The Impact of Social Support and Occupational Stress on Burnout in the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service

Abstract

Police officers experience very stressful working environments which may lead to a range of negative outcomes including burnout. Police officers in Caribbean countries are no exception as they face demanding work conditions. Despite this, studies have paid little attention to Caribbean policing. Using data from the eight police divisions in Trinidad (N = 331 police officers), this study examined the relationship among social support (supervisor, co-worker, and family), occupational stress (organizational and operational) and burnout (emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and personal accomplishment). Path analysis was used to test the hypothesis that social support served to reduce occupational stress, which in turn led to reduced burnout. The results suggested that supervisor support reduced organizational stress, while co-worker and family support reduced operational stress. Organizational stress, in turn affected emotional exhaustion and personal accomplishment, while operational stress affected emotional exhaustion and depersonalization.

The relationship between perceived organizational support and insomnia in Chinese nurses: The Serial multiple mediation analysis

“…When the perceived organizational support was high, in-role performance and extra-role performance of employees were improved, naturally balancing the efforts and rewards (Zaman et al, 2019). However, if the perceived organizational support was low, employees realized that organization paid insufficient attention to their contributions and interests, which was manifested as an imbalance between efforts and rewards, increasing the work-related stress (Baek et al, 2021). Moreover, several studies have suggested that high ERR affected the health and productivity of individuals in the workplace (Georg et al, 2019) or school (Hodge et al, 2020), which impaired their sleep quality.…”

Identifying Organizational Stressors That Could Be a Source of Discomfort in Police Officers: A Thematic Review

“…It can come in any form, as Cohen [ 34 ] mentions, and can create a sense of belonging and even help workers overcome obstacles. A total of nine studies (45%) [ 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 ] highlighting the importance of social support from organizations were included in this review. The absence or presence of social support from organizations was assessed in a cross-sectional study using a validated scale and an ad hoc questionnaire.…”

“…In relation to the lack of organizational social support, this lack was found to have an impact on the increase of depressive symptoms, PTSD, burnout, and suicidality. The findings of Baek et al [ 35 ] suggested that organizational social support is crucial in mitigating stress. The results of Baka’s [ 36 ] study showed that depressive symptoms increased among police officers who perceived low social support.…”

“…Bureaucracy could be evaluated both instrumentally, on the basis of its expected contribution to realization, and deontologically, on the basis of the validity of the codes of conduct and the principles of reason, morality, organization, and governance on which bureaucracy as an institution is based [ 56 ]. A total of five studies (25%) that examined bureaucracy as an organizational stressor were included in this review [ 35 , 50 , 57 , 58 , 59 , 60 ]. This stressor could affect well-being, in particular it seems to increase somatization, anxiety, and depressive symptoms.…”

“…More specifically, regular debriefings of stressful assignments could be offered to identify potential psychological distress and to provide support [ 42 ]. This practice implies that senior administrators and supervisors need to be trained to provide a supportive environment for police officers [ 35 ].…”