NCJ Number
216387
Journal
Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies & Management Volume: 29 Issue: 3 Dated: 2006 Pages: 541-563
Date Published
2006
Length
23 pages
Annotation
This study compared predictors of work-related stress for male and female police officers.
Abstract
The strongest predictor of stress for both female and male officers was dealing with bias by coworkers. Officers who reported high stress said they personally experienced racial or ethnic bias. For both women and men, a weaker predictor of stress was exposure to profanity and sexual jokes. For male officers, a perceived lack of influence on how police work is performed was the second strongest predictor of stress, followed by stigmatization based on appearance. Compared to males, females experienced significantly more problems with underestimated physical ability, perceived lack of influence on how work is performed, bias, and sexual harassment. Although individual interventions and more effective coping strategies are important for reducing police officer stress, changes in organizational context are also important. Interventions to reduce bias by coworkers, reduce profanity and sexual jokes, and provide officers with increased control over their work should be developed and tested. Eleven departments participated in this 2003 study. They were recruited through an advertisement circulated among members of the Police Executive Research Forum, an organization that includes police departments interested in applying research results. The participating departments were asked to invite 30 individuals in each of the following groups to complete the survey on potential stress predictors: African-American women, African-American men, Asian women, Asian men, female Hispanics, male Hispanics, White women, and White men. Of 2,051 officers given questionnaires, 46.2 percent responded. The questionnaire contained stress-related variables in the following categories: workplace problems, token status in the organization, low family and coworker support, and community and organizational conditions. 8 tables, 87 notes, and 74 references