Comparison of police stressors and negative psychosocial outcomes for officers in departments with and without community conflict directed toward them

Abstract

The present study offers a unique comparison of workplace stressors and negative psychosocial outcomes for police officers with and without community conflict directed toward their departments, using identical measures for each sample. Participants included 233 Turkish officers from Istanbul who were presently receiving community conflict targeting their department and 207 officers from the northeastern United States who were not experiencing such community conflict. The two samples differed in age, years of police service and household size, so these variables were used as covariates in ANCOVAs that compared the two samples for four police stressors (Critical Incidents, Departmental Politics, Daily Hassles, Work-Home Conflict) and three negative psychosocial outcomes (police partner conflict, romantic partner conflict, poor self-esteem). Results revealed that the Turkish officers reported less intense stressors from Critical Incidents than did the USA officers, perhaps because the atypical stressor of community conflict directed at their department reduced concerns about more typical Critical Incidents of police work (burglaries, car accidents, barricaded suspects). The impact of this community conflict may have also been evident in the increased Work-Home Conflict, increased police partner conflict and worse self-esteem reported by the Turkish police in comparison to the USA police. A limitation of the present study is that broader cultural differences between the Turkish and USA police samples could have explained differences in their stressors and negative outcomes. Future research could compare departments with and without community conflict, but matched for nationality, size and resources. Future research could also examine whether officer concerns associated with community conflict lead to reduced job performance and decisions to leave the police force.