Stress and Police Personnel Chapter 13 Charles R. Swanson, Leonard Territo, and Robert W. Taylor...

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Transcript of Stress and Police Personnel Chapter 13 Charles R. Swanson, Leonard Territo, and Robert W. Taylor...

Stress and Police PersonnelStress and Police Personnel

Chapter 13

Charles R. Swanson, Leonard Territo,and Robert W. Taylor

Police Administration:Police Administration:Structures, Processes, and BehaviorStructures, Processes, and Behavior

(Eighth Edition)(Eighth Edition)

© 2012 by Pearson Higher Education, IncUpper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 • All Rights Reserved

Police Administration (8th Edition)Swanson, Territo, and Taylor

What is Stress?

• Biological stress and General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS)– Way of describing stress through progressive

stages

Exhaustion

Exhaustion

Resistance

ResistanceAlarmAlarm

© 2012 by Pearson Higher Education, IncUpper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 • All Rights Reserved

Police Administration (8th Edition)Swanson, Territo, and Taylor

Stress and Personality Type

© 2012 by Pearson Higher Education, IncUpper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 • All Rights Reserved

Police Administration (8th Edition)Swanson, Territo, and Taylor

Type A Personality

• Qualities underlying Type A characteristics– Constant state of being “on guard”– Hyper masculinity– Constantly working against time– Ignorance of one’s own psychological needs

• Physiological implications– Seven times as likely to develop heart disease– Higher cholesterol– Clotting elements have greater tendency to form– Excess accumulation of insulin in blood

© 2012 by Pearson Higher Education, IncUpper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 • All Rights Reserved

Police Administration (8th Edition)Swanson, Territo, and Taylor

Type B Personality

• Less competitive and less rushed

• More easygoing

• More able to separate work from play

• Relatively free of a sense of time urgency

• Ambitions kept in perspective

• Generally philosophical about life

© 2012 by Pearson Higher Education, IncUpper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 • All Rights Reserved

Police Administration (8th Edition)Swanson, Territo, and Taylor

Workaholic

• Typical workaholics– Readily buck the system; often bucked by the

bureaucracy– Display well-organized hostility toward the system’s

imperfections– Obsessed with perfection in their work– Fear of failure; will “play to win” at all games– Prefer labor to leisure– Constantly juggle two or more tasks

• May result in:– Gastrointestinal problems, cardiovascular disease,

divorce

© 2012 by Pearson Higher Education, IncUpper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 • All Rights Reserved

Police Administration (8th Edition)Swanson, Territo, and Taylor

Stress In Law Enforcement

• Police work is very stressful– Constant exposure to violence, cruelty, and

aggression

• Many stressors– Most potent: Killing someone in the line of duty– Empathy for victims also a higher stressor– Two categories of police stress

• Organizational/administrative• Inherent to the job

© 2012 by Pearson Higher Education, IncUpper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 • All Rights Reserved

Police Administration (8th Edition)Swanson, Territo, and Taylor

Post-Shooting Reaction

Rationalize &

Accept

Rationalize &

Accept

Recoil, Remorse, Nausea

Recoil, Remorse, Nausea

Exhilaration

Exhilaration

Actual Experienc

e

Actual Experienc

e

Concern over

PullingTrigger

Concern over

PullingTrigger

Five Basic Phases

© 2012 by Pearson Higher Education, IncUpper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 • All Rights Reserved

Police Administration (8th Edition)Swanson, Territo, and Taylor

Suicide By Cop

© 2012 by Pearson Higher Education, IncUpper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 • All Rights Reserved

Police Administration (8th Edition)Swanson, Territo, and Taylor

Alcoholism and Police Officers

• Absenteeism

• Insubordination

• Misconduct

• Intoxication

• Traffic accidents

• Overall performance

© 2012 by Pearson Higher Education, IncUpper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 • All Rights Reserved

Police Administration (8th Edition)Swanson, Territo, and Taylor

Issues faced by administrators

Drug Use by Police Officers

© 2012 by Pearson Higher Education, IncUpper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 • All Rights Reserved

Police Administration (8th Edition)Swanson, Territo, and Taylor

Anabolic Steroids

© 2012 by Pearson Higher Education, IncUpper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 • All Rights Reserved

Police Administration (8th Edition)Swanson, Territo, and Taylor

Police Suicide

• Access to firearms

• Interpersonal problems

• Alcohol abuse

• Fear of separation from police subculture

© 2012 by Pearson Higher Education, IncUpper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 • All Rights Reserved

Police Administration (8th Edition)Swanson, Territo, and Taylor

Sources of Work Satisfaction as a Stress Reducer

Providing assistance to citizensProviding assistance to citizens

Exercising interpersonal skillsExercising interpersonal skills

Getting feedbackGetting feedback

Receiving peer-group supportReceiving peer-group support

© 2012 by Pearson Higher Education, IncUpper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 • All Rights Reserved

Police Administration (8th Edition)Swanson, Territo, and Taylor

Police and Domestic Violence

• Number of acts committed by officers is unknown– Given the nature of the work, it is not surprising that

sometimes some officers have trouble keeping work separate from their home lives

• Early warning and intervention– Pre-employment screening and investigation– Post conditional offer of employment– Zero tolerance policy

© 2012 by Pearson Higher Education, IncUpper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 • All Rights Reserved

Police Administration (8th Edition)Swanson, Territo, and Taylor

Responsibilities

Police Domestic Violence

© 2012 by Pearson Higher Education, IncUpper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 • All Rights Reserved

Police Administration (8th Edition)Swanson, Territo, and Taylor

Incident Response Protocols

• A department must take the following critical steps– Communications officer/dispatcher documentation– Patrol response– On-scene supervisor response– Crime scene documentation– Arrest decisions– Weapon removal– Department follow up

© 2012 by Pearson Higher Education, IncUpper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 • All Rights Reserved

Police Administration (8th Edition)Swanson, Territo, and Taylor

Responding to Stress

• Exercise for 20-30 minutes at least three times per week

• Maintain a proper diet

• Get adequate rest

• Develop leisure interests and hobbies

• Meditate and pray

• Avoid maladaptive responses

• Establish support groups

• Develop a network of friends

• Use relaxation techniques

• Make sure career and other expectations are consistent with actual situation

© 2012 by Pearson Higher Education, IncUpper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 • All Rights Reserved

Police Administration (8th Edition)Swanson, Territo, and Taylor

Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs)

• Employee benefits– Help in response to

one’s “cry for help”– Stigma reduction– Feeling cared for as a

person– Affordable access to

help