One can add to this array of occupational exposures the recent negative public image that police face, resulting in public loss of confidence in police integrity ( President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing, 2015).Īmong the many stressful experiences police officers are exposed to in their line of work, exposure to traumatic events (e.g.
Family life may be disrupted by shift work schedules, working holidays, and strained relationships ( Kirschman et al., 2014 Torres et al., 2003). Rotating shifts often lead to inadequate sleep for officers which lowers physiological resistance to stress ( Baughman et al., 2014 Bond et al., 2013). Exposure to human suffering and death may also result in a negative view of life, as well as psychological effects such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) ( American Psychiatric Association, 2013), depression, and suicide ideation ( McCanlies, Miller, Andrew, Wirth, Burchfiel, and Violanti, 2014 Austin-Ketch et al., 2012 Violanti et al., 2009 Ma et al., 2015). These sources of stress often come with a price.
Sources of stress in policing may be classified into two general categories ( Shane, 2010): those arising from “job content” which include work schedules, shift work, long-work hours, overtime and court work, and traumatic events and threats to physical and psychological health and those arising from “job context” also called organizational stressors, which refer to characteristics of the organization and behavior of the people that produce stress (e.g.
0 kommentar(er)
