STRESS IN POLICE WORK

Stress in police work is directly associated with the psychological concept of stress. In any individual life, or in any organizational environment, stress may produce either positive or negative results. Thus, while excessive stress may be damaging to an organism, a complete absence of stress is not desirable, and the presence of moderate levels of stress may have beneficial effects (Selye, 1950). Viewed in this broader perspective, stress is "the nonspecific response of the body to any demand" (Selye, 1950, p. 472).

The expanded concept of stress contains three levels(1) the environment, (2) the organism's appraisal and evaluation of the environment, and (3) the organism's reaction to the environment (Woolfolk and Richardson, 1978). An organism appraises and evaluates the environment as threatening, helpful, or neutral. Responses on the part of an organism may be psychological, physiological, or both (Woolfolk and Richardson, 1978). This perception of stress is significant in several ways. One of the most important is the recognition

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ancis and Milburn, 1985). A separate class of stress research has emphasized the determination of how stressors develop in organizations, as opposed to the identification of additional stressors, or the assessment stressor quality or quantity (Parasuraman and Alutto, 1984). This research identified three groups of occupational stressor antecedents(1) contextual variables, (2) role variables, and (3) task variables (Parasuraman and Alutto, 1984). Contextual variables are associated with organizational subsystem; role variables are associated with job levels; and task variables are associated with autonomy, complexity, interdependence, rountinization, and closeness of supervision (Parasuraman are Alutto, 1984). This same body of research classified the occupational stressors which stemmed from the three antecedent groups into seven categories(1) interunit conflict, (2) technical problems, (3) efficiency problems, (4) role frustration, (5) staff shortages, (6) short lead times, and (7) excessive meetings (Parasuraman and Alutto, 1984). SPECIFIC STRESS EXPERIENCED IN POLICE WORK In almost any discussion of occupational stress, policework is cited as an example of a high pressure job (Iannone, 1987). Furth
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Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page)

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