Defined
Research physician Hans Selye introduced the concept of stress to the life sciences and later defined stress as the organism’s response to any demand placed on it (1946, 1976). Although there has been extensive research on the topic of stress, there is not necessarily a commonly accepted definition of the term. Stressors are physical or psychological stimuli that impact on one’s state of arousal and are often seen as threatening, frustrating, or conflicting and therefore can lead to anxiety. Therefore, while hard to define, stress clearly involves both psychological and physiological processes.
Anxiety is a common reaction to stress and is marked by both physical and psychological components such as ”fear, anger, apprehension, and muscular tension” (Bartol and Bartol 1994). Fear then often leads to increased engagement, avoidance, or incapacitation (the so-called fight, flight, or freeze phenomenon), speech difficulties, generalized irritability, or other relief behaviors like biting nails, smoking, or drinking. This form of anxiety, known as state anxiety, is to be differentiated from trait anxiety, an individual characteristic or personality attribute that is associated with a more chronic form of stress (Spielberger 1966).
Effects of Stress
There is no doubt that the effects of stress can be harmful. There are many illnesses thought to be brought on or exacerbated by the amount and experience of stress including heart disease, alcoholism, sleep disorders, and psychological disorders, to name a few. Research on stress has suggested that too little or too much stress can negatively impact performance, although this relationship has not been well established in the research on police (Sewell, Ellison, and Hurrell 1988).
How Stressful Is Policing?
Policing has been described as the most stressful job in America (see, for example, Kupelian 1991; Greaves 1987; Bartol 1983), yet recent research has refuted that claim with evidence suggesting it may be no more stressful than many other occupations (Anson and Bloom 1988; Malloy and Mays 1984). While an Australian police study showed police to have higher incidences of heart disease, hypertension, asthma, hay fever, skin illnesses, nervous breakdowns, and divorce rates than those of the general population, other research comparing police officers to other public workers found few differences in the level of stress experienced. There is some indication, however, that there are differences in the sources of stress associated with various jobs.
Sources of Stress in Policing
Many of the stresses police officers encounter are unique to their profession. While much of police work is routine, there is the possibility of great risk and danger at any moment. Additionally, police officers are often called to the scene of trouble and therefore are exposed to trauma, both physical and emotional. They frequently deal with individuals who are antisocial, antiauthority, angry, violent, emotionally disturbed, manipulative, or under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs.
Police also work in paramilitary organizations with rigid lines of authority, numerous rules and regulations, and the threat of disciplinary action when their behavior does not conform to laws, policies, procedures, or public expectations. In addition, many police find it difficult to build and sustain relationships outside the profession, since there is often a sense that no one else understands the pressures of the job. Most recently, newer sources of stress have emerged, including fear of contracting HIV/AIDS, having to become more ”politically correct” in dealing with issues such as cultural diversity, and the transition to community policing (National Institute of Justice 2000).
There are two major theoretical approaches to stress. The first is based on the assertion that major life events trigger stress reactions, a so-called critical life events approach. Examples of these types of sources include dealing with homicide victims, child sexual assault or homicide victims, or deadly vehicle crashes or causing the death of someone through a shooting or vehicle accident. The other is based on a more chronic model of stress and focuses on daily routine activities that impact upon stress. These may include things such as administrative hassles, boredom, shift work, poor working conditions or pay, lack of public support, a bogged down and overburdened criminal justice system, and local politics.
These routine stressors may include stress from the organization, stress associated with the job or the criminal justice system as a whole, stress from external sources, and that which stems from one’s personal situation. Organizational stressors may include things such as limited career advancement, little professional incentives or development, excessive paperwork, and lack of administrative support. Examples of job and criminal justice stressors are rotating shifts, excessive paperwork, the potential for citizen violence even when dealing with routine traffic investigations or domestic disturbances, and unfavorable court decisions. External stressors are things such as lack of community support and unrealistic public expectations, as well as pressure from politicians and the media.
Finally, there are a whole range of personal circumstances and stressors that could impact upon stress levels of police officers, both critical life events such as divorce, financial difficulties, or serious illness of a family member as well as routine stressors such as child care management, balancing family responsibilities, or commuting time. Therefore, both types of stress can burden a police officer on a temporary or chronic basis and pose a threat to health, safety, and well-being.
Approaches to Measuring Stress
There are a number of biological and psychological measures of stress. Among the biological measures useful for assessing stress are hormones and cortisol levels, arterial viscosity (thickness), heart rate (often taken on a treadmill, a so-called stress test), blood pressure, brain activation, and more. Psychological measures are typically self-reports of individual officers through questionnaires.
The approaches to the assessment of psychological stress clearly grow out of the theoretical models. The first, the critical life events model, is best represented by the Social Readjustment Rating Scale (Holmes and Rahe 1967), a self-report measure in which one identifies those critical life events experienced within the past year. The forty-three-item scale includes things such as death of a child (at the top of the list), bankruptcy, divorce, traffic accidents, and so on and are weighted based on their severity and duration of effects in order to determine the amount of stress being experienced. While still considered a tool for assessing stress, many argue that it is unreliable since the subjective, personal experience of stress varies across individuals, perhaps due to personality, health, and coping skills. A more recent adaptation of this scale developed by Sewell (1983) for law enforcement is the Law Enforcement Critical Life Events Scale, which includes police-specific events such as taking a life in the line of duty.
The other stress measurement approach is based on the model of everyday stressors and is perhaps best exemplified by the daily hassles model, recently adapted for policing by Hart, Wearing, and Head-ley (1993). This measure takes into account many of the external, internal, task-oriented, and organizational stressors mentioned above, often believed to be more influential in assessing one’s overall stress level.
Effects of Stress on Police
Officers report high rates of divorce, emotional problems, health ailments, alcoholism, and performance problems including increased absenteeism, excessive aggressiveness, and reduced efficiency (see, for example, National Institute of Justice 2000; Delprino, O’Quin, and Kennedy 1997). Stress over prolonged periods can have negative consequences for the physical, psychological, and emotional well-being of police officers. The severity of these consequences depends in large part on an officer’s personality, temperament, and adaptive coping skills as well as on the success of various management interventions such as counseling, training, and improved working conditions.
Physical Outcomes of Stress
Stress among police officers has been associated with numerous physical and psychological consequences including alcoholism, back pain, burnout, cardiovascular disorders, depression, early mortality, gastrointestinal disorders and ulcers, migraines, sleep loss and sleep disorders, and even suicide (see, for example, Bartol and Bartol 1994; Violanti 1983,1985).
Psychological Outcomes of Stress
Stress also places undue influence on families of police officers and can adversely impact the stability of family relationships. Financial arguments, separation, and divorce are symptomatic of the tensions and strains of policing. Research has suggested dissatisfaction by spouses of police officers. For example, Maynard and Maynard (1982) found that wives of officers report high levels of conflict, particularly in the area of making personal sacrifices because of the job (52% had to give up job opportunities or other plans) and also being discouraged from making plans too far in advance (60%). Also, 57% of wives surveyed felt that officers generally don’t feel family and marriage are important, and 55% felt that the department thinks it is better to be divorced or single. Indeed, in that police agency, 70% are divorced within the first five years on the job. Rotating shift work and times of shifts often interfere with long-term family planning and the spouse’s career choices as well.
Acute stress can often trigger a condition known as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), in which flashbacks, hypervigilance, and nightmares are common. PTSD can lead to withdrawal, and when untreated can be debilitating. At its worst, acute or chronic stress can lead to suicide. Indeed, suicide rates for law enforcement officers have been reported to be much higher than that of the general population. More recent data, however, suggest that rates of police suicide have sharply declined during the past few decades. Decreasing rates of suicide may be attributable to more sophisticated and scientifically based hiring practices, stress management seminars, greater numbers of police psychologists working in urban departments, and other management responses discussed below (Bartol and Bartol 1994; Bartol 1983).
Group Differences in Stress Levels among Police
The level of stress experienced and its duration may be impacted by tenure in the department and sex. Violanti (1983) noted that those in the earlier career years (up to almost fifteen) are under greater job stress due to concerns about their own competence, the need to handle large amounts of paperwork, and their perceived gap between formal academy training and the real-world skills necessary for effective performance. Female officers may experience higher levels of stress levels due to lack of social support, negative attitudes of male officers, lack of role models and mentors, overcoming perceived barriers that they are not as equipped to do the job, and sexual harassment on the job.
Managerial Approaches to Stress Management
Police managers have implemented various practices in responding to the problem of police officer stress. These involve detecting, assessing, and providing interventions designed to minimize the level of stress or increase coping skills in officers. Clearly, the past two decades have seen an increase in the psychological and counseling services available to police, as well as programs designed to reduce stress and enhance the coping capacity of officers (see, for example, Delprino and Bahn 1988).
Psychological Fitness for Duty Evaluations
When there is evidence of excessive stress, particularly that which may manifest in job performance, officers may be referred to or ordered to undergo a psychological fitness-for-duty evaluation (FFDE). A fit-ness-for-duty evaluation is a disability assessment to determine one’s capacity to perform the functions required of a police officer. It often involves an assessment of the emotional and mental capacities of the officer, including judgment skills, cognitive impairments, and emotional disturbances that may disrupt one’s ability to function in a safe and effective manner.
Early Warning and Intervention Systems
In recent years, a growing number of law enforcement agencies have been developing or purchasing automated human resource management systems that provide alerts to supervisors or commanders when officers are at risk or may pose a risk to the agency or community. Spurred mainly by liability concerns and increasing litigation against police departments, early warning and intervention systems (EWIS) track a number of performance factors and allow supervisors to compare officers to similarly situated officers to determine if aspects of performance may be indicators of problems such as stress, fatigue, or physical or psychological problems. An EWIS often captures information on complaints filed against the officer, vehicle accidents, sick leave, on-duty injuries, number of arrests, vehicle pursuits, traffic stops, and uses of force. The comparisons can be helpful in assisting supervisors in early detection and intervention when officers are at risk.
Stress Programs
During the 1990s, the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) supported evaluations of stress reduction programs in policing through its Corrections and Law Enforcement Family Support (CLEFS) program. One such program was the New York City program to train peer counselors so as to prevent suicide after a spike in suicides in 1994 and 1995. Other stress programs include services of private mental health professionals or psychological services in the agency including through the union, police chaplain, or employee assistance program. In total, the NIJ has sponsored research and program development in thirty agencies and organizations, including treatment and training programs.
Coping
Certain personality characteristics and personal habits can reduce the amount of stress experienced by police officers, as well as help them more effectively cope with and manage stress. Proper diet and eating habits can play a role in reducing the impact of stress. Because police are often called suddenly into action, it can be difficult to eat at a relaxed pace or to gain access to healthier quality of foods as opposed to high-fat, high-sugar, fast-food diets.
Physical exercise can reduce stress and increase an officer’s ability to adapt to organizational stressors. The Dallas Police Department implemented a physical exercise program and studied the overall effects on officer job performance, finding that it led to a significant reduction in sick days and citizen complaints (Swanson and Territo 1984). Other techniques such as relaxation and meditation can also prove beneficial.
Unfortunately, too often police rely on unhealthy or counterproductive strategies for coping with stress. For example, Maynard and Maynard found that 33% use alcohol as a coping mechanism, even though this strategy may cause an increase in stress over time and can be very dangerous.
Conclusion
There is no question that police officers experience unique stressors that ultimately result in a range of minor and serious physical and psychological symptoms. However, the belief that policing is the most stressful job is not accurate; indeed, those in other public safety occupations and unrelated careers also experience high levels of stress. Although the sources of stress for these occupations may be different, the consequences may put the public at greater risk. The good news is that there are a number of managerial prerogatives that are designed to reduce the negative impacts of stress, as well as personal behaviors that can improve one’s ability to cope.
It is promising that some of these efforts are on the increase in American policing. However, it is important that additional research on the negative impacts of stress on police be conducted and that police leaders become increasingly more responsive to the findings of such research, including the negative impact of rotating shifts (especially backward-rotating schedules), and provide more support systems to minimize the negative impacts of stress.
