NCJ Number
87269
Journal
Police Journal Volume: 55 Issue: 4 Dated: (October-December 1982) Pages: 365-369
Date Published
1982
Length
5 pages
Annotation
Findings are presented from a survey of British police managers that solicited their opinions about how police occupational stress might be reduced.
Abstract
Ninety-six officers who were attending command courses at the Police Staff College were surveyed using the 16-item Perceived Stress Reduction Inventory. The Inventory listed a number of approaches suggested by the literature as being related to stress reduction in police officers. Respondents were asked to express gradations of agreement or disagreement with each statement. Study results indicate that most of the respondents strongly or moderately agree that the following factors would reduce occupational stress experienced by police officers: better training in how to cope with demanding situations, having greater support from senior colleagues, improved police-community relations, having fewer bureaucratic obstacles, and better familiarity with police procedures. Only a small minority agreed that being armed would reduce occupational stress. Neither did the majority believe that having more powers of arrest and search would reduce stress. There is strong support for the study hypothesis that stress results from certain aspects of the internal organizational dynamic of the force and that stress can be reduced through organizational change. The survey instrument is provided along with four references.