Political Stress :: Papers

Political StressStress originally came from the Latin word strictus meaning strict. Stress causes mental or sensual tension or strain, which can deform a soulfulness. In a sense, stress causes a restrictive hold on the body and mind, which causes a person to act in ways that are out of the norm for them. Stress can be described as the force itself, meaning whatever is deliverance the force upon a person. Police work is real stressful due to the pressures of the job, and strict legal limitations.Many researchers have examined the basic stressors involved in policing. Violanti and Aron (1995) bank that there are two major categories mentioned by officers. These are organizational practices, and the inherent nature of police work (Spielberger, et al. 1981 Martelli et al. 1989 Violanti and Aron, 1995).Police stress has been examined by a variety of researchers, Evans et al. (1992) has reviewed a range of research studies on the police personality and coping. Most of the revie wed research argues that police officers change their coping strategies and behaviors overtime, with some of these changes actually bring to officers reported stress go acrosss and stress levels. In everyday work duties, police officers are involved in a number of activities that may be very stressful, and constant exposure to these stressful events possibly leads to a number of psychological and physical outcomes (Evans, et al. 1992). Chan and Grossman (1988) studied the immediate effects of stressors which have shown that subjects report higher levels of impuissance and feelings of lack of control, and greater psychological distress including depression, anxiety, confusion and overall mood disturbances when they are stressed (Chan and Grossman, 1988). In longer terms, individuals may experience changes in their personalities, which speculate alterations of their typical coping strategies (Skolnick, 1973 Singleton, 1977).In situations of extreme stress, officers may display th e symptoms usually associated with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) (Evans, et al. 1992). It is common for individuals who undergo a traumatic event to experience such emotional states such as fear, anxiety, guilt, depression, sadness, anger, and shock. Cognitive effects include difficulty with decision-making, concentration, and memory processes (Reiser and Geiger, 1984 Mitchell, 1988). More distressing symptoms of PTSD include nightmares, vivid flashbacks to the event, difficulties relating to others, dangerous or aggressive rages, and fear of losing control (Evans, 1991). Police officers also have a high rate of stress related illness.