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ALCOHOLISM IN LAW ENFORCEMENT.
Term Paper ID:29339
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Essay Subject:
Reviews scope of the problem.... More...
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6 Pages / 1350 Words
5 sources, 8 Citations,
APA Format
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Paper Abstract:
Review scope of the problem. Stressful situations experienced by police officers, and work stress. Stress factors such as exposure to personal violence, road traffic accidents, shootings, natural disasters. Organization and administration stress factors. Impact of life-style behaviors including excessive drinking, binge drinking. Suggested solutions to the problem. 1 Table.
Paper Introduction:
Alcoholism in Law Enforcement
This paper will examine alcoholism in law enforcement. A review of the scope of the problem, and what is being done to combat the problem will be included.
Scope of the Problem
Law enforcement officers (police officers) face traumatic incidents than can be life-threatening in nature and this results in work stress. Examples of these stressful situations include road traffic accidents, personal violence exposure, incidents of shooting, and natural disasters. Reactions to these stressful conditions include guilt, anxiety, irritability, aggression, apprehension, and a lack of motivation. Physical symptoms such as sleeplessness may also be present. These reactions may affect the service that police officers perform (Rivers, 1993).
Text of the Paper:
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Police department administration, organization, and size have alsobeen studied as stress factors for police officers. (1998) used a cross-sectional survey with a self-report questionnaire to obtain data from police officers. For example, reports show that police officers working in thecriminal detective branch show the highest levels of Type A behaviors toinclude aggressiveness, assertiveness, and dominant behaviors. Findings showed that 48% of themales and 4 % of the females reported that they consumed alcoholexcessively, with continuous hazardous or harmful consumption and bingedrinking. While studieswere lacking in number, in one study, 48% of the males and 4 % of thefemales reported that they consumed alcohol excessively, with continuoushazardous or harmful consumption and binge drinking. Sergeantsreport the highest combined stressor scores; these officers participate infront-line police duties as well as front-line supervision/managementduties. The experimental group receiveda health assessment and brief intervention. Police stress: does department size matter. The authors reported that policehave been shown to consume alcohol at levels that are hazardous andharmful. Brooks and Piquero (1998) studied the size of police departments andrelated stress levels and found that while size was a contributor toconditions, it was not significantly related to stress variables. Women tend to experience sexual harassment morethan men, which serves as an additional stressor. L., Wodak, A., Kehoe, L., & Heather, N. L. Two districts of the New South Wales Police Service in Sydneywere included in the controlled intervention trial study. Most of the police officersparticipated in the study (852; 89%). Both experimentaland control groups demonstrated significant increases in awareness ofalcohol policies within the workplace over time. Physicalsymptoms such as sleeplessness may also be present. Trafficofficers are shown to have the worst subjective reports regarding physicaland psychological health. In summary, the literature points out that police work is consideredvery stressful and studies show that this stress results in negative life-style behaviors which include increased alcohol consumption. Patrol assignment was related to increasedstress. For both groups, smokingdecreased significantly and women showed more symptoms of stress than men.While all participants became more aware of health risks due to poor life-style behaviors, only 2 % reported that they would ask for advice fromworkplace staff regarding alcohol consumption, 14% reported they would askfor help regarding smoking, and 61% reported that they would ask for adviceregarding stress. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 13(1/2), 9 -1 1.Richmond, R. Alternatively, more participation between leadership andworkers is shown to result in greater worker satisfaction. (1993). Richmond, Wodak, Kehoe, and Heather (1998) conducted astudy of the prevalence of five particular life-style behaviors in a policepopulation. Research report: How healthy are the police? Since alcohol in lawenforcement has been shown to be a problem, and only limited interventionshave been implemented and reported, adequate solutions are still needed. L., Kehoe, L., Hailstone, S., Wodak, A., & Uebel-Yan, M. This stress can result in specific life-style behaviors that includeexcessive drinking. Insteadthe environment was a stronger factor. Studies show that age may be a factor regarding stress but thatthis variable is convoluted with other factors such as career progression(Kirkcaldy, Brown, & Cooper, 1998). Quantitative and qualitative evaluations of brief interventions to change excessive drinking, smoking and stress in the police force. Theauthors concluded that most of the police officers studied had at least oneunhealthy behavior and 19% had three to five unhealthy behaviors. Reports have also shown that police are twice as likely to diefrom alcoholic liver disease. Advice and self-help materialswere provided and the intervention centered on the "Drinking Detectiveflipover" which was designed for the work-place. The demographics of occupational stress among police superintendents. Richmond et al. Previous studies of workplace conditions and life-style factors have shown that police have aprevalence of excessive alcohol consumption and other negative behaviors. W., & Piquero, N. Attitudes differaccording to the size of the police department and organization andadministration stress is considered one of the most problematic areas.Large police departments are described as bureaucratic and structured witha large social distance between the supervisors and the subordinates whichcontributes negatively to the relationships and to accountability.Effective links to and from the community also tend to be less in largedepartments. Alcoholism in Law Enforcement This paper will examine alcoholism in law enforcement. Regarding exercise, 21% of the men and 24% ofthe women reported that they did not exercise. Repeat surveysbefore and after the intervention were compared for experimental andcontrol groups. Symptoms of moderate tosevere stress were reported by 12% of the men and 15% of the women. Ofparticular concern was the high rates of reported excessive alcoholconsumption.Table 1Smoking and Alcohol Consumption Solutions to the Problem Richmond, Kehoe, Hailstone, Wodak, and Uebel-Yan (1999) reported on astudy which evaluated brief interventions designed to change drinking,smoking, and stress in the police force. In addition to the traumatic and stressful nature of the job,demographics present factors that have also been shown to affect stresslevels. Addiction, 94(1 ), 15 9-1521.Richmond, R. In general, qualitative findings revealed that employeesdistrusted their organization's advice regarding health issues. Older age was related to less stress,marital status influences stress, particularly for patrol officers, withmarriage related to increased stress related to human suffering and thecriminal justice system. Women senior policeofficers tend to use stress-coping techniques more than males. (1998). ReferencesBrooks, L. L. Health screening also included focus groups to obtainattitudes regarding the variables studied. A review ofthe scope of the problem, and what is being done to combat the problem willbe included. Findings were that of the 852 who completed the screening, alcoholconsumption was high at baseline and follow-up, particularly among men.Excessive drinkers along with those participants who reported moderate tosevere stress levels also reported more sick leave days. These reactions mayaffect the service that police officers perform (Rivers, 1993). (1999). The flipover includedillustrations and information regarding pros and cons of heavy drinking,health effects, comparisons of personal drinking levels with norms, andmethods for decreasing alcohol consumption. Addiction, 93(11), 1729-1737.Rivers, K. It wasconcluded that the brief interventions did not result in significantimprovements in the lifestyle factors, alcohol consumption, smoking, andstress, although the study itself did result in positive trends in alcoholconsumption for women and reductions in smoking for all (Richmond et al.,1999). The focus of this study was alcoholconsumption. Younger police reported greater amounts of excessive drinking.Some reported that they did not drink alcohol; 8% males, and 15% females.Of those studied, 27% of the males reported smoking and 32% of the femalesreported smoking (Table 1).Findings also showed that 46% of the men and 47% of the women reportedthemselves as overweight. (1998). Scope of the Problem Law enforcement officers (police officers) face traumatic incidentsthan can be life-threatening in nature and this results in work stress.Examples of these stressful situations include road traffic accidents,personal violence exposure, incidents of shooting, and natural disasters.Reactions to these stressful conditions include guilt, anxiety,irritability, aggression, apprehension, and a lack of motivation. Patrol officers fromlarge departments reported greater stress from: administration, personal,criminal justice system, public, demands, and danger worries, compared tothose in smaller departments. On the otherhand, the smaller police department faces the stress of insufficientmanpower, but tends to have more support from leaders and greaterconnections to community members (Brooks & Piquero, 1998). Life-style behaviors that are unhealthy have been shown toresult in increased morbidity and mortality. Employee Counseling Today, 5(1), 4-8. Policing, 21(4), 6 -61 .Kirkcaldy, B., Brown, J., & Cooper, C. The life-stylebehaviors studied included: alcohol consumption, cigarette smoking,exercise, weight, and stress symptoms. Traumatic stress: An occupational hazard. A survey of life-style factors. (1998). Specifically, officers from largepolice departments reported higher stress levels due to administrativestress, criminal justice system stress, and stress from personal demands,compared to those from small police departments. Participants were given abooklet and audio-cassette regarding information.
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