96 4 Police and Law Enforcement—Faniilv Fyou are to investigate a complaint of gang activity in the area you are patrolling. Without
hesitation, you arrive at the scene, and are greeted by a number of men holding a variety
>i weapons. As you step out of the car, you cannot help but think that this confrontation
mav verv well cost you life or limbLiterature Review
Incidents such as that just described may cause feelings of fear, resistance, and acute
stress. Researchers have examined the topic of police stress to help us understand
the dynamic process involved with a law enforcement officer's job requirements
and its association to the amount of stress experienced.
A survey conducted byj. M. Violanti and Aron (1995) demonstrated that police
officers experience two basic types of stressors: organizational practices and the
inherent nature of police work. Organizational stressors refer to events stemming
from police administration, which are found to be bothersome or intolerable to
members of the police force. They include such issues as authoritarian structure,
lack of participation in decision-making processes, and unfair discipline. Inherent
nature stressors refer to those occurrences that may threaten to harm the police
officer either physiologically or psychologically. Included in this category are such
items as high-speed chases, dealing with crises, and personal physical attacks (J. M.
Violanti & Aron, 1993). According to the results of this study, killing someone in
the line of duty was found to be the most stressful event one could experience as a
police officer. Experiencing a fellow officer being killed was found to be the second
most stressful experience. Both of these stressors could be considered inherent to
the nature of police work.
In J. M. Violanti and Aron's (1993) study, the highest ranked organizational
stressor was found to be shift work, followed by inadequate support, incompatible
patrol partner, insufficient personnel, excessive discipline, and inadequate support
by supervisors. Interestingly, 7 of the top 20 stressors were found by the authors to
be organizational/administrative. The authors further broke down stressors by job
ranking and experience. Those with 6 to 10 years of police experience were found
to have the highest levels of overall stress (organizational and inherent combined).
The ranking of desk sergeant was found to be most associated with overall stress, as
were those officers ages 31—35 years, Caucasian, and those who were female.
Remembering the vignette described earlier, one can only imagine the cumulative
effects that years of police work can have on one's psychological functioning. Given
the many varied sources of police stress, it is of little surprise that officers often
utilize unhealthy ways of coping with these stressors. One of the most common,
yet under-reported, ways police officers cope with these stressors is through the
use/abuse of drugs and alcohol.