Book Review: The Power Manual: A Step-by-Step Guide to Improving Police Officer Wellness, Ethics, and Resilience
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/0032258X221116315 |
| Published date | 01 September 2022 |
| Date | 01 September 2022 |
| Subject Matter | Book Review |
Book Review
The Police Journal:
Theory, Practice and Principles
2022, Vol. 95(3) 590–591
© The Author(s) 2022
Article reuse guidelines:
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DOI: 10.1177/0032258X221116315
journals.sagepub.com/home/pjx
Book review
Daniel M Blumberg, Konstantinos Papazoglou and Michael D Schlosser, The Power Manual: A Step-
by-Step Guide to Improving Police Officer Wellness, Ethics, and Resilience, American Psychological
Association: 2021, 310 pp. ISBN: 978143383300
Reviewed by: Vernon Phillips candidacy for the degree of doctor of ministry: Pastoral counseling
The law enforcement community is alwaysunder pressure, whether it be cultural scrutiny,
stressors of the profession, or the various critical incidents/traumatic events they face on a
daily occurrence. As such, officers’physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health are
impacted in a significant way. This leaves them vulnerable to physical injury, stress, post-
traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, moral injury, compassion fatigue, and
spiritual disassociation or over association, just to name a few. In recent years, the topic of
officer mental healthand wellness has taken a forefront position acrossthe board with new
resources being offered to offset this pandemic that plagues the law enforcement com-
munity. The Power Manual: A Step-by-Step Guide to Improving Police Officer Wellness,
Ethics, and Resilience by Daniel M. Blumberg, Konstantinos Papazoglou,and Michael D.
Schlosseris one resource recently publishedby APA (American PsychologicalAssociation)
to help addressthe various struggles thelaw enforcement communityface. The authors have
either worked directly in law enforcement or with law enforcement for several years giving
them firsthand experience with the topics presented in The Power Manual.
The Power Manual is comprised of 12 chapters organized into three parts: wellness,
ethics, and resilience, with additional resources at the end. Part one, wellness, covers a
wide range of topics that are crucial to law enforcement today. The overall physical,
cognitive, emotional, social, and spiritual wellness of officers is not only discussed, but
the book is full of practical exercises to help officers strengthen their wellness in each of
these vital categories. One aspect is the encouragement for officers to actively engage in
critical areas of their health. The authors state, “Your cognitive wellness, like other areas
of your health, requires some active effort on your part”(Blumberg, et al., 2022: 60), a
concept that is evident throughout the entire book.
Part two, ethics, focuses on guarding the moral compass of the officer and maintaining
a healthy outlook on the law enforcement profession throughout a career. The topics
discussed are commitment to the noble cause, the guardian spirit of policing, and moral
distress and ethical exhaustion, topics that are extremely important in today’s law en-
forcement culture. Providing vital information that officers’ethics hinge on their overall
health and wellness, the authors state, “we are focusing on how important it is for your
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