You are interested in conducting research concerning police officers and their jobs. The information you want to gather, including job satisfaction or job hazards, is up to you as long as you clearly state ...…
Emotional Survival for Law Enforcement A Synopsis of Dr. Kevin M. Gilmartin “A Guide for Officers and Their Families” Journey Through Law Enforcement Idealistic recruits can become cynical veterans.…
Similar to military service, individuals are attracted to a law enforcement profession for various reasons. Some are interested in the authoritative position while others are attracted by the ability to uphold high standards of law enforcement. Whatever the reason for pursuing this line of profession, one thing remains constant for each law enforcement professional is the stress, and how the stress has a limited or lasting effect. The focus of this paper is on the effects of stress to law enforcement professionals and may be generic in some aspects in order to generalize effects as each individual’s reaction to a situation may be significantly different depending on many factors. Much research has been…
Stress plays a big part in people lives. Police stress, however, comes from the negative pressures related to police work. Stress can come from a lot of things such as, threats to officers’ health and safety, boredom alternating with the need for sudden alertness and mobilized energy, responsibility for protecting the lives of others, continual exposure to people in pain or distress, and the need to control emotions even when provoked and etc. (Dan Goldfarb www.soc.umn.edu/~samaha/cases/police_stress.htm)…
One challenge that police officers face daily is the stress that accompanies the job. Many officers face very stressful and intense situations that need to be handled carefully. A police officer may face a crowd that is rioting and looting and is greatly outnumbered. He or she faces the risk of being overrun and this can be detrimental to their emotions. They may be in fear of their life because crowds feed off of each other and can become very aggressive and violent. In some instances the officer will face gunfire and this puts the officer in a life or death situation. If the officer has to kill the subject then the officer may face Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and this can affect their performance of their daily duties and their personal lives. According to (Gersons, 1989) shooting incidents are a rare phenomenon in low violence police work; however, when a shooting incident occurs, the psychological impact for the officers involved may take the form of severe PTSD (Stewart,2011). There are programs that help individuals to cope with PTSD and can get help from The National Institute for Mental Health.…
Josh Stone wrote an essay on the life of police officers that can be found on the street directory website. He states that due to the unknown factors and unpredictability of daily situations, police have a very dangerous profession. Daily risks of police officers…
There is significant stress associated with the use of deadly force - having to kill another human being (Volpe & Anderson, 1998). No officer is ever emotionally ready to kill another human being. Many officers say that the first thing that came to mind after they fired the fatal bullet was "Thou shall not kill." All of these stressors make police work different from other professions. Of course, the on-going, day-to-day exposure to murders, assaults, rapes, child abuse, domestic violence and "man's inhumanity to man" intensifies this stress-related burden. Vicarious Trauma is a diagnostic term used to depict the cluster of symptoms many police officers suffer as a direct result of the job of policing. In diagnosing trauma-related disorders…
There are many dangers concerning the work of a police officer. Officers face various types of dangers and risk. When a person signs up to become an officer of the law, they already know the nature of the job means that they will be putting themselves at risk of different dangers. Possessing the job of protecting others and keeping peace within the community is a risk in itself. Some of these dangers that officers face every day of their lives are health problems like getting the following high blood pressure, insomnia, increased levels of destructive hormones, heart problems, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and a big one is suicide and this is from the stress of the job (Zink, 2012). It does not only affect an officer’s physical health but also their mental health and with that is where suicide can come into the picture. Driving is also another danger that an officer faces because they can crash or get hit while on a traffic stop due to other drivers either not paying attention to what they are doing, not knowing how to drive, or they are under the influence of something; not the officer but the other driver. A big danger is getting hurt on the job in some way or another and even death. Officers face different people every day that can be in bad situations like fighting, on some type of drug, or just plain hate life and the…
Police history can be traced back to the 18th century. When looking at the subject of police work there is significant culture and history that follows along with it. There are many topics that can be analyzed when identifying and describing the elements and the significances that are associated with policing. An element that plays a significant factor to police work, and that attributes to the policing culture is the amount of stress that an officer will face while performing his or her duties. Another factor that plays a role in police culture can be found when one examines how women and ethnic minorities have achieved equality in law enforcement.…
This very well written description of the said subject was written by Kenneth Culp Davis in his book “Discretionary Justice” from (1969). What he meant by that is not very hard to comprehend. Mr. Davis believes that when an officer has a choice over how to respond to a specific problem or situation that police officer is said to have discretion or choice. The big word to remember is choice. Another definition used for “police discretion” states: Discretion is defined as an official action by a criminal justice official based on that individual’s judgment about the best course of action. So what do some police officers take into consideration when making the decision to arrest or not to arrest? Well, according to research the seriousness of the alleged offense is one of the most important factors that police officers take into consideration when deciding whether to arrest a suspect as one might expect. For example, an officer is most likely to arrest an individual for assault or robbery than a minor petty offense. Another reason an officer might lean more towards arresting an individual is safety. For example, if the officer believes that an individual might pose a threat to himself or to others then he or she might be inclined to deescalate the situation by removing or incapacitating the said suspect. Another factor that plays a part in whether or not an officer makes an arrest is the attitude of the suspect, believe it or not. For example if the suspect appears aggressive or disrespectful when stopped or being questioned. Other factors that influence discretionary decisions are the strength of the evidence, characteristics of the…
First, I would like to say that working as a corrections officers or anyone who works in that type of environment will say that it is the most stressful job in law enforcement. (Carlson & Garrett, 2008) It is near impossible to work in a stressful environment such as a prison without suffering some form of ill effects. (Carlson & Garrett, 2008) Correctional officers oversee inmate of Federal, State, and local prisons or jail systems.…
Job stress can’t be avoided in any job field. It especially can’t be avoided in the field of law enforcement. Job stress can come from many sources. Having to exercise prudent discretion all the time, the threat of using violence and having violence used against them, and isolation from the rest of society are the major causes. It can lead to negative attitudes, burnout, loss of enthusiasm and commitment (aka cynicism), increased apathy, divorce, substance abuse and health problems, and many other social, personal, and job-related problematic behaviors. Work place support, training officers to cope with the effects of stress, stress management, and stress training are things that law enforcement are currently doing to lessen job stress. Stress training includes diet info, biofeedback, exercise, relaxation, and meditation. I believe that all law enforcement personnel should have to undergo psychological and fitness evaluations every three to six months.…
Many officers find the field to be stressful because it holds the highest risk of injury and illness, often resulting from confrontations with inmates. Jail and prison security must be provided 24 hours a day, officers work all hours of the day and night, weekends, and holidays these factors affect their daily lives very heavily but they do it in the name of justice. The daily interactions with inmates are a big responsibility which I do not take lightly. Although an officer is an authority figure they are civil servants and are required to respect the inmates rights and treat them with respect.…
“Researchers have noted that the law enforcement officers view their work as being stressful and…
Police work can be dangerous and stressful. Officers often deal with violent criminals and may be injured or killed. They must make quick decisions while on duty, yet be tactful and patient with people who are in trouble or have been…