Stress, Its Impact, And Coping Strategies Among Police Professionals: A Thematic Analysis

Abstract

As a law enforcement agency and a major part of the criminal justice system, police play a crucial role in creating a safe and secure environment in society. The work of police is not just to investigate crimes. The police face various challenges on a daily basis, such as threats from anti-social elements, witnessing traumatic incidents, negative criticism in the media, etc. during their work of investigating crimes and maintaining law and order in society. Police are doing hard-work to ensure the peace of society and help the people feel safe. But most of the time, public gets a negative image about police officers. Various studies have also shown that the psychological and physical well-being of police is not good enough. The extensive literature analysis on police professionals demonstrates that undefined long working hours, hierarchical and political pressures, lack of family time, society’s negative attitudes towards police are some of the factors which influence stress among police. Their stress can be due to professional, personal and social reasons. This stress among police is not only affecting their psychological health; but also, their physical health. It is clear that the timely and periodical care of mental and physical health of police professionals will help in get rid of their stress and also will help them become more productive. Hence, the authors worked on a theoretical study using the secondary data sources. The present paper identifies the factors influencing the stress among police professionals and its impact on them using thematic analysis method.  The study further suggests well-functioning coping strategies to reduce stress among police professionals and thus opens the door for further empirical research.