Violence Between the Police and the Public

Abstract

Stress of police officers is assumed to be one of the causes for an increased use of force, but to date, very few studies have tested this relationship empirically. This study examines influences of perceived work-related stress, job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and burnout on the use of force by police officers in Zurich, Switzerland ( n = 422). A new approach is developed by including the officer's routine activities (herein referred to as job profile) and victimization experiences as two situational controls and by capturing a continuum of self-reported force used in typical operational situations. Although bivariate results show significant relationships between use of force and work stress, job satisfaction, commitment, and burnout, multivariate analyses using structural equation models show no influence of stress-related factors on the amount of force. The job profile remains the only predictor of police use of force, whereas victimization is strongly correlated with use of force.

“To serve and protect” when expecting to be seen negatively: The relation between police officers' contact with citizens, meta‐stereotyping, and work‐related well‐being

“…Thus, in support of our hypotheses, this research reveals that how police officers believe that police officers are stereotyped by citizens is important. This is important, because police officers have to interact a lot with citizens, and when such interaction is linked to negative well‐being, this could have negative consequences for themselves as well as for their behavior towards citizens (Manzoni & Eisner, ). Further, even though the extent to which police officers have negative stereotypes of citizens is related to negative well‐being as well, this did not mediate the relationship between negative contact with citizens and negative well‐being.…”

“…If police officers expect that police officers are seen in a negative way by citizens, we believe this could have a negative effect on their work‐related well‐being. This is of importance as police offers are expected to be in contact with citizens, and if this has negative consequences for their well‐being, it could also influence their behavior towards citizens (Manzoni & Eisner, ). Therefore, in the current research, we study to what extent contact between the police and citizens is related to police officers' expectations that they are perceived negatively and how this relates to their well‐being.…”

“…The daily exposure to stressors can have physiological, psychological, and behavior repercussions. Manzoni and Eisner () showed that police officers working in stressful situations could experience negative well‐being, as evidenced by being more cynical, dissatisfied, exhausted, and a higher likelihood to suffer from high blood pressure. Moreover, they smoke and drink more and are more likely to have marital problems.…”

Building a Cognitive Readiness for Violent Police–Citizen Encounters: A Task Analysis

“…While research has been undertaken in an effort to explore and gain a greater understanding of the many factors that influence human dynamics and outcomes associated with the application of force by police (Artwohl, 2002;Aveni, 2008;Euwema & Schaufelli, 1999;Manzoni & Eisner, 2006;Lewinski, 2002;Toch, 1996), little research has been done to understand the cognitive processing associated with rapid assessment and response in such encounters. A construct is needed to better understand, define, quantify, and simulate how and why these critical encounters Results from a number of studies indicate that a multitude of factors influence human dynamics and outcomes associated with the application of force by police.…”

Estresse, qualidade de vida e estressores ocupacionais de policiais: Sintomas mais frequentes

“…A possibilidade do suicídio é especialmente preocupante em policiais, uma vez que eles têm acesso fácil a armas (Stuart, 2008). Além do aspecto pessoal, há implicações sérias para a comunidade, uma vez que estudos mostram que policiais com estresse empregam mais violência contra civis (Kurtz, Zavala, & Melander, 2015;Manzoni & Eisner, 2006). Desse modo, torna-se fundamental identificar e tratar o policial que venha a sofrer de estresse em função de sua atividade profissional.…”