A common, everyday function for the police psychologist is police counseling. In majority of departments, police officers usually receive free, in-house counseling as often because of stressful nature of job they need it and confidentiality is sometimes an issue, so external sources for counseling are sometimes obtained.
Stress management
Police stress is perhaps the most common problem a police psychologist deals with; although a variety of other problems exist, ranging from compassion fatigue to marital problems to alcoholism to suicide. PSTD (Post Shooting Traumatic Response) or burnouts are common, as is "burst stress", which means that there is no steady stressor. Officers go from periods of complete calm to periods of high activity in sudden bursts, much like a military "hurry up and wait" drill.
The families of police officers also suffer stress, a kind of vicarious occupational stress. The unpredictability, shift work, fear (of death, injury, kidnapping), isolation, and low pay all cause family problems. Children of officers are held to higher standards by the community, spouses are often at odds in figuring out how to communicate with one another, and both groups must deflect the never-ending stream of public inquiry whenever the police department is in the news. Relationships in police families are often distant (NIJ 1991).
What is stress?
Before going into details let’s understand what stress is.
“Stress is mental or physical tension that results from physical, emotional, or chemical causes. It is emotionally disruptive or upsetting condition occurring in response to adverse external stimuli and is capable of affecting physical and mental health which can be characterized by increased heart rate, a rise in blood pressure, muscular tension, irritability and depression”
Now, while this may sound funny there is a real element of truth to it. An element of truth that says an awful lot about police work. And that is the part of the definition "......BUT YOU CAN'T". Police work, by its very nature, calls for an incredible amount of restraint. The demands on police officers to show ever greater control, have been increasing over the years, but not so coincidentally have the effects of stress on police work. With the recent attention that police suicide has received in the media there have been a number of reviews on police suicide.
Types of police stressors
Stressors Internal to the Police Organization:
Stressors that are related to the organization can include following:
• Poor supervision (too lenient/too tough)
• Insufficient training
• Absence of upward mobility
• Absence of an extrinsic reward system
• Offensive (annoying & silly) policies and procedures
• Excessive paperwork
• Bad equipment
• Poor salary
• Shift work (night duties)
Stressors external to the police organization may include:
• Absence of career development & lateral entry
• Ineffective criminal justice system
• Biased press and media influence
• Derogatory remarks of laymen
• Political interference
Stressors task-related to police work
• Role conflict and strain
• Rotating shift work
• Fear and danger involved in job
• Giving up cases to the detective division
• Victim pain & anguish
• Employee review boards
Stressors Associated with Personal Problems
• Marital and family relationships (like divorce, and/or other familial problems)
• Health problems
• Addictions
• Peer group pressure
• Depression
• Harassment
• Lack of accomplishment
