Work-Related Violence, Debriefing and Increased Alcohol Consumption among Police Officers

Abstract

Purpose: this study examined the associations between increased alcohol consumption and work-related violence among police officers. Data consisted of a representative sample of Finnish police officers (N = 1,734), who responded anonymously to a postal questionnaire. Methods: binary logistic regression analyses were used to calculate the odds ratios and their 95 per cent confidence intervals (CIs) for increased alcohol consumption. Results: 5 per cent of the study group rated that they had increased their alcohol consumption due to violence. The odds ratios of the increase were 6.96 (95 per cent CI = 2.08–23.25) for lack of debriefing, 2.18 (95 per cent CI = 1.26–3.78) for shortage of patrol personnel, and 1.71 (95 per cent CI = 1.11–2.62) for lack of training to handle violent situations. Conclusions: those who lacked debriefing, patrol personnel, and training to handle violent situations all seem to increase their alcohol use due to violence. Increased alcohol consumption may reflect attempts to cope with some intolerable emotions or situations originating from violent encounters in their work.

Occupational Stress among Nigerian Police Officers: An Examination of the Coping Strategies and the Consequences

“…exposure to violence at work, exposure to people in pain or distress, etc.) that they were hoping the alcohol would take away (Leino, Eskelinen, Summala, & Virtanen, 2011). This is typically the case with smoking as well.…”

Injuries caused by work‐related violence: Frequency, need for medical treatment and associations with adverse mental health and alcohol use among Finnish police officers

“…In our earlier study we interviewed police officers and found that some of them had a fear of future violence [Leino et al, 2011]. To obtain a quantitative measure of the fear of future violence we elicited “Fear of future violence” by asking: “Are you afraid of possible future violence at work?” with response alternatives: 1 = not at all; 2 = a little; 3 = somewhat; 4 = a lot; and 5 = extremely.…”

“…In our earlier study, we showed an association between the occurrence of work‐related violence and increased alcohol consumption in a sample of police officers in Finland [Leino et al, 2011]. However, there appear to be no reports on whether more frequent exposure to violence, or more serious consequences of violence, are associated with increased adverse mental health and alcohol use, or on whether there is a possible dose–response pattern between injuries caused by work‐related violence and symptoms of adverse mental health and alcohol use among police officers.…”

Police Stressors, Negative Outcomes Associated with Them and Coping Mechanisms That May Reduce These Associations

“…In support of the relevance of these possible healthy coping mechanisms for police officers, past research has documented associations between police stressor and exercise (Norvell & Belles, 1993), sleep (Vila, 1996), support from fellow officers (Gershon et al, 2009) and religiosity (Beehr et al, 1995). Past research has also found associations between police stressors and the more unhealthy coping mechanisms of alcohol consumption (Beehr et al, 1995;Gershon et al, 2009;Ballenger et al, 2011;Leino et al, 2011;Violanti et al, 2011;Menard & Arter, 2013) and repressing emotions (Anderson & Lo, 2011), especially anger ('act as if nothing is bothering you': Gershon et al, 2009: 279;Ivie & Garland, 2011).…”