The Impacts of Police Work on Law Enforcement Families.

摘要

Research suggests police work has been found to have many negative impacts on a police officer's physical and psychological well being. There is less known about the impact that police work has on other members of law enforcement families. This qualitative research study conducted 15 semi-structured interviews of police officers, spouses, and adult children of officers to gain a broad perspective of how police work impacts different members of law enforcement families. Thematic analysis was used to detect the emerging themes within and across populations. It was found that the officer's schedule and work demands had the greatest impact across all three populations. The most significantly endorsed themes across populations that followed were a.) Fatigue in officers, b.) Undesirable behaviors and emotions off duty as a result of on duty experiences, c.) Support for officer's and spouses, and d.) Hypervigilance and protectiveness of officers off duty. The differences in how officers, spouses, and children experience these impacts are discussed. The results found suggest specific implications for departments to apply in order to decrease the impacts of police work on law enforcement family members including a.) Coordinating events that connect law enforcement family members to other law enforcement families, b.) Familiarizing children with the department and the officer's responsibilities, c.) Establishing peer support teams, formal means of recognition, and paid workout hours to officers, d.) Providing a forum for new spouses and officers to hear from and consult with experienced officers and spouses about effective strategies for scheduling and work demands, e.) Providing emergency childcare options for law enforcement families, and f.) Creating a support group for spouses to be educated on and discuss how to manage the impacts of police work on officers.