Stress and Coping in Police Officers

Abstract

Police officers encounter numerous stressors as part of their professional duties. Dissociation, the splitting off from awareness thoughts, feelings, or memories of stressful events, is one psychological defense associated with avoidance of emotionally painful material. In this study, dissociation, stressful or traumatic experiences, and psychological adjustment were measured in a sample of police officers. Stress was not directly associated with psychological adjustment, but increased stress did predict increased dissociation. Increased dissociation was associated with poorer adjustment. These data suggest that it is not the stressors themselves but officers' manner of coping with them that determine psychological adjustment.

Burnout, Coping, Stress of Conscience and Psychosocial Work Environment among Patrolling Police Officers

“…This is somewhat surprising since in the analysis coping strategies was seen as a confounder and is related to lower EE as well as DP. Considerable attention has been given to how officers cope with stress (Leonard and Alison 1999; Aaron 2000). Unlike such studies which did not present a clear conceptual definition of coping, our study benefits from a well-accepted definition of coping based on cognitive theory of stress and coping (Lazarus and Folkman 1984).…”

An Investigation of Mental Health and Personality in Swedish Police Trainees upon Entry to the Police Academy

“…For example, police work includes offering protection to crime victims, but at the same time fighting the most terrible crimes; maintaining close and open public relations and discipline; it requires the provision of security and the operation of security facilities, material supplies and equipment. Police work is characterised as a demanding and stressful job (Aaron 2000). The effect of stress and the work environment on police officers has long been a topic of interest for researchers and many investigations related to mental health have confirmed that police officers are a risk group for increased psychosocial stress causing depersonalization, post traumatic stress syndrome, suicide and feelings of insufficient personal accomplishments (Backman et al 1997;McCafferty et al 1990;Berg et al 2006;Ward et al 2006).…”

“…The nature of police work from a personality perspective implies working in a variety of situations which demand a high capacity for stress tolerance (Aaron 2000). For example, police work includes offering protection to crime victims, but at the same time fighting the most terrible crimes; maintaining close and open public relations and discipline; it requires the provision of security and the operation of security facilities, material supplies and equipment.…”

General strain theory, exposure to violence, and suicide ideation among police officers: A gendered approach

“…Working on cases involving traumatic scenes for crimes such as child abuse, homicides, assaults, and domestic violence can be extremely difficult witness; conversely, police commonly visit the scenes of drownings, suicides, and vehicular accidents. Violence, whether intentional, self-inflicted, or accidental, are par-forthe-course in modern law enforcement work (Aaron, 2000).…”