Emotional distress among police academy recruits: Humor and coping
| Author | Brooke McQuerrey Tuttle,Michael J Merten,Brandt Gardner,Alex J Bishop,Julie M Croff |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/0032258X211018494 |
| Published date | 01 September 2022 |
| Date | 01 September 2022 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Article
Emotional distress among
police academy recruits:
Humor and coping
Brooke McQuerrey Tuttle
Human Development & Family Science, Oklahoma State University, Tulsa,
OK, USA
Michael J Merten
Child Youth & Family Studies, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln,
NE, USA
Brandt Gardner and Alex J Bishop
Human Development & Family Science, Oklahoma State University,
Stillwater, OK, USA
Julie M Croff
Rural Health, University-Center for Health Sciences, Oklahoma State
University, Tulsa, OK, USA
Abstract
Police work, beginning as early as academy training, is inherently stressful and carries
risks for officer wellbeing. Humor has been cited as useful way for officers to handle
stress. This study investigated the relationship between humor and emotional distress
among a sample of 101 police recruits from Phase 1 of the National Police Research
Platform. Findings indicated that reliance on humor as a coping strategy increased among
recruits during the police academy and hierarchical regression analyses showed that
greater levels of use of humor as a coping strategy in the academy predicted a decrease in
emotional distress upon academy graduation.
Keywords
Police recruits, police stress, humor, stress and coping
Corresponding author:
Brooke McQuerrey Tuttle, Human Development & Family Science, Oklahoma State University-Tulsa, Main
Hall 1101 700 N. Greenwood Ave. Tulsa, OK Oklahoma 74106, USA.
Email: brooke.tuttle@okstate.edu
The Police Journal:
Theory, Practice and Principles
ªThe Author(s) 2021
Article reuse guidelines:
sagepub.com/journals-permissions
DOI: 10.1177/0032258X211018494
journals.sagepub.com/home/pjx
2022, Vol. 95(3) 492–507
Tuttle et al. 493
Policewellness has emerged as a central concern in modern policing due to growing
knowledge of police stress, police mental health, and police suicide. Additionally,
increased public scrutiny of police in the aftermath of highly publicized events,
such as officer involved shootings, has led to discussion about strained police-
community relationships and negative impacts on officer mental health (Galovski
et al., 2018; Schaper, 2016). These emerging issues led to the development of
the President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing, which named officer wellness
as an important area of focus (President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing,
2015).
The ways in which officers cope with stress is critical in reducing the negative effects
of stress on their health and wellbeing. Extant research on police stress management has
shown that officers tend to utilize maladaptive strategies to cope with stress (Atkinson-
Tovar, 2003; Cross and Ashley, 2004; Violanti, 1992). However, the role of humor as it
relates to officers’ emotional wellbeing is less understood despite evidence that humor is
an important part of the law enforcement subculture for both socialization and coping
(Garrick, 2006; Godfrey, 2016; Vivona, 2014).
Humor has been recognized as a coping strategy and a sign of resilience (Lefcourt,
2001). The study of humor among police officers has been largely focused on their use
of ‘dark humor’ or ‘gallows humor’ which is used to disengage from troubling cir-
cumstances, often in the context of death and tragedy (Saroglou and Anciaux, 2004;
Thorson, 1993). Studies on humor in police work have included samples of officers and
special units, like crime scene investigators; however, the police academy training
context, which is widely considered a stressful experience for recruits (McCarty and
Lawrence, 2016; Violanti, 1993), has yet to be fully represented in humor and police
stress research. Police academy training exposes recruits to rigorous physical, mental,
and emotional stress to prepare new officers to combat challenges encountered in the
line of duty (Violanti, 1993). While new hires are subjected to extensive background
checks and psychological screenings to ensure their physical and mental fitness,
adverse mental health among recruits as they enter their careers has also been found
(Williams et al., 2010). A greater understanding of what contributes to mental and
emotional health of early career officers would help police organizations keep their
healthy officers healthy.
The implications of emotional wellness extend beyond the individual health of offi-
cers to impact their families, police organizations, and the communities they serve
(Smoktunowicz, et al., 2015; Tuttle et al., 2018). Therefore, understanding how humor
influences the emotional distress of recruits who are entering the field of policing is
essential for enhancing police wellness and policing practices. The benefits of humor on
the relationship between stress and wellness, as well the unique role of humor in the law
enforcement subculture, present a need to better understand the relationship between
humor and emotional wellness for early career officers. The current study will examine
changes in the use of humor as a coping strategy among a sample of police recruits
during their police academy experience and how coping through humor is related to their
emotional distress in the police academy.
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