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What is causing stress in police officers
What is causing stress in police officers
What is causing stress in police officers
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Stress can cause a breakdown of an officer’s mental health because the families that are behind the badge, they seem to suffer just as much so programs are resources for both the officer and his/ her family.
Stress – is the body’s reaction to internal or external that may or may not upset body in its normal state. There are four categories that police officers may or not fall into in their career- personal, external, organizational, and operational. First up is external is the calls that he/ or she may receive on duty (armed suspect, high-speed chase or anything that may put the officer(s) in immediate danger. Next is-Organizational which could include working hours, change of duty, lack of leadership within the police station. Thirdly- personal which refers to the life the officer has outside his job (kids, marriage, friends etc.)
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Having too much stress to one’s body could be positive or negative. Positive stress can provide some motivation to get something done or even overcome in obstacle. Negative stress provide emotional distress, being absent from work getting sick, drug or alcohol abuse, Relationships( in or out of the office)suicide or even health problems such as ulcers, weight gain/loss, heart attacks and even PTSD(post trauma stress disorder). Officers both male and female may think stress can only affect just them but that is not true because behind the badge is a family, loved ones and friends. Marriage partners whether it be a wife/ husband sometimes do not know that their loved one is struggling with something and do not always know what to do. The job comes with things that a normal person cannot just tune out. The stress that the family entails could be adjusting to schedule changes, missing family events, or even as simple as to bring the job home where he/ she can’t talk about to their loved ones including non-law enforcement
Working in corrections has been associated with higher stress rates due to the unpredictable nature of the field (Parker, 2006). Correctional officers are forced into dangerous situations without adequate protection as a result of the prison environment, which can further lead to physi...
the psychological health of police, fire, and ambulance officers.” International Journal of Stress Management, Vol. 11, pp. 227-44.
The law enforcement officers suffer quite more job-associated stress than the people living in the community. Many have had to realize that the nature of the profession itself may be exposing officers to the increased levels of stressors. In essence, job-associated stress is among the major health concerns of the law enforcement community, and this is because it can have some impact on the physical, mental and emotional well-being of the officers. The difference in the stressors between the law enforcement personnel and other individuals is the fact that, the enforcement officials get to interact with the human population that are quite angry, upset or even uncooperative, in which case it takes some toll on
Every job has its ups and downs, but it just happened to be that we, as human beings, tend to drag our work problems with us to our personal life. Knowing how to separate work from personal life is hard, especially in today’s society considering the technology we have today. This research made me aware of the stress and everyday interactions that probation officers endure and I must admit, is more stressful than I thought. I have always imagined a probation officer’s job much more facile not having such a huge caseload, but like they say, ignorance is bliss. In the following essay, I will be discussing the findings about the stress of a probation officer.
Police stress is viewed as a structural problem that is amongst the police culture (Kappeler & Potter, 2005). The argument made is that the working environment causes the stress. Even though a police officers job is not as dangerous officers still determine the danger as a source of stress. Police stress can be split up in to three sources: occupation, job-related and external stress (Kappeler & Potter, 2005). Just the thought of the job gives officers stress. Job-related circumstances such as responding to calls can also create stress. Finally, external sources such as personal stress can all lead to an officer being highly
Some of the world’s most-loved and well-known superheroes include Superman, Batman, and Spiderman. However great these superheroes may appear, their fictional stories also include stressors that they face everyday, such as the villains that they encounter and the pressure of being a hero and an everyday citizen. In this way, stress often negatively impacts the lives of the ones who watch over every neighborhood, every street, and every house. Such is the job of a police officer. Because stress has become an important topic in the community of law enforcement, things that are commonly discussed are the causes of stress, the effects of stress, and the handling of stress in the lives of police officers.
Stress has various effects on the body, both psychological and physiological. Stress can have positive effects on the body and can be beneficial, but frequent stress will eventually cause negative effects on the body.
"Stress is a natural physical and mental reaction to both good and bad experiences which can be beneficial to your health and safety." (8 Ways Stress Is More Dangerous Than You Think) Everyone 's body responds to stress by releasing hormones, also, you brain receives more oxygen. Stress starts to occur when we become worried about a task or responsibilities we face. Major stress is called chronic stress. It can cause symptoms that can affect your health in a larger way. Some people may say that they succeed more under stress, but sadly, that’s rarely the case. Research has shown that "stress makes a person more likely to make mistakes" (Stress Symptoms, Signs, & Causes). For most people, stress is extremely normal for them that they don 't see it as anything but ordinary. However, stress can motivate someone while under pressure and even get you through a tough or dangerous
Law enforcement is an important element of the United States’ system of criminal justice apart from the corrections and the courts. It is one of the major functions of the various governmental agencies of police. It is therefore concerned with police service or functions of police departments. In this paper, the author analyzes at law enforcement and related issues. Specifically, the author discusses law enforcement, theoretical understanding of the different models of policing as well as policing styles. The author also looks at the question of stress associated with the life of a police officer and how such stress affects them. This is a purely theoretical discussion based on secondary sources of information. Time and resources constraints could not allow for a more empirical, experimental fieldwork research. The materials relied upon are mainly journal articles from respectable academic journals and databases.
A police officer’s duty is to maintain public order, preventing, and detecting crime. The concept of police officers, also known as cops, and law enforcement has been around ever since the ancient Romans had a theory that an organization of “peacekeepers” would reduce the crime and violence being committed. This theory stuck with society and is still around today. People of law enforcement have a mission when they step into their police car, that mission is to enforce the rules of conduct or law. Of course, accomplishing this mission can be dangerous. Often when a cop leaves his or her house to go to work worries start to set it, such as “will I be coming back home when my day is over” or “will a simple traffic stop go sour and someone ends up dead?” These thoughts are apart of the stress that comes with the job and most people are trained to deal with this stress.
Most police agencies have a secondary employment form that must be completed by the officer that is seeking a second job, and the form details a set of guidelines the officer must abide by, especially if the secondary employment is within a law enforcement capacity (Doerner, 2016). Regardless, the officer is still a sworn police officer and is sworn to uphold the law at all times within their jurisdiction. Some challenges faced by off-duty police officers are they may encounter a high-risk threat, and the officer will usually be alone or with people that are not police officers. "Ten percent of the law enforcement deaths during the 2001-2010 period occurred when the officer was off-duty", (Doerner, 2016, p. 328). Furthermore, most officers working a
Stress will affect pilot performance. Walonick(1993) points out that excess job stress can result in decreased productivity, less satisfied, and less healthy workers. This worsens the pilot's performance in flight. Williams and Huber (1986) define stress as 'a psychological and physical reaction to prolonged internal and/or environmental conditions in which an individual's adaptive capabilities are overextended.' (p. 243) Stress overload is caused when the pressure is so intense and lasted long enough to let an individual feel overwhelmed and out of control. (Hick, 2014) Using the word 'stress' may sometimes difficult to determine its exact meaning in a particular context(Tait, 2011). 'Arousal' might be helpful to explain the situation in the cockpit. Arousal means the state of activity of the body at any given time. When a task is too demanding to the point where we begin to feel unsure of our ability to cope, arousal becomes anxiety and tha...
Dictionary.com refers to stress as “physical, mental, or emotional strain or tension.” Many executives in the United States feel stressed on a daily basis, which brings adverse health effects. “A survey of more than 1,300 HR managers has found that 44% report that their level of stress has increased in the last six months” (Higginbottom). The physical effects of stress include “myocardial infarction, high blood pressure, ulcers, headache, neck and back pain, skin rashes and low resistance to infections” (Mental). The three most deadly effects from these are myocardial infarction, also known as a heart attack (Myocardial), high blood pressure, and ulcers.
Police personnel are not able to devote time towards their family because of excessive work load. They should be given a weekly
Stress is the combination of psychological, physiological, and behavioral reactions that people have in response to events that threaten or challenge them. Stress can be good or bad. Sometimes, stress is helpful, providing people with the extra energy or alertness they need. Stress could give a runner the edge he or she needs to persevere in a marathon, for example. This good kind of stress is called eustress. Unfortunately, stress is often not helpful and can even be harmful when not managed effectively. Stress could make a salesperson buckle under the pressure while trying to make a sales pitch at an important business meeting, for example. Moreover, stress can increase the risk of developing health problems, such as cardiovascular disease and anxiety disorders. This bad kind of stress is called distress, the kind of stress that people usually are referring to when they use the word stress.