PTSD

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in Police Officers

[Name of the Institute]

Abstract

Police officers of any county, community or country are regularly confronted with a number of life threatening experiences, with has a severe impact on their routine life. It is evident that such experiences has an adverse impact on the physical, psychological and social lives and causes a significant change in attitudes and behaviors. This paper will focus on Posttraumatic stress disorder in police officers. PTSD is not a new concept; it may be related to a number of stresses which may be related to personal, professional or emotional motives. On one hand we will focus on the implications of PTSD in police officers, on the other, we will assess the significance of PSTD in relation to the police brutality.

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in Police Officers

Introduction

Problem

Posttraumatic stress disorder in police officers could lead to police brutality.

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a common diagnostic reference between the courts and forensic psychologists, because it is a psychological disorder frequently associated with different kinds of victims of violence such as marital rape, kidnapping, terrorism, etc. But it may manifest as a common disorder among justice professionals experience violence vicariously (Theron, Moerdryk, Schlechter, O'Neill, 2006).

We must remember that PTSD is an anxiety disorder that arises after a person goes through a traumatic event that caused intense fear or have witnessed or know of a violent or tragic event. People who continue to manifest "reliving" the trauma in a period longer than three months of the event and its symptoms can persist for months or years later, with the risk of becoming violent people for himself or for others. This situation is especially dangerous if it is in professional or military police, because they are subjects carrying weapons and that it is precisely those who should ensure the protection and not present a potential danger to civilians (Delahanty, Koenen, Pole, Smith, 2010).

Hypothesis

Ho: High level of stress in police officers could lead to police brutality.

H1: High level of stress in police officers does not lead to police brutality.

Background and Literature Review

According to Rubin it is clear that the police work is full of stressful situations. The biggest stress factor for many police officers is an abundance of paperwork, which exceeds the volume of active work to restore public order. High stress causes this shift work and the uncertainty of what might happen during a shift. At the time, of financial hardship for these causes of stress is much worse because of incomplete and staffing required to operate the equipment. Situations in which lies the possibility of violence are in themselves stressful, especially increased stress, where the police cannot count on sufficient support due to lack of personnel, or where the police seriously overloaded (Rubin, 2006).

Moreover, the stress as a result of the police, according to some authors, is the cause of family conflict, alcoholism and suicide among police officers. Data to support such claims in different geographical regions is different. Nevertheless, these problems in some cases actually involve police ...