The Gendering of Stress  and Burnout in Modern Policing” by Kurtz|Legit essays

Posted: February 16th, 2023

must be 250 words 3 resources/citations (1 the article attached, the holy bible and one outside source)

After reading the article “Controlled Burn: The Gendering of Stress  and Burnout in Modern Policing” by Kurtz, focus on the results of this  article and discuss:

• Do you understand the results? Why or why not?
• What recommendations do you have for presenting the results of this research so that a police executive could use them?216

  Author’s Note: I would like to thank the Division of Women and Crime graduate student paper review- ers and committee for awarding an earlier version of this article honorable mention in 2005. I would also like to acknowledge the theoretical and practical guidance of Dr. L. Susan Williams and Dr. Dana Britton for the foundations of this article. Finally, I want to thank the editor and anonymous reviewers of Feminist Criminology for suggestions and criticisms that greatly improved the final version of this article. Please address correspondence to Don L. Kurtz, PhD, Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work, Kansas State University, 204 Waters Hall, Manhattan, KS 66506-4003; e-mail: dkurtzks@aol.com.

  Feminist Criminology Volume 3 Number 3 July 2008 216-238

  © 2008 Sage Publications 10.1177/1557085108321672

  http://fc.sagepub.com hosted at

  http://online.sagepub.com

  Controlled Burn The Gendering of Stress and Burnout in Modern Policing Don L. Kurtz Kansas State University

  Despite the interest in the interplay between subcultural attitudes, organizational structure, and high stress events, most research on police stress fails to address a fundamental concern—that of gender. In fact, the majority of research addressing officer stress fails to mention gender or concentrates on gender as a simple control variable. Data from the Police Stress and Domestic Violence in Police Families in Baltimore, Maryland, 1997-1999 study were analyzed to examine how gender affects stress and burnout in law enforcement. Findings indicate that stress and burnout by officers is embedded in the gender structure and process of policing and not simply a response to high stress events.

  Keywords: policing; stress; burnout; masculinity; gender and policing; social construc- tion of gender; gendered organization theory

  Asignificant body of research contends that policing is one of the most stressful professions in American society (Anderson, Litzenberger, & Plecas, 2002;

  Harpold & Feenster, 2002; Howard, Howard Donofrio, & Boles, 2004; Liberman et al., 2002; Lott, 1995). Officer stress is associated with a number of negative behaviors and psychological outcomes, including high rates of substance abuse, divorce, suicide, and violence (Harpold & Feenster, 2002; Lott, 1995; Violanti, 1996). Attempts to deal with officer stress and burnout generally focus on psycho- logical, physical, or psychiatric responses to critical incidents or high stress work environments (Anderson et al., 2002; Brooks & Piquero, 1998; Liberman et al., 2002; Loo, 2004; Mashburn, 1993; Purpura, 2001). Some scholars identify a sub- culture of policing through which selected behaviors and attitudes influence officers’ reactions to organizational and job related stress (Harpold & Feenster, 2002; Purpura, 2001). Despite interest in the interplay among subcultural attitudes, organizational

  Kurtz / The Gendering of Stress and Burnout in Modern Policing 217

  structure and high stress events, most research addressing officer stress fails to incor- porate gender issues. This research extends the current literature by addressing a fun- damental question: How does gender shape police stress and burnout?

  Literature Review

  Officer Stress and Burnout

  A number of factors directly associated with law enforcement are identified as sources of stress and burnout, including the nature of the job requirements, police organizational structure, and interactions with the public (Anderson et al., 2002; Harpold & Feenster, 2002; He, Zhao, & Archbold, 2002; Liberman et al., 2002). These areas are not mutually exclusive factors, and stress in one area likely aggra- vates anxiety in another (He et al., 2002).

  Police Stress and Burnout

  Research supports the idea that stress leads to a number of problems for both the individual employed in law enforcement and the policing agency as a whole (Anderson et al., 2002). A number of social scientists have drawn connections between stress and problems with health related issues including increased anxiety and alcohol use, hypertension, insomnia, migraine headaches, and heart disease (Harpold & Feenster, 2002; He et al., 2002; Liberman et al., 2002). Stress also results in bio-physical responses such as elevated heart rate, increased blood pres- sure, increased muscle tension, increased acid secretion (Anderson et al., 2002), and psychological concerns like burnout and fatigue (Harpold & Feenster, 2002). These responses may vary according to the officer’s assessment of the situational demands and his or her ability to deal with the circumstances (Anderson et al., 2002).

  Some research asserts that acute responses to stressful events, generally, are asso- ciated with critical incidents (Anderson et al., 2002; Liberman et al., 2002), which are situations when an officer witnesses or is confronted with the potential for seri- ous injury or death (Liberman et. al., 2002). Several work environment stressors are identified in the literature as critical incidents including shooting somebody in the line of duty, making a violent arrest, responding to a gruesome crime scene, or deal- ing with fatal accidents (He et al., 2002). Although police officers frequently face hostile citizens, life-threatening events rarely occur in policing (Hart, Wearing, & Headey, 1993). In fact, some research finds that danger is not a significant cause of daily stress among police officers (Hart et al., 1993); however, critical incident stress also may occur when officers perceive stress-inducing events as situations that are beyond their immediate control (Anderson et al., 2002).

  Whereas critical incidents can result in acute psychosocial stress that may cause any number of short-term behavioral or psychological difficulties, chronic stress

  builds over time and frequently is related to the work environment, the nature of interpersonal relationships, issues associated with organizational structures, and stressors inherent to the job requirements of policing (Anderson et al., 2002; He et al., 2002; Liberman et al., 2002; Weber & Leeper, 1998). Nonviolent work-related stressors include, shift work, overtime, negative time management, paperwork, and physical requirements such as walking patrols and carrying heavy equipment. Problems of this type are more likely to compound and create chronic stress. Chronic stress may not immediately overwhelm the officer’s coping ability, but over time it can result in negative consequences or overpower stress management skills (Anderson et al., 2002).

  One consequence of chronic stress is the psychological concept known as burnout. Although burnout and stress represent connected psychological concepts, some important distinctions are noted. Currently in the police stress literature, no universal term exists to describe stress or burnout (Liberman et al., 2002; Loo, 2004). Frequently, researchers conceive of stress as the reaction or response to neg- ative or emotionally challenging stimuli (Liberman et al., 2002). On the other hand, burnout can represent the cumulative influence of long-term stress and includes aspects of emotional exhaustion and depersonalization (Loo, 2004).

  Several aspects of police organizations are identified as sources of elevated stress and burnout. These factors include frustration with the criminal justice system, departmental politics and lack of departmental support, concerns with the promo- tional process, poor training (Anderson et al., 2002), and the bureaucratic nature of law enforcement (He et al., 2002). The size of the law enforcement agency may also influence the potential for stress and burnout. Most research on stress and burnout focuses on larger departments located in urban centers (Brooks & Piquero, 1998). Patrol officers from large departments generally have greater stress across a number of variables including organizational structure, administrative arenas, public demands, fear of danger, and interactions with other areas of the criminal justice system (Brooks & Piquero, 1998).

  Interpersonal relationships also have a significant influence on the development of stress and burnout. Interpersonal relationships refer to both personal relationships, like friends and family, and job-related relationships, such as patrol partners or shift supervisors. Family responsibilities may both enhance and mediate stress for officers depending on the nature of the interpersonal relationships. For example, some research shows that family support reduces stress for men/husbands (He et al., 2002). Work requirements, however, may directly conflict with obligations at home creating stress in both environments (Howard et al., 2004). Stress generated from conflicts between work and home also may exacerbate work-related pressures. Work–family conflicts can reduce job satisfaction and increase emotional exhaustion and burnout. This relationship may be more pronounced for female officers who are expected to maintain domestic roles as mothers, wives, and caregivers; however, this issue has not been the target of much empirical evaluation (He et al., 2002).

  218 Feminist Criminology

  Peers also are an important source of interpersonal support for police officers and provide context for understanding police behaviors (Brooks & Piquero, 1998; Violanti, 1997). Shared work experiences allow officers to develop a mutual under- standing of work stressors that can serve as a protective factor in terms of stress and burnout, although a significant amount of research has established that police peer relations also may become a source of hostility, stress, discrimination, and cynicism (Brown, 1998; Harpold & Feenster, 2002; S. Martin, 1994; Miller, Forest, & Jurik, 2003). As such, these relationships may indirectly increase rather than decrease l

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