How Do Police Officers Cope with Stress? A Qualitative Study

Abstract

Earlier research on managing strain among police officers in South Africa is inadequate. Most studies conducted have centered on the predictors of stress and few have examined their coping mechanisms. The current study aimed to investigate the coping mechanisms used by law enforcement officers in dealing with stress. The study was conducted in one Province of South Africa. A qualitative approach using phenomenological research design was used to explore the mechanisms police officers used in handling stressful situations. The target population was police officers; purposive convenient sampling was used to select 12 police officers. The one-on-one semi-structured interviews were used to gather data. The data was gathered until saturation was reached; it was analyzed using the thematic analytical approach. The findings revealed support systems, religion, participation in sports, and substance abuse as strategies used by police officers to deal with stressful situations. The main limitation of the study is the geographical area, it focused on one out of five districts. However, the study findings have important implications for psychological intervention within the police service. The findings suggest the establishment of counseling services in each police station by the South African Police Service to avoid distributing therapists at the cluster level.