Police stress : an empirical investigation by job function

Abstract

Occupational stress in police officers and its relationship to job functions in varying sizes of municipal police departments was examined. The research aimed to answer questions regarding the degree of stress, sources of stress, and manifestations of stress by using an improved methodology. Various definitions and conceptualizations of stress were reviewed with an operational definition adopted for the present study which is based on a multidimensional concept of stress. Important variables and methodological issues were identified. Several stress-measurement instruments were examined in order to identify those which have survived empirical scrutiny or have been developed specifically for use in police job stress. Standardized mail survey procedures were employed to gather data using a questionnaire which incorporated three stress-measurement instruments, previous survey items, and original close end questions. Questionnaires were mailed to 363 municipal police officers in 121 Texas cities, following a small pilot study of the instrument. A total of 296 survey instruments were returned which resulted in a response rate of 81.5 percent. Data were analyzed using analysis of variance and descriptive statistics. Results suggested that no significant differences in stress levels exist among the ranks of police officers. In addition, it was found that police officers report no greater stress levels than other working adults. The highest job stressor was 'exposure to dead or battered children' when ranked by intensity ratings alone. However, when job stressors were weighted by frequency of occurrence, 'dealing with family disputes and crises situations' emerged as a high stress for patrol officers. These results highlight the need to consider differences in frequency when examining sources of stress in police work. Police officers in the sample generally reported good health and involvement in positive health habits. However, a high rate of caffeine consumption was reported by a large majority. Those who smoked also reported a high consumption rate. In addition, twelve percent reported symptomatology of post-traumatic stress disorders. Results suggest that police officers with specific stress disorders should be evaluated more closely and targeted for training or treatment when limited resources exist.