. As a researcher, adequate results will be presented and it will help fulfill the purpose of this
Resulting in the dangers, and difficulties that the job brings to the table, the amount of stress that these men and women endure on a daily basis is tremendous, and devouring. Yet, in most stations around the United States, there is not much, if any help that these officers are provided. Worse even, most of these station’s ignore the need for them, believing that their officers are
The law enforcement officers suffer quite more job-associated stress than the people living in the community. Many have had to realize that the nature of the profession itself may be exposing officers to the increased levels of stressors. In essence, job-associated stress is among the major health concerns of the law enforcement community, and this is because it can have some impact on the physical, mental and emotional well-being of the officers. The difference in the stressors between the law enforcement personnel and other individuals is the fact that, the enforcement officials get to interact with the human population that are quite angry, upset or even uncooperative, in which case it takes some toll on
Some of the world’s most-loved and well-known superheroes include Superman, Batman, and Spiderman. However great these superheroes may appear, their fictional stories also include stressors that they face everyday, such as the villains that they encounter and the pressure of being a hero and an everyday citizen. In this way, stress often negatively impacts the lives of the ones who watch over every neighborhood, every street, and every house. Such is the job of a police officer. Because stress has become an important topic in the community of law enforcement, things that are commonly discussed are the causes of stress, the effects of stress, and the handling of stress in the lives of police officers.
There are an estimate 623,000 police officers employes in the United States. It haas been argued that police officers are at increased risk for mortality as a result of their occupation. The average age of death for a police officer is 66 years old. (Law Enforcement Wellness Association) The ability to cope with stressful incidents is a personal journey that depends on an officer's past experiences with trauma. Appropriate development of coping strategies for stress is the ability to talk to family, friends, and other officers and to be able to recognize the dangers of ignoring signs and symptoms of post-incident stress. Regardless of an officer's personal experiences with traumatic incidents, avoiding, ignoring, or burying the emotional aftermath of a traumatic event can lead to serious short- and long-term consequences. Many officers believe that substance use and abuse is the best way to cope with their otherwise unbearabl...
Police officers are viewed by the masses of Americans that they are sworn to protect as the men and women in blue. They have sworn to protect the innocent and keep them from harm’s way and in turn do much more than that for their community. It takes an extraordinaire person to be a police officer. They are someone who is willing to dedicate their lives, health and safety in order to protect those who depend on them. In this paper I will attempt to address and research an interest that has been voiced concerning police officers and their jobs. By discussing certain topics in this paper, it will give distinct advantages of a qualitative data-gathering strategy, which will include more qualitative approaches and participant observation. Also, in this paper, I will stress the importance of informed consent and confidentiality.
The law enforcement officers who protect and serve the local communities have and live stressful lives. How stressful is the occupation of a law enforcement officer in their job and in their personal lives than other occupations? How hard would it be to be a spouse or loved one of a law enforcement officer? Does the public know what goes on in a law enforcement officer's job life and the life of their family? Could the average person handle the daily stress that takes place in the lives of law enforcement officers? These are several questions that individuals could ask themselves on any given day. What are the answers to these questions? I know firsthand, because I am a wife of a law enforcement officer, and I have found that it is not as easy or as hard as some would think. Furthermore, there are resources, and assistance, which can help the families of law enforcement officers in areas such as: how to cope or deal with certain situations, whether it is just daily family life, the officer’s job in general, and loss of life on duty, and the list goes on.
Do you know that seven to eight percent of Americans’ will experience some form of PTSD at some point in their lives? PTSD is an acronym for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. The cause of this anxiety disorder can be onset by a number of horrific traumas including events such as death, war, and even sexual assault. PTSD is a serious illness that requires help for those who suffer from this silent killer. Clearly, this illness is a long lasting consequence of war and other traumas.
I decided to research the most common psychological issues of police officers and I also asked if being a police officer increases the chances of depression, suicide, alcohol abuse, and marital problems. I have discovered that being in law enforcement can cause many of those psychological issues. The main reasons for these psychological effects are from traumatic events. Depending on where the officer works there can be more psychological issues than in other places. For example officers in big cities as Detroit have many more risks and much more violence than in communities that are more
“Encountering violence on the job is often the first times officers realize that they can die and the extent to which they have been in denial about it.” I Love a Cop gives the various signs and symptoms that can result from an abnormal event. Additionally, Part II mentions ways to overcome trauma and become a survivor. Part II gives the reader ways to help a police officer who is suffering from trauma and how to help your family overcome a traumatic event. A section of Part II is particularly dedicated to kids and trauma. Children are often the most affected individuals in any traumatic event, whether it affects them directly or not. Children are vulnerable. Often times they do not know how to express themselves verbally and that is key to overcoming a traumatic event. I Love a Cop gives tips on how to deal with children facing trauma.
In many instances police officers bring the effects of the job homes with them. This form of stress affecting the police officer’s personal life can be seen in the officer overworking and over committing. The officer will bring the job home with him or her and neglect his or her spouse and the kids. This neglect of affection and communication that the officer has towards his/her spouse puts a lot of stress on the family. An officer that has truly been overcome with stress will neglect the family and in many cases start to neglect the other daily tasks of the house. (Miller, 2007) Another way that police stress can affect the officer’s personal life is through infidelity, lies and distrust. Police are generally required to work many of hours in their work week and this unfortunately can lead to infidelity, lies and distrust in the officer’s personal life. When the infidelity, lies and distrust happen in a relationship, this not only affects the relationship and stress of the family but also affects the stress that the officer then takes back in to work.(Miller,
Being a police officer comes with an immense amount of responsibility. Officers play a very important role that encompasses duties concerning the enforcement of laws, keeping order, and preventing crime. Through these obligations officers have to continually interact with the community and are expected to respond to all situations that may arise while on duty. When officers carry out these responsibilities, individuals expect them to have morals, values, and principles when making decisions regarding the enforcement of the laws. The environment is constantly changing which influences the conduct of individuals and how officers will respond to that behavior (Gaines & Kappeler, 2015). Police officers are considered
Law enforcement is known to be much more stressful compared to the average job. Data shows that police officers ranked fifth on the list of the most stressful jobs in 2010 (Strieber, 2010). From long hours of report writing and documentation to engaging criminals in a high-speed pursuit and gunfire, police officers undergo strenuous duties each day. In the field of law enforcement, there are a variety of sources that cause police stress. Though, there a number of factors that lead to police stress, we can look at three major ones to structure a formidable understanding on this topic. By identifying these sources, law enforcement officers and departments can work collaboratively to uphold a quality workforce and to effectively deal with police stress concerns.
Policing can be a highly stressful profession due to the implications that are inherent to the emergency service profession. The unpredictability of police work can have a significant impact on the stress level of police over time (Hickman, Fricas, Strom, Pope 2011), which has been shown to foster the ability to reduce one’s psychological well-being for a given period of time (Johnson, Todd and Subramanian 2005). It is often suggested that policing is a stressful profession in itself as police are often exposed to disturbing events through the very nature of their job. Violanti and Aron studied organizational and inherent stressors among police stressors officers. Organizational stressors where those related to the structure of the police
As a police officer there are a lot of social psychological factors that come into play every day. You must constantly be helping people, not discriminating, unbiased in every way, and of course keeping an open mind at all times. All of the theories presented here should be taught to police officers, while they are in training, to help them to be able to handle these situations if any arise.
Officer fatigue can be a quite serious problem for police departments. Excess fatigue will generally reduce alertness, decrease performance and worsen mood. These symptoms can reduce officer's performance and safety with potentially life-threatening effects. Patrol officers are expected to remain alert and able to resolve complex, emotional, and potentially dangerous situations. They are expected to be able to multi-task, as well as stay alert during periods of inaction. These activities can be quite difficult for a fatigued officer to complete (Vila 1996). Community oriented policing efforts can be seriously compromised by officer fatigue with excess officer fatigue harming community-police relations (Vila & Taiji 1999). In several cases, the result of officer fatigue has been fatal both for the officer and for civilians involved in fatigue related incidents (Vila & Kenney 2002).