Introduction
Many people overlook the misuse of alcohol within policing. Alcoholism and heavy drinking is a huge issue when one talks about the police world today. The article, Police and Alcohol Use: A Descriptive Analysis and Associations with Stress Outcomes written by Violanti et al., does an excellent job conducting a study on alcohol use by police officers. The focus of this study was to look at how demographics, life events and police stress are important factors that can be linked to alcohol use. This article is interesting because it looks at the outcomes of stress rather than what causes stress among officers. In addition, it is interesting because it addresses the issue of alcoholism in the police force, which is usually overlooked
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However, only 105 officers gave all the information necessary to conduct the study, so the other ten officers were dropped from the study. They used more women in the study than were represented in the department, so that the results would better illustrate more departments. There was no specific qualifications to be in the study. The officers gave their responses voluntarily and were not forced by the department. Overall, the sample managed to be a good representation of the entire department. The subjects filled out four questionnaires dealing with alcohol use, depressive symptoms, posttraumatic stress symptoms and life events outside of police …show more content…
The researchers did a good job at trying to get an equal representation of all police departments. They increased the amount of females in the study so it would better accurately fit other departments as well. Another strength the study had was having such a high response rate among officers. The use of the AUDIT made the study more reliable because it showed the police officers responses related to alcohol. However, the researchers could have made an effort to find out the officers drinking habits before the external life events or police stress. The results of the study may have been different if the researchers knew the personal stress and life events that could have caused the drinking. Another limit to this article is that the sample size of 105 was relatively small. Even though the researchers did a good job at trying to equally represent officers, the sample was still too small to make causal relationships among things, so if they tested a larger sample, the results would have been more
Gilmartin, K. M. Emotional survival for law enforcement, a guide for officers and their families. 1st ed. Arizona: E-S Press, 2002.
Police Psychology: A New Specialty and New Challenges for Men and Women in Blue. Thomas, David J. 2011.
the psychological health of police, fire, and ambulance officers.” International Journal of Stress Management, Vol. 11, pp. 227-44.
The first hypothesis which stated, there is a relationship between sex and the Bakersfield Police uses of excessive force was tested against the alpha level .05. According to the chi-square tests graph the cells had, a 25% expected count of less than five. This revealed that the test to follow was the likelihood ratio because the percentage was above 20. The likelihood ratio had a value count of 10.709, a degree of freedom of three and a p-value
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.
The author focuses on the U.S. Task Force on 21st Century Policing and Police Data Initiative or PDI to determine if it helps to restore trust and the broken relationship between and communities and police officers. The Task Force made by Barack Obama recommended the analysis of department policies, incidents of misconduct, recent stops and arrests, and demographics of the officers. The PDI has tasked 21 cities to comprehend the police behavior and find out what to do to change it. Also PDI was said to have data and information on vehicle stops and shootings by police officers. The use of statistics has a purpose to help rebuild trust and the relationship between and communities and police officers.
The effects of formal pressure from police organizations and pressures generated by the police subculture often lead police to experience a moral dilemma which can manifest as a malignancy of the soul. Spiritual development is also commonly mentioned in the professional literature as an effective means of protecting officers from the ill-effects of policing, reportedly resulting in improved health and wellness outcomes. Research supports an intervention approach that focuses on combinations of risk factors and provide a basis upon which future studies can build to determine how these factors may influence each other (e.g., improving social support from superiors may also decrease loneliness) to develop individualized treatment programs (Habersaat, Geiger, Sid, & Wolf,
William Westley’s study looked at policemen operating at the street level. Fogelson’s study focused mainly on the management level in policing, which has tended to be somewhat cut off from street level policing. Goldstein’s study examined policing at the political level where a police department encounters the currents of local government. Critically analyse all three and give your opinion as to whether you think studies of police should concentrate on the street level, managerial level or at the political level.
In the article “Applying Differential Coercion and Social Support Theory to Police Officer’s Misconduct”, authors Zavala and Kurtz strive to provide a connection between police officer misconduct and the emerging theory of differential coercion and social support. This is done by giving a brief description outlining the main components of differential coercion and social support theory and then examining coercive forcers, social support, intimate partner violent (IPV), and alcohol consumption among police officers (2016). The authors are able to measure these factors by using data collected from the Police Stress and Domestic Violence in Police Families in Baltimore, Maryland in 1997 – 1999. Furthermore, after running their analysis, the authors
Brown, H. (n.d.). "Police Stress Book Review. " Kirschman, Ellen; Author "I Love a Cop". Policefamilies, Retrieved Web. 03 Mar. 2014. From http://www.geocities.com/stressline_com/kirschman.html.
The study consisted of a significant number of females compared to males, which makes it invalid to conclude that the findings support the general population. A strength was that participants were selected at random. By doing so, the study remained unbiased, thus making the results more credible.
It is unfortunate that many people within our society and worldwide suffers from the affects of alcohol addiction. There are many issues associated with this addiction and many times it’s not only the victim that deals with the addiction but also the people in close association with the individual. Alcohol addiction can afflict anyone and knows no limits of its damage that it can do to a person’s life or the people in their lives. Most importantly are the ones whom seek help for their addiction as it becomes a lifelong healing period for them. It has become clear that constant consumption of alcohol leads to addiction. It has also become clearer with the laws and policies that have been drawn up to combat drunk drivers that it is not a normal thing to do anymore as was thought to be normal in the late 60’s and early 70’s. This is not normal behaviour and it becomes clearer as the laws for drinking and driving is enforced by law enforcement officers. It is a duty for addiction workers to help in the aid of these problems and its laws and policies that help in putting a stop to some of the problems that arise from this addiction.
Another study done during 1975-1976 was done over a seven-month period in New York City. From the sources I had it was unclear as to weather there were 14 or 42 participants involved. What is clear is that these policemen and women were also matched as in the other study. They were also compared for experience, time on the job, time on patrol experience, and the type of precinct. This study used a pair of observers. One was a police officer the other was a civilian, one being male and the other female whom all had observation forms. There were also interviews with citizens who were helped by the police. In addition, departmental ...
Consent was also obtained from each participant which was involved in the study. Another strength was the extensive methodology and background research relating to the topic. As if another criminologist wanted to re-do the study for more extensive knowledge, then it is easy to do so. Another strength while reading the article I notice the layout was basic and easy to understand but with adequate detail. Another strength was the method which was used as I believe surveys and interviews were the easiest way to obtain the information they
The researchers limit the coverage of the study depending on the ability of data in some police stations within Baguio City and La Trinidad. The following stations are selected: