Professional Stress in Law Enforcement: Foreign and Domestic Research Experience

Abstract

The object of the study is professional stress, which is understood as a particular variant of the general adaptation syndrome, which is a functional state associated with the performance of professional activity, expressed in mental and physical reactions to stressful work situations that arise under the influence of emotionally negative and extreme factors. The subject of the study is the categories of professional stress analysis of Russian police officers. The purpose of the study is a comparative analysis of the experience of foreign and domestic studies of professional stress in law enforcement; identification of categories of analysis of professional stress on a sample of Russian police officers. In the empirical part, a content analysis of respondents' responses to a subjective description of professional stress situations is carried out. The main conclusions of the study are: 1. The topic of professional stress in the activities of law enforcement agencies has received quite a lot of attention in both foreign and domestic studies, but they are of a private detailed nature, comprehensive studies, there is no integration of results. 2. The efforts of foreign researchers are aimed at developing trainings and training programs for coping with stress and rehabilitation of both active and retired officers. Domestic researchers propose to introduce stress resistance trainings already in the process of training cadets and undergoing initial police training, which is quite appropriate. For current employees, domestic researchers suggest using general psychological tools for psychocorrection of stress, but it should be adapted to the specifics of the professional activities of police officers. 3. The conducted content analysis of Russian police officers' perceptions of professional situations that cause stress revealed 8 key units of analysis: competencies; work parameters; social interaction; working conditions and organization; threat to personal safety; imbalance; dissatisfaction; personal fears and worries. The high role of personal subjective perception of professional stress situations is illustrated. 4. Promising directions for further research of the topic are highlighted