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POLICE SUBCULTURE AND POTENTIAL STRESS RISKS
Dane Subošić, Dr.Sc
The Academy of Criminalistic and Police Studies, Belgrade, Republic of Serbia
Slaviša Krstić, Dr.Sc
Ministry of Interior of the Republic of Serbia
Ivana Luknar
PhD student Faculty of Political Sciences
ABSTRACT
The purpose of this paper is to highlight the importance of occupational subculture
and the stressors involved in a pronounced occupational subculture. Policing is also
known for its physical and mental stressors that are, arguably, more numerous than in other
professions. The importance of the protective function of subculture needs to be taken into
account when attempting to deal with police stress. This study describes the prevention and
treatment programs that have unfortunately not been sufficiently utilized because of the
police culture. The paper reviews the potential risks caused by the exclusion of police
culture. It hypothesizes that those police -
(i.e. that they are not part of the subculture), would experience more occupational stress in
-
Key words: police, occupational subculture, stress, stress dealing mechanisms
1 INTRODUCTION
Police proffesion faces many challenges regarding not only its relation to social
circumstances, but also with respect to finding out the best solutions for the internal
weakness and ongoing problems. Stress is one of the crucial modern problems caused by
the nature of the job and the relationship between the people in this proffesion.
Police subculture and belonging to it is of great importance whether we observe a
person as an individual (social unit) or as a professional (social role). Traditionally, the
police were more interested in practical action and results than in innovations and
exploration of new techniques and methods. However, along with the social and
technological progress, the possibilities of the police profession are expanding and it is
necessary to adapt the police to new conditions and needs of modern society. This is the
defines stress as "strong, intense, negative experience, any significant change (positive or
329). This inability of effective and quick adaptation of thepolice to the modern
requirements may result in: stress, disregard of the procedure due to the lack of its
understanding, unclear role of the police in society, confusing police tactics, etc. On the
other hand, the police can contribute to the alleviation of the symptoms of stress of their
employees in different ways: using a strong and developed police subculture, motivatiing
and rewarding its employees adequately, as well as conducting a variety of appropriate
measures to mitigate the already known sources of stress in the police. It will primarily
contribute, in accordance with the capabilities, to create a "tailor-made" work environment
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for the people who work there, leading to a better functioning, performance and
development of the police profession in general.
The purpose of this paper is to point out the seriousness of stress and its effects on
everyday life and work of the police officers. The paper emphasizes the importance of the
professional police subculture, which in many ways can contain and mitigate the sources
of stress at the workplace. Hence, it is recommended to strengthen and develop the
professional police subculture, underlining the need to undertake certain activities in order
to prevent and solve the stress in the police profession.
2 STRESS IN THE POLICE PROFESSION
Lately, the issue of stress is becoming increasingly relevant in everyday life, but
also in professional life. Stress affects negatively the physical and mental health of the
police officers, their social life and the very organization which employs them suffers great
damage. Different people point out to different sources of stress. Stress disrupts the normal
flow of the working time.
Police profession is considered to be one of the most stressful [2] (pp. 375-400), as
policemen are exposed to unusual stress and trauma. Numerous authors have written about
police stress. For example, Patterson [3] (pp. 338-352) defines stress as an imbalance
between what is required of a policeman and what a policeman can offer.
Given that police officers are exposed to the most violent, antisocial and generally
bad elements of society [4] (pp. 43-62), the police profession contains many sources of
stress: 1. Physical conditions of work (field work in all weather conditions or inadequate
facilities, unventilated rooms, bad lighting, constant noise, etc. may be some of the sources
of stress in the workplace);
2. Job description (constant exposure to crime and criminal activity, a profession
that is a "lifestyle", shift work, frequent interruptions of the work or work monotony);
3. Interpersonal relations (petty disputes in the collective, intolerance, isolation of
individuals, unprofessional conduct, petty gossip during breaks, etc.);
4. Gaps in the work organization (unclear roles, incomplete instructions,
inadequate distribution of responsibilities among the staff, poor communication and poor
coordination among the organizational work units, etc.)
5. Inadequate reward (low wages, lack of praise or recognition, lack of feedback)
and many others. Many researchers have tried to present a complete and final list of
categories of stress sources in the police profession.
For example, Stratton [5] (pp. 443-470) lists four categories:
1. Stressors within the organization;
2. Stressors outside the organization (dealing with the modern professional
requirements and challenges, stressors related to the legal system and society's
expectations of police conduct [6] (pp. 338-352), disrespect of the public and the media
toward the police [7] (pp. 63-79) etc.);
3. Stressors arising from the nature of the work (includes events that are routinely
repeated in the police work and have the potential of causing psychological and physical
harm. First, referring to the use of force, making critical decisions, continuous exposure to
crime and criminal activities, frequent encounters with people in distress, death, etc. [8]
(pp. 123-135). Other authors [9] (pp. 338-352) report five main stressors related to the
nature of police work: physical assault on a police officer, killing a person while on duty,
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deaths of partners, working with abused children, pursuit, deprivation of another's life [10]
(pp. 535-547), a violent murder and horrific scenes of war crimes [11] (pp. 43-62);
4. Individual stressors (specific sources of stress for an individual, family
circumstances etc.).
Basically, all stressors occur within a specific organization, in this case the police
proffesion. Stressful events do not occur in isolation, but most commonly they are
associated and repeated several times, which leads to negative consequences. "The
common symptoms of stress can be divided into four groups:
1. Physical - fatigue, tiredness, headache, sleep disturbance, muscle pain and
stiffness (especially neck, shoulders and lumbar area, tachycardia, chest pain, abdominal
cramps and pain, nausea, tremors, cold hands/feet, warm or cold " waves");
2. Mental - lowering of concentration and memory, indecisiveness in making
decisions, confusion, loss of sense of humor;
3. Emotional - anxiety, nervousness, depression, anger, frustration, fear, anxiety,
irritability, impatience, low frustration tolerance;
4. Behavioral - walking nervously, fidgeting, nervous habits (nail biting, tapping
feet), increased food intake, intensification of smoking and drinking, crying, shouting and
yelling, blaming others, aggression, throwing things "[1] (p . 335).
Spielberger [12] made a survey of police stress and cited three key categories:
1. Administrative-business;
2. Lack of support;
3. Physical and psychological stress.
In view of the numerous methodological problems, various researchers conducted
several analyses of Spielberg's questionnaire. Thus, Martelli & Martelli [13] (pp. 443-470)
confirmed that the questionnaire constitutes a valid and reliable measure of the overall
stress of the police, particularly in the administrative and business, physical and
psychological stress categories. Some authors [14] (pp. 231-239) suggest that when
considering the sources of stress, the wider context, such as quality of life and social
disorder and crime rates in certain areas and settlements, must be taken into account. From
the above, we can see that the authors mainly state similar categories when talking about
police stress, which differ only in the number of categories of stress or in the names of the
very categories of stress.
During their daily activities, police officers enter into a special social relationship,
which involves upgrading of the personality with characteristics of the police profession
and its culture, while respecting the individual differences. At the same time, the existence
of a strong ethic code contributes to improved performance within the proffesion.
Therefore, the second part is dedicated to defining the professional police subculture.
3 PROFFESIONAL POLICE SUBCULTURE
Bearing in mind that there is very little literature on the topic of professional
culture of the police, it is necessary to point out the need for its consideration. Generally,
professional culture is a form of subculture. That is, it is the culture of a specific group of
people that is different or "stands out" from the culture of the wider community to which
the group belongs. With the help of professional subculture, the group experience is
concretized and transmitted. Therefore, subculture is: "One particular, relatively closed
segment of general culture, whose members share common beliefs, traditions and values,
and often the manner of dress, diet, behavior and moral norms" [15]. Considering the fact
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that professional associations belong to interest groups, hence professional subculture
belongs to a special kind of subculture.
Professional subculture strengthens and develops along with the development of
the profession. It helps to clearly define what is desirable and characteristic for the
members of the police profession. In this way, the culture completes and makes
professional subculture primarily refers to: "A certain system of values, attitudes and
beliefs in relation to the profession itself, clients, relations within the profession, as well as
to other community groups and social phenomena that have an impact on the profession"
[16 ] (p. 115), therefore, it is necessary for an individual to adopt that subculture to be able
to exercise his/her profession.
Bearing in mind that the basic elements of culture are: 1) values, 2) standards, 3)
beliefs and attitudes, 4) customs and rituals, 5) terminology and 6) symbols, we will look
at each of these elements in order to present the professional police subculture.
The values that are an integral part of the professional police subculture represent
an important source of motivation and guide employees to act towards achieving the
professional goals and achieving the desired state. Therefore, the ultimate values that relate
to the desired goal which the profession wants to achieve are equally important for the
professional cultures as instrumental values, which relate to the desired behavior nourished
and supported by the profession (such as diligence, teamwork, respect for rules and
authority, etc.). Robins and Kutler [17] (p. 112) state that the behavior of every person who
joins the organization with an already relatively established system of values is strongly
influenced by that system. Values are formed by joining a certain number of individual
social attitudes into a more general attitude toward a greater number of social phenomena.
That general attitude includes relations which are the content of the integrated attitude and
is upgraded by many new relations and attitudes. Therefore, the growth of man depends on
his/her environment. In other words, individual values are upgraded with collective values;
in this case, professional values.
Professional subculture implies certain norms of behavior. Norms serve to align
the individual behavior, in order to avoid a discrepancy in the performance of the
professional practice and to ensure harmony between the police and the community, which
behavior, or behavior in the work process. They can be written (codified moral norms,
legal and technical rules) and unwritten (undocumented moral norms). They convert the
values into forms of behavior "[18] (p. 191). For successful implementation of the
professional goals and development of the profession, it is important that standards are
firmly accepted. "If the group standards are firmly adopted by the members of the group, it
will be harder to change their attitudes. The firmness of group standards usually goes hand
in hand with the assessment of their justification. Those group standards and attitudes
whose justification is more confident will be insistently maintained and harder to change"
[19] (p. 378). Solid professional culture involves successfully accepted professional
standards.
Attitudes and beliefs are an important element of professional subculture because
the profession as a social group has an important role in forming and changing attitudes,
not only because it represents them, but also because it sanctions those who do not
manifest such views. There are three ways in which social groups can exercise its influence
in forming and changing attitudes: "1) The fact that it affects selection, filtering of
communications and information that will reach out to the members of the group; 2) The
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second way in which groups can exercise influence is emphasizing the group values and
the authenticity of communications and communicators which the group is prone to and
whom it trusts; 3) The third way of influence lies in the social support that the group
provides to maintain attitudes in accordance with the collective perception "[19] (p. 361).
Hence, the police will, like any other social form, work better if its members are better
adapted to their status and roles. Manning [20] (pp. 472-475) notes that a significant source
of stress within the police profession may be the individual autonomy at the disposal of the
police officers. Due to the nature of work, the police personnel who are engaged in the
"field" have the freedom, in particular, to take the initiative in the performance of their
official duties and tasks, which can be one of the factors of abuse and stress. Hence, more
intensive training is conducted within the police in order to reduce the stress of the police
officers. Although the internal objectives and functions of the police are mainly
independent of their environment, as Zhao & Thurman notice [21] (pp. 345-357), the
police organization has undergone changes in order to adapt to the expectations of
contemporary society. That is how a new model of police is developed - the police as a
service to the citizens. Lilley & Hinduja [22] (pp. 489-490) compared the modern and the
traditional police model and concluded that the modern model is considerably more
oriented to the community (as a police department, service), while the traditional model is
mainly oriented to law enforcement (the police as power). That had a huge effect and
shaped the modern professional police culture.
In accordance with the modern requirements of society, a more current police
training is the training related to the implementation of the principle of equality, anti-
discrimination policy on racial, ethnic and cultural grounds and beliefs that are consistent
with it. The rejection of the above principles and beliefs, as confirmed by numerous studies
[23] (p. 111), can be a significant source of stress at work. The constant and consistent
repetition of traditions and rituals (application of procedure), keeps the continuity of the
organization for a long time, even in adverse conditions. Traditions and rituals are also part
of the professional subculture. Traditions include preserving the tradition of the police
organization or its organizational units, as holidays, promotions, celebrations, mourning
and oath. Close-order drill, parade of units and similar activities of the police units
represent the typical rituals (element) of the police subculture, which contribute to the
identification of the police profession. Daily practice develops specific terms and jargon
which strengthens the affiliation to the police profession, shapes a culture in return and
facilitates communication in order to achieve better efficiency in achieving the
professional goals. Due to the specificity of the police profession, the collected and
systematized slang of the criminal structures is part of the police terminology. The police
profession is recognized throughout the world for its use of symbols, such as uniforms and
police badges. These are the basic elements that form the professional police subculture.
4 PROFESSIONAL POLICE SUBCULTURE– SOURCE OF STRESS OR
POSSIBILTY FOR OVERCOMING THE STRESS
What to do when a police officer is expelled from a professional subculture? It is
generally acknowledged that culture influences the development of personality, according
-206) so as it: "1) channels the individual in a certain direction;
2) performs symbolization, i.e. develops appropriate responses to standard signals; 3)
structures the perception; 4) leads the individual to perform the tasks specified by the
society - the roles, in terms of gender, age, occupation etc .; 5) the individual refers to the
society in terms of integration or conflict. "When an individual is being purged from the
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collective, then he/she is in a conflicted relationship with the professional community and
culture that he needs to belong to, because man is a social creature that behaves as an
autonomous individual, but also as a member of a particular society, or a social group.
Thus, the personality develops from "continuous process of assimilation and organization
of experience that an individual derives from interaction with the environment" [25] (p.
202). The police profession can also be viewed as a common platform built by an
individual who performs the role of a police officer. Due to the specificity of police work,
solidarity develops, however Bitner [26] (pp. 63-65) indicates that solidarity is incomplete,
because it simultaneously develops social isolation, which is men
(P. 117). This has the effect that divides the world into "us" (those who are within the
service) and "them" (those who are outside the police).
The attention on the police officers during the establishment of their work
relationships is focused on the evaluation of their behavior. This is achieved by an internal,
professional (self) control, which is also part of the subculture adopted through education,
training and performance of the police practices and it is more part of the pedagogical
(positive indoctrination) than educational work. Depending on whether the individual
behavior is mainly acceptable or unacceptable, it is stimulated or discouraged (sanctioned).
Control would be difficult to maintain providing that it is imposed only by force. Therefore
Beker [27] (p. 84) states that: "There are more subtle mechanisms that can fulfill the same
function. One of them works by influencing the way in which individuals perceive certain
procedures and the possibility of their undertaking. These attitudes are transmitted by
persons worthy of respect and are confirmed by experience. "
E. Rus-Ajani [28] (p. 13) notes that two models of behavior are developed through
the police culture: the preferred model of "good" and undesirable model of "bad" police
officer. Moreover, this way not only forms and distinguishes the desirable from the
undesirable behavior, but also through criticism and sanctions "you do not behave like us,"
it excludes the individuals from the police community. This alienation of certain police
officers strengthens the internal tensions which could further lead to their deviant behavior.
Hence, Horvat states: "Whatever has a negative impact on the process of work, must have
a negative impact on its result - self-realization. The man is unable to realize his human
potential. He is alienated"[29] (p. 103).
The constant exposure to stress can lead to a breakdown of the immune response,
which makes people who work in the police vulnerable and susceptible to the development
of secondary traumatization. Zhao and Ren [30] (pp. 535-547) conducted a study in which
they showed that the destructive coping mechanisms were the strongest predictors of stress
in police officers. Jackson & Maslah [31] (pp. 244-259) state that police officers often use
smoking, drinking, avoiding people (loss of social support) or engaging in activities that
draw away their attention from the problem, as a strategy for dealing with stress. Evans et
all [32] (pp. 246-258) state that police officers are dealing with their emotions by retreating
into themselves or becoming cynical, authoritarian and suspicious.
If a police officer is strongly identified with his/her professional role, accepted by
the collective and well adapted, then he/she develops positive coping mechanisms. Some
authors [33] (pp. 338-352) state: talking with colleagues, counseling and exercise [34] (pp.
215-226) are positive coping mechanisms.
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5 CONCLUSION
It is generally known that police profession is considered to be one of the most
stressful. Stressors themselves are not solely the cause of the ill effects of stress, but also
the non-adaptive coping mechanisms. An individual may be faced with stress in different
ways, including delinquency. Hence, there are both positive and negative coping
mechanisms. An important factor in coping with stress is the intensity and frequency of
exposure to stress. That is, it is important for a police officer to adapt to the professional
conditions and constant exposure to stress. If the reactions to the stressors involve
exclusively negative emotions, especially anger and frustration, then we talk about
delinquent adaptation. If the professional police subculture is strong and its elements are
firmly accepted, then the adaptation of the police officers to their professional role is
complete. This greatly helps the individual (police officer) to face the everyday sources of
stress in a productive way.
Using the professional subculture defines the acceptable and desirable behavior of
the members of the police profession. Therefore, it is necessary that during the training or
education of the young personnel in designated police institutions, special attention is paid
to fostering the professional police subculture. The clear message to the candidates - future
police officers that the police profession is also a special lifestyle also contributes to a
better selection of personnel and future functioning of the profession. Through the
professional police subculture, the desirable personality traits relevant to the profession are
developed and nurtured. It is therefore important to understand the importance of the
professional police subculture, especially in the area of dealing with everyday stress arising
from the police profession and the need for its development.
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