Police Work-Related Stress - Essay Example

?[Your full May 2, Stress in Police Nordqvist defines stress in simplest terms as “anything that poses a challenge or a threat to our well-being”. Everybody experiences stress. We say that we are stressed out when we feel that things are becoming too much uncontrollable, we become overworked with finding solutions and start wondering if we can at all deal with the strain imposed upon us. There is no field in which the workers do not undergo such problems which cause them anxiety and depression. The police officers are facing no less stress in their daily routine. Workplace stress is one of the major problems the police are experiencing today. Stress, actually, is a result of physical and emotional nervousness and anxiety that a person suffers due to pressures from people living in his surrounding or events happening in his life. Stress results in tension, touchiness, lack of concentration, nuisance, bad temper, and a number of physical indications such as headache. Segal et al. assert that “while some stress is a normal part of life, excessive stress interferes with your productivity and reduces your physical and emotional health, so it’s important to find ways to keep it under control”. A little stress is beneficial as it keeps one going and forces him to maintain his good performance. This is called positive stress. It adds to a person’s wellbeing and health as it leads him to manage things properly. On the other hand, stress becomes an emotional rollercoaster when the police officers are constantly worrying about their performances, input and output, out of fear of their officials. In cases where the officers are constantly bullied, or are taken for granted, or are threatened for delayed or cut down salaries, or are treated harshly, there they undergo negative stress more commonly known as distress. Causes of Stress / Stressors in Police Since police officers are consistently facing human indecency, violence, fights, gore, arrests, threats, and negative behaviors, thus they are very much prone to negative stress. Police officers are also human beings just like us and there is a limit to their forbearance. Some of the major stressors in police are described below. Constant Danger The life of a police officer is constantly in danger. The constant feeling of being under peril takes its toll on the police officer causing him permanent stress. This ever-present danger is a part and parcel of the duty of a police officer. Internal Stressors These are the stressors that arise from within the police departments causing the officers to make sudden mobilizations and then occurrence of boredom for longer periods. Sudden shifts for longer periods causes boredom during which the officer has to remain alert for sudden actions. The presence of a gun all the time; the confronting of the jailed criminals; the administrative policies; the need to obey the commands from a senior officer even unwillingly; and, investigations and procedures, all add up to police stress. Lack of Reward Layoffs, delayed salaries, low budgets, and pressure from senior officers put strain over police officers’ minds which then results in decreased productivity and poor output. They undergo fear, become irritable, suffer through nuisance, and all this reflects in their relationship with the seniors and co-officers. Fatigue due to overworking without lunch or rest breaks or working for longer hours without naps; dissatisfaction caused by lack of motivation when the officers are not given their due rewards; and, lack of interest in the job due to constant pressure coming from seniors and poor communication with the co-officers form some of the major stressors in police work. When a police officer puts his sincere efforts in meeting deadlines and producing good results, he definitely needs an appreciation, a compliment, or some feedback from his seniors. If he is not given his due credit, he comes under stress. Workload Police officers complain about undergoing stress when the amount of work given to them is either too large or too small. When the responsibilities are not being distributed properly among the officers, this causes stress. Reduced Safety Police officers undergo stress when they are in a constant state of not being safe. As mentioned earlier, they are in constant danger because they have to confront criminals and threats all the time, and this adds to an internal fear which nurtures within a person even if he does not show it. Emotional Control Police officers have to control their emotions in all circumstances, and since they are human beings, they undergo stress when they have to be strong emotionally in situations that make them psychologically and emotionally involved. External Stressors Some external stressors include the criminal justice system and the people of the society. When a criminal comes out of the jail on bail or probation, or a court announces a criminal to be innocent, or when the larger society makes a stereotype of the police officers, then these activities produces stress. Also, the court procedures and hearing of the cases interferes with the police officer’s duty and his daily schedule, and thus he is very likely to undergo stress. Organizational Culture According to Cartwright and Cooper, a big stressor at workplace is the culture, policies, procedures and operations of the organization. Culture means the overall atmosphere of an organization, for example, the atmosphere can be friendly, bullying, appreciating, non-rewarding, and so on. Police officers are also very much affected by this culture that the police departments may have adopted. If there is inadequate staff and the workload is great, then the workers will have to work overtime. Lack of proper coordination between departments, no control over the amount of workload, and no flexibility in deadlines, all this causes stress to occur among the officers. Effects Ganster and Schaubroek (qtd. in Fox, Dwyer and Ganster 289) found out in their research that “prolonged exposure to certain job demands can lead to a variety of pathological outcomes, including mental and physical disorders, absenteeism, and reduced productivity”. Stress symptoms include emotional changes in a police officer, such as, anger, frustration, depression, irritability, nuisance, de-motivation and absent-mindedness, lack of concentration, and sleep disorder (insomnia). Behavioral effects of stress include job discontentment, argumentative or unreasonable behavior, lack of attentiveness and interest in job, feeling of less commitment to the job, and conflicts in relationships both at work and at home. Physiological effects include headache, stomachache, slow digestion, obesity, decreased sex drive, blood pressure leading to coronary heart diseases, and various skin infections. What Police Departments are Doing to Reduce Stress It becomes important for the officers to learn how to deal with stressful situations to escape fear, tension and uncertainty. This stress management ability decides whether a police officer is going to prove himself as success or failure. Stress is, mostly, very much related to how a person deals with the situation. Today, there are a lot of police stress management programs that intend to reduce police stress but there are very few police departments that are working in improving the overall organizational culture so that the workplace stressors are prevented. Thus, there is need for more organization-centered approaches in addition to person-centered ones so that the issue of police stress is addressed efficiently. Conclusion To sum up, police officers are very likely to undergo work-related stress which arises from internal environment of the police departments and also from outside where the society and criminal justice system poses pressures on their minds. They are stereotyped in society as violent individuals and they are constantly facing danger which makes them undergo negative stress. There is a need to make appropriate changes in the police organizational culture so that police stress is reduced. Works Cited Cartwright, Susan, and Cary L. Cooper. “Causes of Stress.” Managing Workplace Stress. UK: Sage Publications, 1997. Fox, Marilyn L., Dwyer, Deborah J., and Daniel C. Ganster. Effects of Stressful Job Demands and Control on Physiological and Attitudinal Outcomes in a Hospital Setting 36.2 (1993): p. 289. Nordqvist, Christian. “What is Stress? How to Deal with Stress.” Medical News Today. N.p., 2009. Web. 2 May 2011. . Segal, Jeanne, Horwitz, Laura, Jaffe-Gill, Ellen, Smith, Melinda, and Robert Segal. “How to Reduce and Manage Job and Workplace Stress.” Stress at Work. N.p., 2008. Web. 2 May 2011. . Read More