Lecture 2 part 2

Question 1

Categories of police stressors

Answer 1

• Occupational
• Organizational
• Criminal justice
• Public

Question 2

Occupational stressor

Answer 2

• Killing someone
• Fellow officer killed
• High speed chase

Question 3

Organizational stressor

Answer 3

• Inadequate support
• Excessive paper work
• Promotion competition

Question 4

Criminal justice stressor

Answer 4

• Lenient sentences
• Legal technicalities
• Defence lawyers

Question 5

Public stressor

Answer 5

• Public harassment
• Press accounts
• Quiet neighbours

Question 6

Most stressful situation

Answer 6

High demand and little control

Question 7

Acute stressor

Answer 7

• Very serious

- Short lived

Question 8

Chronic stressor

Answer 8

• Less serious

- Long lived

Question 9

Consequences of police stress

Answer 9

• Burnout
• Depression
• Alcohol abuse
• Turnover
• PTSD and suicide

Question 10

Selye’s 3 stage model (the GAS model)

Answer 10

• Alarm, intense arousal, body defences mobilized, fight or flight
• Resistance, body actively resists stress and attempted to adapt
• Exhaustion, Physical exhaustion and illness through inability to cope with demands

Question 11

Preventing and managing stress

Answer 11

• Informal support networks
• Physical fitness programs
• Professional counseling
• Family assistance programs
• Critical incident stress debriefings

Question 12

Resiliency training

Answer 12

• Training police officers to improve their ability to effectively adapt to stress and adversity
• Education about reactions to stress
• Training in stress reduction techniques
• Limited but favourable evidence in training

Question 13

Psychological debriefings

Answer 13

• Brief psychological oriented intervention delivered after distressing event
• Social support and venting of emotions
• Education about stress responses and coping mechanisms
• Mixed findings on efficacy, little or no effect on PTSD reduction

Question 14

Distress

Answer 14

Condition characterized as emotional upset and/or physical strain

Question 15

Eustress

Answer 15

Pleasurable stress

Question 16

Stress and work

Answer 16

Moderate stress associated with best work performance

Question 17

Stress moderators

Answer 17

• Experience
• Support
• Personality
• Coping strategies

Question 18

Prevention and management

Answer 18

• Prevention probably more important but less common
• Prevention consists of knowledge, relaxation exercises
• Management more common, but effectiveness varies
• Management consists of counseling, employee assistance, incident debriefing