NCJ Number
197082
Date Published
2002
Length
8 pages
Annotation
This chapter provides an overview of the literature on the causes and effects of police stress.
Abstract
Any police officer, in the course of his/her duty, is apt to experience an incident that precipitates in the officer an adverse psychological reaction that exceeds the officer's ability to cope with it (Denton, 1993). Police work, according to Territo and Vetter (1988), is one of the few professions in which an individual is expected to confront regularly the potential for physical harm and even death while making crucial decisions under pressure. Exposure to the suffering and victimization of others in the course of their work can also stimulate stress in police officers. Disturbance in the personal lives of police officers is another area of potential trauma. Stressful events experienced by many people -- such as death, separation, divorce, serious illness, child-rearing problems, and financial pressures -- are exacerbated for police officers when combined with the stress of their work. Stress can also be induced in police officers as a result of "personnel issues." These include administrative decisions and/or behaviors that are experienced as arbitrary, compromising, or demeaning. The literature on the effects of chronic stress in the workplace is extensive. These include anxiety, depression, sleep disturbance, an increase in drug and alcohol use, headaches, gastrointestinal disturbance, elevations in blood pressure, muscle tension, and chronic fatigue. Although police officers suffering from the effects of stress may remain functional in their work, job performance is likely to be impaired, leading to erratic work habits, accidents on the job, errors in judgment, slower response time, and general job dissatisfaction. Primary factors that exacerbate stress for police officers are a work and home climate that fail to provide sufficient acceptance and security for the officer in distress. 44 references