The Environment of Death and its Influence on Police Officers in the United States

Abstract

Exposure to the threat of death or to death events is acknowledged to be a factor in the manifestation of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Police officers in the United States are immersed in a professional and cultural environment replete with death. Given for consideration is the notion that inescapable, death-related stressors of wide variety and intensity, some of which are constructs of the police profession, contribute to the manifestation and maintenance of PTSD as well as traumatic grief reactions in American law enforcement officers. Personnel who continue police work while symptomatic may incur risks of reduced self-control, escalated use of force, and other inappropriate behavior due to irritability or outbursts of anger associated with PTSD. Because of the primacy of the element of death, those who are involved in the field of thanatology may hold the key to discovering and effecting palliative measures on behalf of this population.