among married or single (never married) persons (Totman, 1984). Conversely, however, other studies have also found that stress associated with an individual's job may cause negative outcomes such as divorce or other problems involving interpersonal relationships (Postman, 1984).
Stress experienced in police work is a form of occupational stress. Prior to the 1980s, stress was generally recognized as a major contributor to the onset of significant physical and mental health problems (Iannone, 1987). During the 1980s, stress began to be increasingly implicated in areas beyond the bounds of physical and mental health. In the organizational environment, as an example, stress has been implicated in the deterioration of performance efficiency by both managers and subordinates (Iannone, 1987). Stressors in organizational environments have been investigated within the context of occupational stress.
Two primary sources of occupational stress have been identified. The first source of these stressors is the job itself. The specific characteristics of a job are the source of what are called task related stressors (MacBride, 1984). These stressors involve role ambiguity, conflicting task demands, work overload or work under load, inadequate resource support, no provision for meaningful participation in decision making, and insecurity, among others (Francis and Milburn, 1985).
The second source of occupational stressors is the organizational environment itself (Tafoya, 1990). Stressors associated with the organizational environment are referred to as context related. Context related stressors are external to the tasks associated with a job (MacBride, 1984). Context related stressors typically develop as a result flawed organizational structures, ineffective organizational development, the inability of an individual to pursue successfully achievement goals within an organization, or some combination of all three (Fran...