Occupational Stress Paper Title Page:
The Most Stressful Occupation in America
Vanessa Dingillo
San Jose State University
According to “The Effects of Stress on Police Officers,” Dan Goldfarb states that Law Enforcement is one of the top rated professions for job related stress. It is the job of law enforcement officers to protect and serve the community. In the youth community police officers are often referred to as “pigs”. We often disrespect those who keep us safe and that are what makes their jobs so stressful. When police officers arrive on the scene of an event they must expect the worst. People do not understand that the job of an officer is to protect all people and keep the peace. Sometimes even on a daily routine disturbance call, cops are cussed at and disrespected just for breaking up what was a “party”, and are often welcomed by belligerent and sometimes violent people. In addition to being harassed consistently, police officers are expected to respond to any dangerous situation. They could be seriously injured or killed on a daily basis making their job as a police officer very risky and very stressful. The media has a biased view on police officers, and usually only tells selective stories to make them look bad. Some things that make the life of a police officer stressful are, having to kill someone in the line of duty, having your partner killed in the line of duty, lack of support by the department/bosses, absence of family, or having to notify the family of a deceased individual. Can you imagine sitting down with parents of a deceased child, having to give them the worst news that they could ever imagine? Imagine the look on their faces as they realize that their child is dead and that they will never hold them or speak to them again? Every police officer has probably encountered one of these terrible tragedies and can relate to the stress that comes with it; for example my mom’s closest friend Lydia had a husband in law enforcement, and was killed in the line of duty five years ago. Lydia had a hard time coping with the death of her husband, and was overwhelmed with stress and depression. She has to raise their daughter on her own, and still till this day is trying to cope with the death of her husband. People who are not in law enforcement do not see the world from police officers prospective, and have to realize that the job of being a police officer comes with a lot of stressors. Some include chronic stress, obscure stressors, isolation, divorce, alcoholism, depression, and suicide to name a few. Clearly, being a police officer is very stressful. Emotionally, humans have a limit as to what they can take, but when emotionally overloaded, stress will begin to take a toll on the body. At first the body is trying to adjust and go back to normal. If the body can't do this, illnesses, both physically and psychologically can develop. According to Officer Duran, who I interviewed, officers will turn to the "bottle” (alcohol). She stated that alcohol abuse takes place in many departments and has seen many officers dealing with a lot of stress try to find an escape by drinking alcohol. This is not a very smart way to deal with stress. It is unhealthy and becomes a stressor. It can lead to health problems which are not just physical, but mental and emotional as well in a way that it's almost impossible to control your emotions and may lead to suicide. According to “Common Stress” the Law Enforcement Resource stated that “One study in Detroit concluded that almost all officers are intoxicated at the time they commit suicide; and in 1934 and 1960 police suicide rates were half that of the general population, and between 1980 to the present, suicide rates in some police departments are almost double of what it was.” Officer Duran from the Los Angeles Sheriff’s department stated that after being a police officer for 30 years,
