ArticlePDF Available

A Comparative Study on Perception of Prison Staff about Capacity Building and Safety of Prison Staff at Central Jail Jaipur and Jodhpur

September 2023
The Indian Police Journal 69(2):159-167

Authors:

Rashtriya Raksha University, Gujarat

The study deals with the Prison system which is currently going through a period of significant change in both operational tactics and recruiting structure. Some of the important questions are to find out what the issues of Prison staff are and how Prisons can be converted into safe and reformative places in true sense. This study explores the perception of Prison staff about their working environment. It focuses on the important issues of Prison system which requires to be taken care for a well maintained Prison premises. The Prison staff are the key persons in making the reformative and rehabilitative programs successful. Hence, it is imperative that they are themselves in a good state of mind, so that they deal with the Prisoners properly, which in turn will lead to the reformation of Prisoners. This study has made an attempt to understand the perception of Prison staff of Central Jail Jodhpur and Central Jail Jaipur on the two of the most pertinent and relevant issues related to Prison staff i.e. security and capacity building. The Prison staff were asked questions about various components of security like frisking, surveillance and discipline among Prisoners, etc. and also components of work environment infrastructure, stress level, communication with supervisors, grievance redressal system, etc. Suggestions were also asked regarding these issues, which they felt could improve their working environment.

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Volume 69 | Number 2 | ISSN 0537-2429 | April-June, 2022

JOURNAL

Bureau of Police Research & Development

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The Indian Police

Volume 69, Number 2 | ISSN 0537-2429, April-June, 2022

Vol. 69 No. 2 April-June, 2022

The Indian Police Journal

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Odisha

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Dr. B. Sandhya, IPS

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Shri S Rama Krishnan, IPS (Retd.)

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Shri M.P. Nathanael

IG (Retd.) CRPF, Arun Vihar

Dr. M.R. Ahmed

Former IG (Prison), A.P.

Shri Sai Manohar, IPS

IG (Vig.), MP Police

Shri Anup Kuruvilla John, IPS

DIGP-ATS, Ernakulam

Shri Abhishek Kumar Pandey

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Shri Santosh Mehra, IPS

DG, NHRC

Prof. Anil K. Saxena

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SVP NPA, Hyderabad

Prof. (Dr.) Arvind Verma

Professor, Dept. of Criminal Justice,

Indiana University, Bloomington, USA

Shri Rajiv Mohan

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Govt. of NCT of Delhi

Shri B.N. Chattoraj

Former Professor, Head & Dean (Academics),

LNJN NICFS, New Delhi

Dr. Minakshi Sinha

Reader, Faculty of Criminology, LNJN

NICFS, New Delhi

Dr. J.R. Gaur

Former Director, FSL, Shimla (H.P.)

Presently-Prof./Dir., School of Forensic Science

& Risk Management, Raksha University, Gujrat.

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AIIMS, New Delhi

Prof. Upneet Lalli

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Dr. Priyanka Vallabh

Asstt. Professor, Organizational Behavior Area,

MDI, Gurugram

Smt. B. Radhika, IPS

ADG, SSB

Dr. Jayesh K. Joseph

Criminologist, KEPA, Thrissur (Kerala)

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Volume 69, Number 2, ISSN 0537-2429

April - June, 2022

Editorial Board

Chief Patron

Sh. Balaji Srivastava, IPS

DG, BPR&D, MHA, GoI

New Delhi

Editor-in-chief

Smt. Anupama Nilekar Chandra, IPS

ADG, BPR&D, MHA, GoI

New Delhi

Managing Editor

Smt. Ruchika Rishi, IPS

IG (SPD & NPM)

BPR&D, MHA, GoI, New Delhi

Executive Editor

Sh. Shashi Kant Upadhyay

DIG/DD (SPD),

BPR&D, MHA, GoI, New Delhi

FOREWORD

Gender Equality is not only a fundamental human right but necessary for the prosperity

of peaceful world order. The principle of gender equality is enshrined in the Indian Constitution

in its Preamble, Fundamental Rights, Fundamental Duties and Directive Principles. The

Constitution not only grants equality to women but also empowers the State to adopt

measures of positive discrimination in favour of women for neutralizing the cumulative socio-

economic, educational, and political disadvantages faced by them.

Within the framework of a democratic polity, our laws, development policies, plans

and programmes have aimed at women’s advancement in different spheres. India has also

ratified various international conventions committing to secure equal rights for women.

Violence against women constitutes one of the most serious forms of human rights violation.

Unfortunately, violence/crimes against women remain endemic despite the laws and

legislations.

According to the NCRB report, the number of crimes against women grew from 56.5%

in 2020 to 64.5% in 2021, (incidents per 1 lakh population). Though the rising graph is a

matter of serious concern, it is also attributable to a better reporting system, as people

are becoming more aware, and more people are now coming forward to register cases.

It is heartening to note that considerable progress is being achieved in our Country on the

directives of the Government of India.

In his address to the Nation on India’s 75th year of Independence last year, Hon’ble

Prime Minister, Sh. Narendra Modi called for a “Change in the mentality” towards women and

asked citizens to fight misogyny.

Some of the articles in the present issue attempt to get into the psyche of the perpetrator/s

who commit such heinous crimes by understanding the reasons, socio-economic factors,

and motivations behind these offences. There is a need to explore the nature and reason

behind these crimes for their prevention as no country can ever truly flourish if it stifles the

potential of its women and deprives itself of the contributions of half its citizens.

(Balaji Srivastava)

Chief Patron

“Promoting Good Practices and Standards”

EDITORIAL

IPJ is a flagship publication of BPR&D dealing with subjects ranging from Policing,

Police Administration and Management, Correctional Administration and Prison

Management, forensics including digital evidence to sharing of good practices and

standards among the police forces among others. In its own limited way, IPJ seeks to

contemporize traditional policing wisdom with the tools of the day.

We have tried our level best to get the finest articles for an informational and educational

standpoint from the serving officers, the retired officers, prison officers, judicial members,

academicians, and other eminent personalities from law enforcement agencies.

The articles have covered a plethora of new and complex challenges for the forces to

tackle along with the help of technology along with the traditional way of policing.

As always, it is a pleasure to introduce the latest edition of the IPJ. Our eminent

contributors have authored several well researched articles on various subjects and I am

happy to introduce them.

The article “Policing-No Easy Feat: Factors Influencing Behavioural Outcomes of The

Law Enforcers” attempts to focus the behavioural outcomes of the Police officers and the

factors that may be the probable cause influencing such outcomes and suggests some

organisational level interventions for effective policing and officer wellness.

In the article “Operation Parivartan: Transformation of Lives from Illegal Liquor Traders

to Dignified Labours”, Tejaswi Satpute highlights how a positive campaign an bring out

a turnaround in the lives of people engaging in illegal business and helps them to start a

new life full of respect, dignity, pride, satisfaction and happiness.

The article “RPF Security Management System: All India Networking in RPF”, looks

into the role that the Railway Protection Force plays in supporting the core policing

functions of surveillance, patrolling and investigation.

“Promoting Good Practices and Standards”

In the article “A New Perspective on Sexual Murderers”, the authors have tried to

understand the patterns of the killing of victims of sexual violence by the offenders.

Dr. Parul Dixit’s article, “Unified Payment Interface Frauds In India”, tries to give an insight

into the critical analysis of the impact of cybercrimes on the e-banking platforms in our

nation and possible preventive techniques that can be adopted to reduce financial frauds.

The article “Coherent Elemental Etiology of Domestic Violence in India from

Gender Perspective”, explains the prevalence and correlates of domestic violence and

views it from a gender-legal perspective.

The article “Woman Station House Officer (SHO) of Woman Police Station is Essential

for Fair Investigation of Woman Related Cases: A Case Study of Tonk District Police

Stations”, stresses on the need for all-women Police stations at district level for impartial

and effective delivery of justice.

Dr. Sonal Shankar’s article, “Untold Misery of Acid Attack Victims: Causes, Impact, Legal

Framework and Challenges”, dwells upon the need for stricter laws against acid attacks

and suggests workable and practical remedial suggestions to minimize victims’ suffering.

The article, “Spatial Pattern of Crimes in Haryana: A Geographical Analysis”, examines

crime incidences across districts for quick and effective prevention of crime.

The article, “Role Stress in Police: A Demographic Analysis of a North Indian Hilly

State”, aims to look into level of role stress and role stressors and recommended methods

to curtail have been made to manage high level of occupational role stress in Police

personnel.

Dr. Ingudam Yaipharemba Singh in his article, “Drugs, not Flowers, are booming in

Manipur’s Borderlands”, delves into the reasons why drug trafficking is on the rise and

steps needed to be taken by the authorities to curb this menace.

In the article “Perceptions of Police on Sexual Victimization of Female Students of

Higher Education Institution: A Study among Three Districts of Rajasthan”, the authors

have tried to address various perceptions of the Police on the sexual victimization of

students of Higher Education Institutions and the effect it has on reporting of such cases.

The article “A Comparative Study on Perception of Prison Staff about Capacity Building

and Safety of Prison Staff at Central Jail Jaipur and Jodhpur”, attempts to understand the

perception of the Prison staff towards security and capacity building.

I wish this publication will be useful to all stakeholders who aspire to bolster the

functioning of the Police forces. I wish we will get your support in the future as well. Your

invaluable suggestions are always solicited.

Anupama Nilekar Chandra, ADG

Editor-in-chief

S.No. Title of the Article Page No.

Policing-No Easy Feat: Factors Influencing Behavioural

Outcomes of The Law Enforcers

Prof. (Dr.) Vibhuti Gupta & Dhruva Kant Thakur, IPS

Operation Parivartan: Transformation of Lives from Illegal Liquor

Traders to Dignified Labours

Tejaswi Satpute, IPS

3. RPF Security Management System: All India Networking in RPF

Praveen Chandra Sinha, IPS 33

4. A New Perspective on Sexual Murderers

Pankaj Choubey & Prof. (Dr.) Mamta Patel 46

5. Unified Payment Interface Frauds in India

Dr. Parul Dixit 55

Coherent Elemental Etiology of Domestic Violence in India from

Gender Perspective

Dr. Ramesh Chandra Nayak

Woman Station House Officer (SHO) of Woman Police Station is

Essential for Fair Investigation of Woman Related Cases: A Case

Study of Tonk District Police Stations

S. Parimala, IPS

Untold Misery of Acid Attack Victims: Causes, Impact, Legal

Framework and Challenges

Dr. Sonal Shankar

9. Spatial Pattern of Crimes in Haryana: A Geographical Analysis

Sachin Kumar 106

10.

Role Stress in Police: A Demographic Analysis of a North Indian

Hilly State

Stuti Jalan & Prof. (Dr.) S.L. Kaushal

121

11. Drugs, not Flowers, are booming in Manipur’s Borderlands

Dr. Ingudam Yaipharemba Singh 133

12.

Perceptions of Police on Sexual Victimization of Female Students

of Higher Education Institution: A Study among Three Districts of

Rajasthan

Laksheeta Choudhary & Dr. Rufus D.

144

13.

A Comparative Study on Perception of Prison Staff about

Capacity Building and Safety of Prison Staff at Central Jail Jaipur

and Jodhpur

Jayesh Kumar & Dr. Swikar Lama

159

Contents

April - June 2022

Policing-No Easy Feat:

Factors Inuencing

Behavioural Outcomes

of The Law Enforcers

Prof. (Dr.) Vibhuti Gupta*

Dhruva Kant Thakur, IPS**

Author’s Introduction:

* Associate Professor (OB and HRM), IILM Academy of Higher Learning, Lucknow.

** Commissioner of Police, Lucknow.

Abstract

The Police job, across the ranks and file is one of the most challenging

and stressful occupations around the world. The stress and challenges

have multiplied manifold for the Police officers due to the technological

advancements, advanced crime techniques, well equipped criminals,

non-habitual offenders, internal systems and processes, constant public

and media scrutiny, negative feedback from several sources, and the

recent COVID-19 pandemic that has literally engulfed the entire world.

These stressors leave a significant negative impact on the physiological,

and psychological health of Police officers resulting into consequences,

sometimes which are detrimental not only for themselves, but for the Police

force, and the society as well. The paper, through extensive yet scientific

review of literature attempts to focus on an extremely narrow outcome viz the

behavioural outcomes of the Police officers and the factors that may be the

probable cause influencing such outcomes. The study is unique as exclusive

studies on behavioural outcomes have not been conducted, so far. Yet from

amongst the available literature in which such outcomes find some mention,

it can be concluded that a cumulative effect of several factors contributes to

the negative behavioural outcomes of the Police personnel.

KEYWORDS : Stress, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Behavioural

outcomes, Aggressive behaviour, Desk rage, Police officers, Intervention

strategies.

Introduction

Academics as well as the Police

organisations started taking cognisance

of the stress amongst Police officers

during the 1970s (Cole and Smith, 2004).

Studies on Police stress found that chronic

stress negatively impacts a Police officer’s

mental wellbeing, physiological health,

2April - June 2022

The Indian Police Journal

(backaches, headaches, ulcers, stomach-

aches, heart attacks) psychological health,

(depression, anxiety, flashbacks, and panic

attacks), professional life, personal life and

relationships as well (Burke, 1993,Finn

and Tomz, 1997, Wilson, et.al., 2001,

Gaab, et.al., 2003, Aldwin, 2007). Being

the first responders, it becomes essential

for them to be able to effectively manage

their stress since it is critical for their own

mental wellbeing as well as the society they

serve (Lester, et.al., 1984). High levels of

stress amongst Police officers may lead to

burnout, anxiety, substance abuse, marital

problems, depression, suicide (Cooper and

Davidson, 1987, Brandt, 1993, Janik and

Kravitz, 1994, Lennings, 1995, Kirkcaldy,

et. al., 1995, Violanti, 1995, Brown, et.al.,

1996, Biggam, et. al., 1997, Anshel, 2000)

and Police misconduct (Finn and Tomz,

1997, Amaranto, et.al., 2003). “Beneath

our Khaki, we are roasted brown, but

unconvinced, they wish to burn our Khaki

skin” was long back explained by a Police

officer himself, Keki N Daruwala in his

work Routine (Daruwala, 1971) in which it

was attempted to explain how challenging

events are considered just a routine job for

a Police officer. Besides, findings from a

host of empirical research studies on Police

officer’s stress are a testimony to the fact

that they face traumatic and stressful events

in their lives, like murders, threats to self,

family and friends, suicides, and accidents,

to name a few, sometimes as many as

three in six months (Patterson, 2001). Such

disturbing events develop post-traumatic

stress, which, if left unattended, may

conveniently convert into post-traumatic

stress disorder- PTSD (Komarovskaya et al.,

2011, Papazoglou, 2012).

PTSD is a kind of mental health condition,

which gets activated due to either

experiencing and/or witnessing traumatic

events. PTSD may occur in the form of

flashbacks of the past traumatic event,

nightmares, uncontrollable thoughts,

depression, and anxiety (American

Psychiatric Association, 2013), may

negatively impact work and relationships as

well as interfere with the normal life.

There are broadly four categories of

PTSD symptoms, viz intrusive memories

(like recurrent memories, flashbacks,

and nightmares of the traumatic event),

avoidance (like avoidance of thinking about

the traumatic event, avoid visiting places

that reminds of the traumatic event or avoid

discussing about it), negative changes in

thinking and mood (thinking negatively

about self and others, hopelessness, feeling

of detachment, difficulty in feeling positive

emotions) and fluctuations in emotional and

physical reactions which are also termed as

arousal symptoms (like indulging into self-

destructive behaviour such as excessive

alcohol consumption, facing trouble

in sleeping, becoming irritable, having

episodes of angry outbursts, aggressive

behaviour, and experiencing overwhelming

guilt) (American Psychiatric Association,

2013, Krieger, 2017, Hall-Flavin, 2018,

Raskind, 2018).

Since Police officers are more than

often exposed to such traumatic events,

they become more vulnerable to PTSD,

which may leave a considerable negative

impact on their physiological health (like

April - June 2022

Policing-No Easy Feat: Factors Inﬂuencing Behavioural Outcomes of The Law Enforcers

persistent pain, cardio-respiratory, and

gastro-intestinal symptoms), psychological

health(like depression, anxiety, suicidal

ideation, and suicides) (Javidi and

Yadollahie, 2012, Pacella, et. al., 2013) and

behavioural outcomes (like anger outburst,

irritability, indulging into violence and/or

abusive practices which may be in the form

of verbal abuse, and misbehaviour with the

people), and may later get complicated

by the mixed emotions of shame and

guilt(Henning and Frueh, 1997, Lee, et. al.,

2001, Owens, et. al., 2009, Komarovskaya

et al., 2011, Jordan et. al., 2017).

The recent COVID-19 pandemic has acted

as fuel to fire where they had to face

backlash for the pandemic related laws that

they never made, but were made party to as

implementers or law enforcers. The Police

personnel were expected to maintain social

distancing, control unruly public on the

streets, ensure COVID-19 related protocols

like wearing of masks, in addition to their

regular law and order duties. They are more

affected by the pandemic than the normal

public since they must ensure law and order

in addition to the following of protocols that

have surfaced due to the unprecedented

challenge of the pandemic, and the fear of

themselves being infected as well. Many

a times they had to stay away from their

families after being affected by the virus

while attending to the call of duty.

Challenging occupational demands

contribute to the Police officer’s physiological

and psychological well-being. However,

research studies on behavioural outcomes

of Police officers are very limited, except

for a few studies that were conducted for

PTSD on Vietnam War veterans. One such

study on them found that the single largest

independent predictor of PTSD symptoms

amongst them was if they engaged in any

acts like “harm to civilians or prisoners”

(Dohrenwend, et. al., 2013) while other

studies examined violent behaviour, alcohol

abuse, and relationship issues (Maguen

et al., 2009, 2010). Studies on behavioural

outcomes on war veterans have found that

interventions may help the mental wellbeing

of the Police officers, thus lowering the

negative impact of PTSD (Dohrenwend et

al., 2013).

Objectives

Being the first responders, the Police

officers witness serious crimes, they barely

get adequate sleep and rest, are the face of

the government on streets and hence held

accountable, the Police personnel remain

under constant public and media scrutiny,

therefore, most of the times face severe

criticisms as well, sometimes for situations

beyond their control.

Such factors, cumulatively, contribute to

negatively impacting their psychological

health, physiological health, behaviour, and

their mental well-being.

The authors, therefore, attempt to scan the

available literature from across a wide range

of Police studies, globally, to find out if such

incidences have any significant impact,

specifically on their behavioural outcomes,

in addition to other well documented factors.

Need of the study

The authors of this study have focussed

on a very fine aspect of stress induced

4April - June 2022

The Indian Police Journal

outcomes, viz, the behavioural outcomes

of Police officers. The authors noticed that

the research studies majorly focus on the

psychological and physiological outcomes

of stress, however, a very limited number

of studies have focused on behavioural

outcomes as well, along with physiological

and psychological health outcomes.

Behaviour is an important aspect of a

Police officer’s life, since the stress induced

behavioural outcomes not only has an

impact on the officers themselves but also

negatively contributes tarnishing the Police

public relations, in addition to spoiling the

Police image and public perception for

the Police. The authors thus found it an

unexplored yet promising area of research.

Behaviour, Organisational Citizenship

Behaviour, Deviant Workplace

Behaviour and Workplace Aggression

Behaviour is, according to the Cambridge

Dictionary, “the way that someone or

something behaves in a particular situation”.

According to Webster’s Dictionary, behaviour

is “anything that an organism does involving

action and response to stimulation”.

Behaviour may have several forms and

may occur between various categories of

individuals, however, here the focus will be

only on organisation specific behaviour,

which is how one conducts oneself in an

organisation, with the people inside as well

as with those who come in direct contact

with the people in the organisation. In

this study, it is the Police department, the

Police officers, and the society at large

who come in direct contact with each

other. Organisations promote organisation

citizenship behaviour in the interest of the

organisation and the key stakeholders.

Organisation Citizenship Behaviour (OCB)

is a kind of behaviour in which the people

put in extra efforts in the interest of their

organisation. The OCB is of two types: OCB

Individual (OCB-I) and OCB Organisational

(OCB-O). Under OCB-I, an individual

extends a helping hand, support to other

employees of the organisation, beyond his/

her area of work, while under OCB-O, it is

directed towards the organisation itself, i.e.,

by going beyond what is expected from

an employee. {Greenberg, 2011, pp 185}.

Such behaviours leave a positive impact

on the overall growth and performance of

the organisation. However, the opposite of

it, is the counter productive work behaviour

and the deviant workplace behaviour which

means acts of any employee that violate

the norms of the organisation or society

thus resulting into negative consequences

(Greenberg, 2011, pp 426). Taken as an

organisation for effective management of

law and order, the Police department has its

own sets of challenges with respect to OCB

and deviant workplace behaviours. There

are several examples that demonstrate

that the Police officers, across the globe,

during the pandemic, COVID-19, went

beyond their regular duty of policing

and extended help and support to the

society in an unprecedented manner thus

displaying OCB-O behaviours, however,

there are instances as well, when the acts

of some Police officers became a point of

discussion amongst the masses, media

and the intellectual class for their display

of some deviant workplace behaviours. In

a recent incident, a BSF Head Constable

shot his colleague dead and then shot

April - June 2022

Policing-No Easy Feat: Factors Inﬂuencing Behavioural Outcomes of The Law Enforcers

himself in Kolkata (Hindustan Times, Mar

7, 2022). Deviant workplace behaviours

(Greenberg, 2011, pp. 431, Baron, 2004,

pp. 23-61) maybe in the form of workplace

aggression which involves mild to severe

verbal and/or physical abuse directed

towards others. Such acts of Police officers

get much attention and space in both print

and electronic media, thus damaging the

reputation of the entire Police force.

Workplace aggression may be broadly

categorised into three categories: incivility,

obstructionism and overt aggression.

Incivility means verbally or symbolically

exhibiting lack of respect to others or

denying them the respect they deserve.

Obstructionism means deliberately

obstructing someone’s work, while overt

aggression also known as workplace

violence means threatening for physical

violence, getting into physical violence and

direct verbal abuse. Organisational studies,

(not specifically Police studies) have found

that aggression is directly influenced by the

level of aggression that an individual faces

in his/her work setting. (Glomb, et. al., 2003,

Dietz, et. al., 2003) i.e., if the individuals

work in an environment where aggression

is widespread, they too are likely to behave

in a similar manner; the work environment

or culture may act as a trigger to behave

aggressively as well. Research studies have

identified that certain kinds of jobs may be

responsible for aggressive behaviour and

hence those working in such jobs may

become victims of aggression (Greenberg,

2011 pp. 433) thus displaying aggressive

behaviour. To understand if any relationship

exists between job characteristics and

experiencing aggression or violence, a

study was conducted on a wider cohort of

employees, and it was found that people

may likely indulge into aggressive behaviour

or resort to violence if their jobs so demand.

(LeBlanc, 2002). Police officers were one of

the categories of respondents in this study.

Stress, Stressors, Strain and Burnout

In addition to the job characteristics,

research studies have identified stress

as an important contributor for negative

behavioural outcomes amongst various

categories of respondents. According to a

study (Goldin, 2003, Bolles, 2010), 90 per

cent of American working professionals

experience stress at some point of time

and atleast once a week. Stress has been

defined as, “the pattern of emotional

and physiological reactions occurring in

response to demands from within or outside

organizations.” (Greenberg, 2011, pp 436).

Stress may be of various forms like acute

stress, episodic stress, and chronic stress.

With each category of stress, the degree and

duration vary. Acute stressors may be brief,

whereas episodic stressors may occur for an

intermediate period, while chronic stressors

may be long in duration. Factors that are

responsible for bringing in some random

changes requiring people to adjust to them

quickly are termed as acute stressors. They

pose as a physiological or psychological

threat thus resulting into either feeling tired

(impacting physiologically) or being irritable

(impacting psychologically). Episodic

stressors occur because of intermittently

facing several stressors that are acute in

nature. Most severe in the category are the

chronic stressors since they are persistent

6April - June 2022

The Indian Police Journal

and unrelenting. These stressors are

detrimental to the mind, body and spirit of

the individual experiencing it. Unaddressed

stress leads to PTSD which has

detrimental psychological, physiological,

and behavioural consequences, which may

occur alone or in combination as well. It is

explained in a tabular format:

Table 1, Source: Quick et al., 2008

Physiological

Consequences

Behavioural

Consequences

Psychological

Consequences

Lung disease Appetite

disorders

Depression

Headaches Violence Sleep

disturbances

Ulcers Drug and

alcohol abuse

Family conflict

Cancer Smoking

Backache and

arthritis

Accident

proneness

Heart disease

and stroke

Cirrhosis of the

liver

Diabetes

Physiological and Psychological

Response to Stressors

Stressors impact mind, spirit, and

body detrimentally. Upon repeatedly

experiencing stress, in any of the forms,

viz acute, episodic, or chronic, the body

responds accordingly. The sympathetic

nervous system and endocrine system

are activated upon encountering stressors

resulting into increased heart rate,

increased blood pressure and quick

respiration process. Such action while

activating some organs depletes other

organs of important resources for the said

duration. (Selye,1976). If such stressors

are frequent and many in numbers, they

severely damage the body, resulting into

some serious ailments like cardio-vascular

disease, gastro-intestinal disease, insomnia,

and depression. (Greenberg, 2011).These

bodily reactions to stressors that impact

normal functioning of essential organs are

termed as Strain. Burnout is yet another

factor associated with chronic stressors in

which a person feels physically, mentally,

and emotionally exhausted. Symptoms

like headache, nausea, sleeplessness etc.

occur because of physical exhaustion.

Symptoms like depression, feeling helpless

occur because of emotional exhaustion.

As a result of burnout, people may also

suffer from low self-esteem (Bakker et al.,

2000).Frequent exposure to stressors,

experiencing burn-out negatively impacts

behaviour, and psychological health as well

(Bakker et al., 2000) which gradually may

result into depersonalisation also known as

attitudinal exhaustion. Depersonalisation is a

psychological outcome of burnout in which

a person becomes sceptical, sarcastic, is

derogatory to others as well as to self, job,

organisation and life. (Bakker et al., 2000).

There may be several causes of stress like

occupational demands such as working

for long hours, irregular sleep, food and

rest patterns, organisational demands like

internal policies and procedures, imbalance

between work and family life, work overload,

information anxiety which occurs as a result

of lot of pressure on an individual to store

and process great amount of information,

while simultaneously adding new ones to it.

(Sullivan, 1992).

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Policing-No Easy Feat: Factors Inﬂuencing Behavioural Outcomes of The Law Enforcers

These stressors may leave adverse impact

in the form of lowered task performance

(Motowidlo, et. al., 1986, Cropanzano,

et. al., 2003), desk rage which is a

consequence of stress and has been

found quite prevalent in the organisations.

Desk rage means shouting out at others or

display of aggression or violent behaviour

directed towards someone due to stressful

events or situations at job like working for

extended hours or under difficult situations.

(Daw, 2001, Lorenz, 2004).

The factors that may contribute to negative

behavioural outcomes have been explained

with the help of a model.

Model No. 1: Negative Behavioural Outcomes due to Occupational Demands, Job

Characteristics and Deviant Workplace Behaviour

Review of Literature

Policing is no easy feat. Research supports

that it is one of the most stressful and mentally

taxing professions. A Police personnel is

always on duty (The Police Act, 1861), has

to work for long hours, sometimes in shifts,

majorly works for twenty four hours a day

and seven days a week, is the first responder

and hence witnesses heinous crimes,

violence, gruesome murders, experiences

threat to self, family and significant others,

remains hyper-vigilant, is under constant

media and public watch, has to deal with

social media- a recent development, and the

unprecedented pandemic challenge, which

cumulatively adds to the chronic stress of

Police officers (Terrill, et. al., 2003, Paoline,

2003, Hartley, et. al., 2011, McCraty and

8April - June 2022

The Indian Police Journal

Atkinson, 2012). Such experiences, work

environment, and exposure to traumatic

events adversely impact the mental health

of Police officers (Hartley et al., 2011), and

in the event of them being ignored may

convert into post-traumatic stress disorder

(PTSD, (Brown and Campbell, 1990, Crank

and Caldero, 1991, Collins and Gibbs, 2003,

Marmar et al., 2006), which might adversely

impact physiological health, psychological

health, and behavioural outcomes. In one

such incident, addressing an appeal of an

Assistant Commandant of CRPF in which

disciplinary proceedings were initiated

against him for using unparliamentary

language, the Supreme Court observed

that disciplinary action against people with

mental disabilities is a facet of indirect

discrimination. The Hon’ble Court set aside

the inquiry proceedings against him over

charge of misconduct. (Ravinder Kumar

Dhariwal vs. Union of India, Deccan Herald,

Dec 17, 2021). In a study conducted by the

University of Cambridge, in which more than

16,000 serving Police officers responded,

it was found that they suffer from simple

PTSD to complex PTSD which was five

times higher than normal UK population.

(University of Cambridge Study, 2019), thus

severely impacting mental health of the

Police officers.

PTSD also adds to the all static load which

is the physiological burden experienced by

an individual in response to adjusting to the

external challenges. Since the Police officers

are trained in a typical manner, they do not

openly express their feelings and silently

suffer, face relationship issues, at times

misuse alcohol, experience suicide ideation

and commit suicide, as well (Richmond, et.

al., 1999, Rees and Smith, 2008, Wang et

al., 2010, Menard and Arter, 2013).

After extensive review of literature, the

authors found that there is a dearth of

such studies that cater specifically to the

behavioural outcomes of the Police officers,

however, this aspect has found a mention

in a couple of studies. The behaviour and

attitudes of Police officers have also found

mention in some of the Police Commissions

and Committees that were set up from time

to time with respect to the Police Reforms

by the Government of India.

Research Methodology

The authors searched EBSCOhost DELNET,

NDL, Google Scholar and open sources

from which about 456 studies were identified

that dealt with Police misbehaviour. The

key words used were Police misbehaviour,

Police public interaction, rude behaviour

with public, behavioural outcomes of

Police personnel, reasons for behavioural

outcomes of Police personnel, aggressive

behaviour, etc. However, they all catered

majorly to Police misconduct, Police

atrocities, corruption, Police-politician

nexus, criminalisation of Police, politicisation

of Police, and many other forms of

misconduct. Hence all these studies were

dropped from the study as they did not meet

the search criteria which focused on finding

studies related to aggressive or rude or rash

or abusive behaviour, frustration, irritability,

guilt induced rash behaviour to name a

few. This would have happened due to the

lack of sophistication in understanding by

the search engines or because there is a

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Policing-No Easy Feat: Factors Inﬂuencing Behavioural Outcomes of The Law Enforcers

dearth of research in such a narrow aspect

like behavioural outcomes of the Police

personnel.

The authors then refined their search criteria

and searched studies specific to Police,

Police stress and outcomes, reasons for

behavioural outcomes of Police, Police

occupational stress, Police operational

stress, recommendations of National Police

Commissions on Police Behaviour, The

Indian Police Act, 1861, Police job, abusive

Police behaviour, Police mental well-being,

guilt factors amongst Police personnel etc.

The authors could not find a single study

that catered specifically to behavioural

outcomes of the Police personnel, or the

factors associated with such outcomes in the

search engines generated results, in terms

of related studies. The authors therefore

scanned the available literature through

extensive review of available literature and

conducted a meta-analysis. It was found

that though there is no dearth of literature

that cater to Police stress and psychological

as well as physiological outcomes, however,

with respect to behavioural outcomes, the

available literature just provides a slight hint,

but no full-fledged study, neither nationally

nor internationally, so far as the authors of

this study know.

Behavioural outcomes

Studies that focused on the behavioural

outcomes, as well, in addition to wider

research on stress and its psychological and

physiological outcomes enumerated several

behavioural outcomes like sick hours,

accidents, leave hours, disciplinary action

taken, alcohol consumption, injuries, and

self-ratings of work performance (Ackerley,

1986, Wilson, et al, 2001).Carlan and Nored

found that the Police officers were hesitant

to talk or discuss about stress as it has a

stigma associated with receiving a stress

counselling. Giga, et.al in their study found

that to manage stress amongst the Police

officers, different interventions are required

like those that cater specifically to the

organisational factors as well as those that

cater to the individual factors like attitudes

and behaviour. It was also found that the

Police officers find alcohol consumption

a part and parcel of the job, a way to deal

with stress and cope with their day-to-day

challenges (Richmond et al., 1999).

Few studies found that stress leaves a

negative impact on the Police officers,

which in addition to other wellbeing issues,

include behavioural outcomes, declined

job performance, negative self-ratings

and cigarette smoking (Sarason, et. al.,

1979, Richmond, et. al., 1999, Shipley and

Baranski, 2002).

As Police officers deal with the people at

large, their behavioural factors like rude

or rash behaviour with the people and

declined job performance are directly

correlated to their negative public image

and severely damages the overall face of

the Police amongst the masses. Lack of soft

skills while mediating or communicating

have often been identified and termed as a

barrier to effective policing.

With reference to India, the Government of

India had set up several Committees and

Commissions to recommend measures for

Police Reforms.

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The Indian Police Journal

The National Police Commission, 1977

was constituted to study, at national level,

the problems Police personnel face, make

a thorough review of the Police system

and address a wide range of aspects. The

Ribeiro Committee, 1998 was constituted to

review the implementation of the National

Police Commission recommendations.

The Padmanabhaiah Committee on Police

Reforms, 2000 was constituted to propose

structural changes in the Police so that they

may be prepared to take on the challenges

in the new millennium. The Malimath

Committee on Reforms in the Criminal

Justice System, 2000 was constituted

to suggest methods for upgrading the

Criminal Justice System. The task assigned

to MHA Committee, 2004 was to assess the

implementation status of recommendations

made by the various Commissions and

Committees. A Sub-committee was also

constituted to investigate the feasibility of

recommendations made by the previous

Committees and Commissions and an

Expert Committee to draft a New Model

Police Act, 2005 to replace the Police Act,

1861. (MHA Report).

The aspect of behaviour and attitude of

Police officers has found mention in the

reports of various Police Committees and

Commissions set up by the Government

of India to bring in Police Reforms. The

National Police Commission, 1977 stated,“it

is considered basic and fundamental that

every Police officer develops an attitude of

courtesy and consideration combined with

sympathy and understanding towards any

member of the public who comes to him

seeking help.” (National Police Commission,

1977, 41.09). The Ribeiro Committee in its

Second Report (March 1999) recommended,

“a qualitative change in the training being

imparted in Police training institutions is

imperative to improve performance and

behaviour of the Police” (The Ribeiro

Committee in its Second Report, March

1999). The Padmanabhaiah Committee on

Police Reforms 2000, in addition to other

factors like training, investigations etc., to

name a few, has also mentioned about the

Police officer’s behaviour. This Committee

has termed “the attitudes, behaviour and the

mind-set of Police” as a major weakness of

the Police force and thus has recommended

an altogether new approach to the training

component of the Police officers. This

Committee has recommended sub-dividing

training into two areas, “one that is basic,

motivational, value based, which enhances

discipline and communication skills. The

Committee recommended that the second

area of training should have as its objectives,

acquisition of specialised skills and

professional expertise and training in both

these areas together should achieve two

purposes, namely attitudinal transformation,

and development of skills”. The Committee

has dealt with Police behaviour at length by

devoting an entire chapter and expressed

that “Police behaviour, image, public

relations, and efficiency are interrelated

areas. Of these, Police behaviour is the most

vital parameter and has negative or positive

impact on the remaining three areas” (Para

4.4 [iv]). It has recommended, “a set of

well-defined positive duties, which can

be conveniently carried out by the Police,

should become a part of Police agenda so

as to give a positive image to the Police and

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Policing-No Easy Feat: Factors Inﬂuencing Behavioural Outcomes of The Law Enforcers

improving the Police behaviour.”

A thorough review of the reports and

recommendations of the Committees

and Commissions reveal that they

have recognised the tough conditions

and challenges under which the Police

officers’ function, the ever-increasing

public expectations and change in crime

trends, however, the psychological burden

the Police officers carry, the stress that

is identical to policing has not found

mention, thus leaving behind an important

component of recommendations and

associated welfare measures for the Police

officers. Studies have identified that stress

is responsible for negative impact on their

psychological health, physiological health,

and behavioural outcomes. An important

component of Police Reforms may be not

just identifying the symptoms but identifying

the root-cause of the problem, as well.

The Committee on the Model Police Act has

recommended measures for the welfare of

the Police officers. It emphasized the need

to have a professional Police ‘service’ in

a democratic society, which is efficient,

effective, responsive to the needs of the

people and accountable to the Rule of Law.

Besides focusing on functional autonomy,

encouraging professionalism, accountability

paramount, it also recommended improved

service conditions including streamlining

their working hours, one day off per week,

or compensatory benefits in the absence of

day off, formation of a Police Welfare Bureau

to take care of housing, health care, legal

facilities, and financial security for the next

of kin of those dying in service. Positive

steps in this direction may help contributing

officer mental as well as psychological well-

being.

Findings of the study

It has been found that there are various

factors that contribute to deviant workplace

behaviours of Police officers such as

workplace aggression, incivility, violence,

and obstructionism. It has also been

found that chronic stressors contribute to

negative behavioural outcomes in addition

to harming an individual physiologically

and psychologically. When a Police

officer is concerned, the studies, globally,

suggest that they function under constant

and chronic stress and quietly suffer the

consequences. In addition to their regular

policing duties which involve witnessing

heinous crimes, murders, violence, crime

affected sites, the Police personnel are

under strict media and public scrutiny

as well, where a small act becomes a big

news story. It was rightly said by Sir Robert

Peel, the founder of modern policing that

“Police is public, and public is Police”. Such

incidences negatively contribute to their

mental well-being. Findings from a study

on larger cohort of respondents including

employees from corporate, medicine and

Police suggest, the person may display

aggressive behaviour to the extent that their

jobs demand. It was found in the said study

that the employees may display workplace

aggression if the nature of their job is such.

A Police officer’s job indeed involves such

characteristics like aggression and violence.

The findings also suggest that we sometimes

need to shift our focus and find out the

root cause of the problem. An additional

12 April - June 2022

The Indian Police Journal

psychologically agonising factor may be

the colonial mind-set of the people about

the Police force. Due to the past and the

colonial set-up of the Police force, which was

the repressive arm of the government, the

society has developed a patterned thinking

where they are either afraid of Police or have

negative image associated with the Police,

whereas the Police of today and the future

is way different from their predecessors.

The modern Police force is more sensitive

towards the public. Such negative image

may also negatively contribute to the

psychological and behavioural outcomes

of the Police officers. The Padmanabhaiah

Committee recommended “the essence

of the mandate is to recommend a new

concept and structure for a Police force

for the new millennium, which is modern,

efficient, people friendly and which can elicit

public trust and cooperation in its work”.

Empirical studies suggest that mental

health interventions for the Police officers

may help mitigate physiological as well as

psychological health symptoms among

Police officers in addition to behavioural

outcomes against the people. Given the

conditions under which the Police officers

have to function and based on the socio-

cultural background of India, Gupta and

Kumar, in their study have recommended

Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction

(MBSR) program for the Police officers in

India. This program is successfully being

carried out for Police officers in the US with

positive outcome.

Recommendations and Suggestions

Several empirical studies have established

a causal relationship between stress, PTSD,

and their physiological and psychological

impact on a Police officer’s health. However,

there is a dearth of such studies with

respect to the behavioural outcomes of the

Police officers, in particular. Behavioural

studies support that occupational demands,

organisational demands, and chronic

stress significantly contribute to negative

behavioural outcomes like workplace

aggression, incivility, and violence.

Therefore, with the help of available theories

and empirical studies with large cohorts

of respondents from Police, a causal

relationship between stress, PTSD and

behavioural outcomes of Police officers

needs to be explored to find out if PTSD has

any impact on their behavioural outcomes.

Findings from such studies may help policy

formulation to help Police officers deal as

well as cope with stressful events. Findings

may become an important component of the

Police Reforms as well. It has been found

that various Committees and Commissions

on Police Reforms have also mentioned

about the behaviour modification of Police

officers. Training the Police officers to

deal with stress along with customised

intervention strategies that are tailor made

for the Police officers may be helpful as well.

The Padmanabhaiah Committee (2000),

focused on training the Police officers since

training plays an important role in the lives of

Police officers. In addition to physical fitness

and upgrading of skills to deal with the

advanced crime techniques, sophisticated

tools and technology, unprecedented

challenges, internal security, and organised

crime, they must also be trained to become

a mentally fit force, i.e. a force that has

Mind-fit cops (Gupta and Kumar, 2020).In

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Policing-No Easy Feat: Factors Inﬂuencing Behavioural Outcomes of The Law Enforcers

addition to trainings, timely interventions

are also required. There are various

interventions that can help in coping with

stress and PTSD. Research studies have

found that the law enforcement agencies,

globally, have identified various intervention

strategies to help Police officers manage

and cope with stress (Sewell, 1999; On

the Job Stress in Policing, 2000). Some of

the interventions that the law enforcement

agencies characteristically use are:

EMDR: eye movement desensitization

and reprocessing, a clinical method in

which quick lateral, back and forth eye

movement is to be done while focusing

on negative thoughts, debriefing which

means to talk in a supportive environment

to reduce the ill effects of a traumatic events

(Everly, Flannery, & Mitchell, 2000),physical

fitness, i.e. fitness programs meant to

enhance physical health thus improve

the ability to handle stress, meditation,

time management(Benson, 1975,Ellison,

1983), biofeedback which is yet another

realization method in which participants

are trained to regulate involuntary reactions

like heart rate, muscle tension, sweating,

etc., progressive muscle relaxation which

is a kind of relaxation in which the person

is made aware of the tenseness in muscles

with a message that this is momentary

and will relax quickly, support provided by

significant others like fellow officers, family

and friends also play an important role,

cognitive-behavioural coping strategies

which includes behavioural and emotional

coping methods to deal with stressful

events, positive self-talk, stress debriefing,

deep breathing, and CISM:critical incident

stress management(Webb and Smith,

1980, Ellison & Genz, 1983, Brandt, 1993,

Anderson, Swenson and Clay, 1995,

Carlier, et. al., 1998, Everly, Flannery, &

Mitchell, 2000, Wilson, et al, 2001, Shipley

and Baranski, 2002, Addis and Stephens,

2008,Chapin, et. al., 2008). The cognitive

coping strategies, amongst others, have

been widely studied as a coping strategy

that Police officers use to manage stress

and have been identified as an important

component in the stress-destress

relationship (Kirmeyer, and Diamond, 1985,

Graf, 1986, Fain and Mc Cormick, 1988,

Folkman & Lazarus, 1991, Violanti, 1992,

Evans et al., 1993, Patterson, 2003).

Hurrell (1995) identified that only training an

officer would not be successful unless it is

followed with proper intervention for stress

management and coping effectively. One

major step towards this can be sensitisation

of important stakeholders for the Police

personnel (Gupta and Kumar, in press) like

the public, media and the judiciary so that

they understand the taxing nature of Police

job. This can be an important step towards

stress management and mitigating the

harmful effects of stress.

In an effort to help the Police officers,

An Garda Síochána, the Police force of

the Republic of Ireland has launched an

app called KOPS-Keeping Our People

Supported. The app has been launched to

provide support to Garda officers on a range

of issues, round the clock, 24x7. (Gibbons,

2022).

The Police department in India may start

Employee Assistance Programs as well

as Stress Management Programs for the

Police officers. The Employee Assistance

14 April - June 2022

The Indian Police Journal

Programs have been introduced in the

corporates in the US and gradually at

other places. Under such programs, the

employees get assistance such as legal,

medical, alcohol abuse, substance abuse,

to name a few. The corporates outsource

such services to the service providers who

take proper care of their employees, thus

ensuring their physiological, psychological

as well as mental well-being. Such practices,

if adopted, may help the Police officers as

well. The Stress Management Programs

help employees with variety of techniques

like meditation and relaxation (Greenberg,

2011). In addition to EAPs, Stress

Management Programs, Wellness Programs

may also be introduced specifically for the

Police officers. Such wellness programs are

broad based and help maintaining healthy

lifestyle in addition to stress management

and reduction. An app on similar lines of

KOPS may as well be launched for the Police

officers in India. Efforts like these may prove

beneficial in addressing the mental health

challenges of the Police officers in India,

thus may help improving their behavioural

outcomes as well.

Conclusion

Workplace behaviour plays an important

role in an organisational life. The same

concept is applicable to the Police officers

as well. It is even more important to display

an acceptable behaviour when a Police

officer is concerned, since they largely deal

with public and a slight aggressive or violent

behaviour may leave a negative impact about

the Police force, not just the said officer.

Hence, planned intervention strategies are

required to be put in place to address the

concern of abusive or aggressive behaviour

by the Police officers in the larger interest

of the Police force and the society they

serve. This is an acceptable fact that when

policing is concerned, stress or challenging

occupational demands cannot be done

away with. However, systematic efforts may

be initiated to address these challenges so

that the ill effects of such challenges may

be reduced, if not vanished, altogether.

According to a study (Rotundo and Spector,

2011) a combination of environmental and

individual factors are responsible for the

behavioural outcomes of an employee.

Hence attempts need to be made to mitigate

harmful effects of such factors.

Discussion

Policing is a stressful profession is well

known. The Police officers have to work for

extended hours, are the first responders and

hence witness serious crimes, their work

schedule affects their circadian rhythms

since they do not get the sleep and rest that

a human being needs, being trained in a

certain manner, they don’t even share their

concerns with their near ones, sometimes

the close friends and family members even

fail to understand their situation, the heinous

crimes that they witness may leave a deep

impact on their mental health and they may

experience post-traumatic stress which if

not treated, may convert into post-traumatic

stress disorder, PTSD and negatively impact

their psychological health, physiological

health and also behavioural outcomes.

The authors, however, while attempting to

study just one component, the behavioural

outcomes due to occupational demands,

stress and PTSD found there is a dearth

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Policing-No Easy Feat: Factors Inﬂuencing Behavioural Outcomes of The Law Enforcers

of any full-fledged study devoted to this

aspect, though it has found mention along

with physiological and psychological health

outcomes of stress and PTSD in research

studies. With respect to behavioural

outcomes, the studies found that the Police

officers indulge into abusive behaviour,

excessive alcohol consumption, cigarette

smoking, violence, and use of excessive

force, to name a few, due to stress and

PTSD. However, behavioural studies

support that negative behavioural outcome

like desk rage, aggression, physical and

verbal violence, incivility, obstructionism,

verbal abuse, and derogatory remarks to

others may occur due to deviant workplace

behaviours, chronic stress, occupational

demands, and job characteristics. It was

also found during the review of literature that

the various Committees and Commission

constituted by the Government of India for

Police Reforms mention about the behaviour

and attitudes of the Police officers and that

they need to be corrected. Though, an

important component of their mental health

also needs consideration to ensure the Police

officers are not just trained to be physically

fit but also mentally fit (Gupta and Kumar,

2020).Attention needs to be focussed upon

their stress as well and hence one important

recommendation is that the Police stress

should be adequately addressed, and

intervention strategies worked out so that

they can manage stress and avoid stress

and PTSD induced problems which may be

in form of physiological or psychological or

behavioural outcomes.

Future Implications for the Police

Based on the findings of the study, timely

and effective intervention strategies may be

introduced to ensure mental well-being of

the Police officers.

Policy Implications

Based upon the findings of this study, it

might be recommended to establish some

centres for the Police personnel on the

lines of Employee Assistance Programs

as are in the corporate sector where the

employees visit and discuss their problems

with the relevant service provider. Such

centres have a Psychologist, an Advocate,

Doctors, Nurses, etc. The employee may

confidentially discuss any of their problems,

viz health, family, relationship issues, legal

advice etc. Intervention strategies through

Stress Management Programs also need to

be worked out to manage stress or cope with

PTSD. Such steps shall work in a positive

direction to ensure mental wellbeing of the

Police personnel across the ranks and files.

Limitations

The authors could not find research studies

catering specifically to the behavioural

outcome of the Police personnel. There were

a host of studies that catered to stress and

its physiological as well as psychological

outcomes, but none of the studies studied

about behavioural outcomes, specifically,

though some mention could be found in

a very limited number of research studies.

The authors could find lesser number of

overall studies with respect to Police in India

as compared to those of USA, UK, The

Netherlands, Italy, France, to name a few.

16 April - June 2022

The Indian Police Journal

Future Research

As mentioned above, since there is a dearth

of empirical studies that cater specifically

to the behavioural outcomes of the Police

personnel. Hence, there lies a huge scope

to take this research forward and find

out, empirically, why the Police personnel

behave, at times, the way they behave,

what are the factors that influence such

behaviour and establish a link between

behavioural theories with the behavioural

outcomes of the Police officers, specifically.

For the future research scholars, this study

might be a starting point to explore the

factors, empirically, that contribute to their

behavioural outcomes.

Funding

The authors did not receive funding for this

study.

Conflict of interest

There is no conflict of interest for the study.

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