NCJ Number
122074
Journal
Police Chief Volume: 56 Issue: 11 Dated: (November 1989) Pages: 44-47
Date Published
1989
Length
4 pages
Annotation
Police management training, management leadership, and the manager as "sounding board" are important aspects of police managers' helping subordinates face stress.
Abstract
Four primary occupational stressors for police are depersonalization (detachment from emotions), authoritarianism (perceived lack of control over decisions), organizational protection (network to protect the agency from outside criticism), and preparation for danger. As a result of these stressors, officers typically have a five-stage history that involves alienation from the nonpolice world, emotional "shutdown," emotional unsureness, and retreat into passivity and maintenance of the status quo. Three common mechanisms for coping with stress are cynicism, secrecy, and deviance. One aspect of addressing police occupational stress constructively is the development of medical and psychological services officers can trust. Another aspect involves training supervisors to break through their own walls of silence to become effective communicators with subordinates. Also, supervisors can boost morale and help subordinates resolve the tensions of police work through regular interviews to review good work. Supervisors can be "sounding boards" so their subordinates do not have to suppress painful and destructive emotions.