Exploring the link between work-family conflict and job burnout among Indian police officers
| DOI | 10.1177/0032258X18761285 |
| Published date | 01 March 2019 |
| Date | 01 March 2019 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Article
Exploring the link between
work-family conflict and
job burnout among Indian
police officers
Eric G Lambert
Department of Legal Studies, The University of Mississippi, Mississippi,
MS, USA; Department of Criminal Justice, University of Nevada, Reno,
NV, USA
Hanif Qureshi
Commissioner of Police, Faridabad, Haryana, India; School of Criminal
Justice, The University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH, USA
Linda D Keena
Department of Legal Studies, The University of Mississippi, Mississippi,
MS, USA
James Frank
School of Criminal Justice, The University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH,
USA
Nancy L Hogan
School of Criminal Justice, Ferris State University, Big Rapids, MI, USA
Abstract
Working in law enforcement can be a trying experience that can result in work-family
conflict. Work-family conflict occurs when the domains of work and home spill into
one another, causing strain and conflict for a person. There are four major dimensions
Corresponding author:
Eric G Lambert, Department of Legal Studies, The University of Mississippi, 202 Odom Hall, Mississippi, MS
38677, USA.
Email: ericlambert@unr.edu
The Police Journal:
Theory, Practice and Principles
2019, Vol. 92(1) 35–55
ªThe Author(s) 2018
Article reuse guidelines:
sagepub.com/journals-permissions
DOI: 10.1177/0032258X18761285
journals.sagepub.com/home/pjx
of work-family conflict: time-based, behaviour-based, strain-based and family-based.
One consequence of being exposed to the stressor of work-family conflict over time is
job burnout. Job burnout has three major dimensions: emotional exhaustion, deper-
sonalisation and a reduced sense of personal accomplishment on the job. The cur rent
study explored the association between four types of work-family conflict with the
three dimensions of burnout among Indian police officers. All four types of work-family
conflict were positively related to emotionalburnout.Time-based,behaviour-based
and family-based conflict had significant positive associations with depersonalisation
burnout and with reduced sense of personal accomplishment burnout.
Keywords
India, police, Indian police, work-family conflict, burnout
Across nations, police work can be demanding and stressful (Mostert and Rothmann,
2006; Vuorensyrja and Ma¨lkia¨, 2011). Unfortunately, one possible consequence of
prolonged exposure to chronic stress is job burnout (Martinussen et al., 2007; Vuor-
ensyrja and Ma¨lkia¨, 2011). The literature describes many negative effects of burnout,
such as lower job performance (Bakker and Heuven, 2006; Malach Pines and Keinan,
2005; Vuorensyrja and Ma¨lkia¨, 2011), gr eater absenteeism, turnover intent and turn-
over among officers (Burke, 1993; Burke and Deszca, 1986; Jackson and Maslach,
1982; Houdmont, 2012; Malach Pines and Keinan, 2005, 2007; Martinussen et al.,
2007; Yun et al., 2015), higher alcohol and drug use (Burke, 1993; Jackson and
Maslach, 1982; Johnson et al., 2005; Vuorensyrja and Ma¨lkia¨, 2011), increased inci-
dence of mental and physical health problems (Burke, 1993; Burke and Deszca, 1986;
Malach Pines and Keinan, 2005; Stearns and Moore, 1993; Vuorensyrja and Ma¨lkia¨,
2011), lower life satisfaction and higher psychosomatic health problems (Burke, 1994;
Burke and Deszca, 1986; Martinussen et al., 2007), reduced pro-organisational beha-
viours (Kohan and Mazmanian, 2003), greater use of force, greater support for use of
force by officers, increased levels of aggression by officers (Kop et al., 1999; Queiro´s
et al., 2012; Stearns and Moore, 1993), reduced agency efficiency and higher chances
of detrimental interactions with citizens (McCarty, 2013), and greater violence by
officers outside of work (Johnson et al., 2005). It is doubtful that anything positive
results from burnout among police officers.
In light of the harmful outcomes associated with burnout, there has been an effort to
research potential factors that may be linked to burnout. Studies have found that work-
place factors contribute to burnout (Martinussen et al., 2007; McCarty, 2013). There is,
however, a need for additional research because there are many workplace factors that
have not been studied to determine what relationship they may have with burnout for
officers. One such workplace factor is work-family conflict. Work-family conflict refers
to when problems from work spill over to home and cause conflict and vice versa. Even
though policing is a distinctive occupation, there has been only limited research to date
concerning the relationship of the different types of work-family conflict on burnout
among law enforcement personnel. Additionally, the vast majority of published research
36 The Police Journal: Theory, Practice and Principles 92(1)
To continue reading
Request your trial