"Good policing is not impossible. The reactions that have been associated with stressors are not inevitable. Many officers retire in good physical and emotional health and 100 back on their careers with pleasure. In a situation where stressers have led to maladaptive behavior on the part of individuals or organizations, change is called for. Change must be constant, as social conditions in the world around us vary. The police represent a force for the order necessary for society to function. It is not an easy job, but it is one that is worth doing well."

This compilation of articles on job-related stress in policing addresses the complexities of the stress syndrome among police officers and advocates the incorporation of a stress intervention and management component into police officer training programs. The volume is designed for practical use by police officers and administrators. Articles are arranged in topical sections and begin with an orientation and introduction to the general subject, providing terminology and background to some of the principle psychological, physiological, and social consequences of stress. Job stress and some of its more destructive manifestations in police officers, such as alcoholism, divorce, other family problems, and suicide are examined. In addition, specific and unique stress experienced by women and minorities in law enforcement is also discussed. Recommendations are given concerning the most effective ways that both the officer and the law enforcement agency can deal with these problems. Articles on stress and the police administrator concern factors in the managerial task and function that contribute to stress. Among them are upward mobility with accompanying loss of supportive relationships among colleagues, family, and friends; the risks of decisionmaking with consequences affecting the lives of many people; and political pressures in balancing resources against goals and objectives. Under the topic of stress and the family, articles look at the toll exacted on wives, children and relatives of police personnel by the stressful aspects of police work, of which the high divorce rate is but the most visible consequence. The concluding section presents organizational and individual programs for coping with stress, illustrated by stress control and counseling programs available to officers, administrators, and families in the police departments of Miami, Dallas, and Chicago. A retirement counseling program for police officers is also discussed because of the unique nature of police retirement, which occurs early and isolates former officers from agency friends and informal peer groups that have served as a source of personal support. Tabular data and endnotes accompany individual articles. The appendix contains a listing of police stress training films. An index is also supplied.

For undergraduate/graduate courses in Policing and Criminal Justice. Focusing on the topic of police stress, this text compiles chapters written by leading police researchers who examine the sources and consequences of stress, as well as effective strategies for coping with it.

Provides a comprehensive and up-to-date look at a number of law enforce. stress programs that have made serious efforts to help departments, individual officers, civilian employees, and officers' families cope with the stresses of a law enforce. career. The report is based on 100 interviews with mental health practitioners, police administrators, union and assoc. officials, and line officers and their family members. Provides pragmatic suggestions that can help every police or sheriff's dep't. reduce the debilitating stress that so many officers experience and thereby help these officers do the job they entered law enforcement to perform -- protect the public.

This analysis of police occupational stress draws primarily from a study conducted in two police departments in upstate New York. The study combined several methods of inquiry, including interviews, focus groups, personal observations, and questionnaires. One of the departments had undergone diversification and the other had not. Although the departments differed in diversity, both agencies were pursuing community-policing philosophies. The analysis focused on the relationship between stress and police reform, notably ongoing changes related to community-oriented policing and diversification of the police force. Older officers reported being more stressed than did younger officers. This was typically related to cumulative exposure to client problems, slower-than-hoped-for advancement, or less-than-anticipated recognition. Another primary factor was exposure to turbulent work environments over time, which became the occasion for discomfort with approaching retirement. Organization-related stress, compared with person-related stress, was identified by officers as the principal problem underlying stress. Organizational-related interventions, therefore, are required in preventing and ameliorating stress. There are current trends in policing that involve greater involvement of line officers in the organizational factors that affect their occupational duties. One is problem-oriented policing, which can include solutions to problems within the organization. Interventions have highlighted the importance of police union involvement and team efforts. Organizational peer interactions were also identified as a source of stress. These were based in gender-related and race-related diversity among personnel. Organizational reform to prevent and ameliorate stress must be based in an analysis of the roots of stress related to organizational practices and environments. Officers must then be involved in systematic efforts to plan and implement interventions that can relieve the organizational circumstances that cause and perpetuate stress.