Chapter Six Flashcards
What is the Police culture of subculture?
A combination of shared norms, values, goals, career patterns, and lifestyle
What are the traits of the police culture/subculture?
- Clannishness
- Isolation from the public
- Secrecy
- Honor
- Loyalty
- Individuality
What is the ideal officer according to police subculture?
- Takes risks (honor)
- Is the first on scene to aid a fellow police officer (loyalty)
- Can handle any situation in their own way (individuality)
What are officers’ coping strategies?
- Humor
- Keeping emotional distance from stressful events
- Blue wall of silence: figurative protective barrier in which officers protect each other from outsiders
What is the police personality?
- Authoritarianism
- Suspicion
- Hostility
- Conservatism
- Cynicism
Learned by nature and socialization
What is police cynicism?
- No hope for the world
- View of humanity at its worst
What is the Dirty Harry Problem?
Moral dilemma faced by officers in which they may feel forced to take certain illegal actions to achieve a greater good
What is the Flight-or-Fight response?
Body’s reaction to highly stressful situations in which it prepares for extraordinary physical exertion
Cops fight, they can’t flee
What is the nature of stress in policing?
- External stress: Goes away as soon as incident is over
- Organizational stress: things cops can’t control
- Personal stress: not every cop will like you
- Operational stress: dealing with tragedies, though not seen everyday
what are the FACTORS causing stress in policing?
- Poor training and poor pay
- Substandard equipment
- Lack of opportunity
- Role conflict
- Exposure to brutality
- Fears about job competence and safety
- Lack of job satisfaction
- Fatigue
What are the EFFECTS of stress on police officers?
- Cynicism and suspiciousness
- Emotional detachment from daily life
- Reduced efficiency
- Absenteeism and early retirement
- Excessive aggressiveness
- Alcoholism or other substance abuse problems
- Marital or family problems
- Posttraumatic stress disorder
- Heart attacks, weight gain, ulcers, and other health problems
- suicide
What is the stress in police families?
- Family disruption due to rotating shifts
- Unpredictable work environment
- Job-related personal change and family relationships
- Community expectations and demands
- Intrusion into family life
What are the ways police departments deal with stress?
- Stress management programs
- Physical fitness
- Mental health counseling
- Support groups and EAPs
- Placing people in command who are highly supportive of officers
- Paying close attention to officers’ reactions after incidents
What are some facts related to police suicides?
- The rate is three times that of general population
- Officers refrain from seeking help
- Issue should be addressed with coping strategies
- Supervisors must be alert
What is police danger?
- Regularly responding to people shooting, stabbing, and beating each other
- Unknown disturbances calls
- Violence associated with drug business
- Risks of exposure to dangerous chemicals
