Troubles mentaux courants et usage de la force dans la police : intérêts et enjeux

Abstract

This narrative literature review aims to articulate the interests and issues in investigating the potential links between the mental health of police officers and the use of force they may deploy during the course of their interventions. The first two sections delineate the definitions of the core concepts of police psychological health and the use of force, as well as their specific issues. The third addresses the issues underlying the study of potential relationships between these two fields. Due to the nature of their profession, police officers are at increased risk of developing mental health problems, which can be clinically significant and lead to several conditions known as common mental disorders (e.g., depression, post-traumatic stress, anxiety, burnout, substance abuse, suicidal ideation). Their etiology among police officers is related to three main risk factors: organizational, operational, and individual. Organizational and operational factors are considered to have a direct impact on the development of common mental disorders, while individual factors are more indirect. They are mostly related to the ability to manage stress or reinforce the effect of direct factors. While there is a voluminous amount of literature on the topic of risk factors relating to post-traumatic stress or burnout, there is a lack of evidence concerning depression, anxiety, suicidal ideation, or substance abuse among police officers. The mental health of police officers can have consequences on the missions they must carry out, including those involving the use of force. This concept is still relatively complex to define as it depends on both the legal framework and the policies and management practices within the police institution. The most widely accepted use-of-force theoretical model is the force continuum articulating escalation versus de-escalation of force and the degree of the officer's force and the offender's resistance. The identification of risk factors influencing the use of force is currently based on a non-consensual literature, although the key domains are relatively well established: officer, offender, encounter, and community characteristics. However, there is still little consensus as to the characteristics that constitute these domains, particularly regarding community, organizational, and individual characteristics. Only a few studies focus on the link between burnout and use of force. In this context, the intersection between organizational and work psychology and forensic psychology is of great interest, particularly in the development of a structured, empirical approach based on the modeling of risk factors.