Multilevel Influences on Police Stress

Abstract

The prior literature has highlighted a variety of workplace problems, such as racial and gender bias and lack of influence over work activities, as influences on police stress. Additional explanations for police stress include community conditions, for example, high crime rates and size of the community, token status within the police organization, and lack of family and coworker support for work-related activities. In a large-sample, exploratory study, this research examined the workplace problems that were hypothesized to predict stress. It also determined whether community conditions, token status, and lack of social support explained additional variance in officers’ stress levels. Lack of influence over work activities and bias against one’s racial, gender, or ethnic group stood out as important predictors of stress after controls were introduced for demographic variables. Interventions to redesign jobs to afford greater influence and to reduce within-department bias are approaches that could reduce police officers’ stress.