Stress in Law Enforcement
Alfonso Castro
San Jose State University
Outline
I. Introduction
A. Specific topic to be analyzed
1. Law Enforcement officers often find themselves in difficult situations, not being able to think of a quick, successful solution to a problem. Officers do not realize that they are under a lot of stress, which disables their mind with poor decision making.
B. A few stressors that will be analyzed and its effects
1. Officers encounter stress from a variety of factors; excessive overtime, family problems, media, events, and appearing in court.
2. Stress is extremely overbearing in officers, continuous exposure can lead to anxiety, depression, effects of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and even death.
C. Thesis …show more content…
Dowler looks and describes the females view and stressors they experience in contrast to males. Women face different types of stressors then men do. Dowler explains that females reported that they encounter sexual harassment and gender discrimination which increase their stress levels tremendously, while men believe that females are treated more leniently. Women also face resentment and resistance by their male counterpart. Dowler took data from Project SHIELDS and comprised it to his needs. He categorized males and females separately with several control variables that define their stress level toward that specific characteristic. Some general information was gathered from the individuals and a questionnaire was added to see what each gender thought about gender-related discrimination or bias. The results were controversial. Males and females experience stress in similar ways, but females still reported having higher stress levels than males. There can be a few explanations to this. Female officers feel isolated and less valued at work. They believe that they are excluded from the Brotherhood that male police officers have, which leads them to believe that they experience less support from the men and possibly women as well. The females also face additional responsibilities back at home. This creates a double-burden that they have to …show more content…
They do not realize that they are under a lot of stress, which disables their mind with poor decision making. It affects them physically and psychologically, to a certain extent. Novy describes why officers get cognitive distortions on stressful situations. He analyzed nine studies that explored the psychological aspect of cognitive distortions. The symptoms that most commonly appeared are Posttraumatic Stress (PTSD), Acute Stress Disorder (ACD), and Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms (PTSS). These symptoms are caused by traumatic events that officers encounter in their career.
Sewell, J. D. (2002). Managing the Stress of Organizational Change. FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin, 71(3), 14.
Law enforcement deals with organizational change as years go by, and with those changes, the department has to transform with it. They need to revolutionize in all aspects to maintain professional and modern. Sewel believed that in order to adapt, they need to recognize these aspects; awareness, communication, leadership presence, encouragement, formalized support system, stability, involvement, training, timing, and managerial
Alfonso Castro
San Jose State University
Outline
I. Introduction
A. Specific topic to be analyzed
1. Law Enforcement officers often find themselves in difficult situations, not being able to think of a quick, successful solution to a problem. Officers do not realize that they are under a lot of stress, which disables their mind with poor decision making.
B. A few stressors that will be analyzed and its effects
1. Officers encounter stress from a variety of factors; excessive overtime, family problems, media, events, and appearing in court.
2. Stress is extremely overbearing in officers, continuous exposure can lead to anxiety, depression, effects of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and even death.
C. Thesis …show more content…
Dowler looks and describes the females view and stressors they experience in contrast to males. Women face different types of stressors then men do. Dowler explains that females reported that they encounter sexual harassment and gender discrimination which increase their stress levels tremendously, while men believe that females are treated more leniently. Women also face resentment and resistance by their male counterpart. Dowler took data from Project SHIELDS and comprised it to his needs. He categorized males and females separately with several control variables that define their stress level toward that specific characteristic. Some general information was gathered from the individuals and a questionnaire was added to see what each gender thought about gender-related discrimination or bias. The results were controversial. Males and females experience stress in similar ways, but females still reported having higher stress levels than males. There can be a few explanations to this. Female officers feel isolated and less valued at work. They believe that they are excluded from the Brotherhood that male police officers have, which leads them to believe that they experience less support from the men and possibly women as well. The females also face additional responsibilities back at home. This creates a double-burden that they have to …show more content…
They do not realize that they are under a lot of stress, which disables their mind with poor decision making. It affects them physically and psychologically, to a certain extent. Novy describes why officers get cognitive distortions on stressful situations. He analyzed nine studies that explored the psychological aspect of cognitive distortions. The symptoms that most commonly appeared are Posttraumatic Stress (PTSD), Acute Stress Disorder (ACD), and Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms (PTSS). These symptoms are caused by traumatic events that officers encounter in their career.
Sewell, J. D. (2002). Managing the Stress of Organizational Change. FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin, 71(3), 14.
Law enforcement deals with organizational change as years go by, and with those changes, the department has to transform with it. They need to revolutionize in all aspects to maintain professional and modern. Sewel believed that in order to adapt, they need to recognize these aspects; awareness, communication, leadership presence, encouragement, formalized support system, stability, involvement, training, timing, and managerial