Stress and the Police Officer: Some West Australian Evidence
| DOI | 10.1177/0032258X9306600307 |
| Published date | 01 July 1993 |
| Author | Geoffrey N. Soutar,Lawson K. Savery,John R. Weaver |
| Date | 01 July 1993 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
LAWSON K. SAVERY,· GEOFFREY N. SOUTAR· and
JOHN
R.
WEAVER··
*SchoolojManagement,CurtinUniversityojTechnology,
Perth,
Western
Australia;**Employee
Welfare
Manager,
Transperth,
Western
Australia
STRESS AND THE POLICE
OFFICER: SOME WEST
AUSTRALIAN EVIDENCE
Introduction
Stressappearstobetheinevitable priceofacareerina policeforce
(Barry,
1987;
Colwell,
1988).
IndeedSomodevilla
(1978,
p.21)suggested "that
a police officeris under stress and pressure, unequalled by any other
profession." TheVictorian Police
Surgeon
(Bush,
1985)
alsoarguedthat
police suffergreater stress than most other occupations, whileGreaves
(1987,
p.2115)
suggested that law enforcement was the second most
stressful career in Britain aftermining. Otherresearchers havenot been
as
emphatic,
although theydodescribe lawenforcementasoneofthe most
stressful occupations people can undertake (Norvell and
Belles,
1987,
p.57;Colwell,
1988,
p.11). Interestingly,
however,
someresearchers who
have made comparisons between police and otheroccupational groups
have found few or no differences
(Caplan,
et al,
1980;
Lester and
Gallagher,
1980;
Lesterand Mink,
1979).
Whatever therelativelevelof
stresspoliceexperience, clearly someofficers do sufferfrom excessive
stress,whichcanaffecttheirperformance at workandmayleadto illness,
incapacity or death.
It
is a fear that stress can incapacitate or kill that
concerns people.
Nevertheless, people needsome stress to act at optimal levels
(Levi,
1981,
p.29). Low stresscanbe as badas highstress. Low stressdoes not
lead to arousal while high stress creates too much arousal, leading to
anxiety.
However,
stressisanindividual perceptual phenomenon, arising
fromthe interaction of individuals with theirenvironment (Marshall and
Cooper, 1979,p.82). A situation whichis stressful to one person is not
necessarily stressful to another
(Walsh,
1975,
p.17;Carson,
1972,
p.18;
Matteson and Ivancevich,
1982,
p.770).
When an individual is under stress "excitatory chemicals enter the
bloodstream creating an increase in the energy source available to the
system"
(Manusa,
1979,
p.23).
Thisbuild-upisinappropriate in sedentary
work environments in which employees do not have ways to release
excessive physical energy.
If
apersonis underfrequent excessive stress,
thecontinuous physiological reaction may put the body underpressure,
leading to someform of stress-related illness.
The Effects of Stress
Researchers in Australia haveestimated thatstress-related illnesses cost
July 1993 The PoliceJournal 277
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