- Role ambiguity
- Role conflict
- Interpersonal conflict
- Situational constraints
Although this study was not directed at the police service, the above factors appear as major elements of police work and stressors. If officers allow such stress to get on top of themselves, then maybe this will go some in explaining why certain officers act aggressively at certain times.
A police officer is one of the few members of British society who can lawfully use force on members of the public. The levels of force authorised varies from common assault, to the use of a baton or CS incapacitant, and when properly authorised, the lethal use of firearms. The training that accompanies the issue of such equipment and authorisation to use it, may in the eyes of the public make the police officer a highly skilled and effective exponent in the use of such force. But officers need to remember that just because they are allowed to use this force, it does not have to be used whenever the opportunity arises.
The dilemma is often left with the officer as to whether to use force or not, and if so, how much. Added pressures placed on an officer also exist, in that they know that if the use is considered excessive, accusations of police assault will follow. If an officer uses lawful lethal force in the UK they can guarantee that this action will be the subject of a full and formal investigation. This pressure is heightened further, in that the definition of what is as much force as is absolutely necessary is unclear, and has to be judged on a case-by-case basis. Views as to whether force used was reasonable and justified will certainly differ between the police officer and the victim.
In this part of this essay I have tried to show briefly some of the reasons how aggression can manifest itself in the ‘Bobby on the Beat’. This can be unintentional through demeanour, stance and attitude; it can be borne out of personal and work related frustrations and stressors, or the authorised use of force (whether excessive or not).
Psychology can help the ‘Bobby on the Beat’ by offering an insight into what causes aggression within a police officer. Understanding the way the officer presents themselves through non verbal behaviour such as dress and demeanour, recognising frustration and stress and using the skills acquired in self defence are all important factors in reducing and controlling their own aggression. This reduced aggression will allow for greater police-community relations, less likelihood of being assaulted, a fall in complaints against the police and new and more constructive methods of dealing with violent offenders.
The traditional Police uniform is seen as the epitome of the British police service and according to surveys, what most members of the public want to see more of on the streets of the United Kingdom. What are the positive and negative effects that this uniform has on people?
Empirical research by Johnson (2000) found the following:
Firstly it was described as a uniform to “convey an image of a more competent, reliable intelligent and helpful person” Singer and Singer (1985.)
Balkan and Houlden (1983) established that “it is the most likely uniform to induce feelings of safety”, and “the mere presence of a person wearing it induces conformity to traffic regulations” Sigelman and Sigelman (1976).
Adversely however studies into the influence that the colour of a uniform has, indicates that “because of citizens’ negative psychological perception of dark colours, they may perceive a police officer in a negative manner partly because of the officer’s uniform colour” Johnson (2001).
A similar and potentially more dangerous effect was found by Pinizzotto and Davis (1992) when they concluded that “a dirty or creased uniform or a badly worn duty belt sends the message to criminal suspects that a police officer is unprofessional and incompetent and, consequently, can invite violence”.
In essence as Johnson (2001) said “the police uniform can have extraordinary psychological and physical impact. Depending on the background of the citizen, the police uniform can elicit emotions ranging from pride and respect, to fear and anger”.
We influence people in what we say, but more importantly in how we say it and the context in which it is said. We pass information to one another in all sorts of ways, sometimes not even realising that we have done so. This means communication is not always deliberate. In general we use this ‘non deliberate’, non-verbal communication all the time, without even thinking about it. This is done through our posture, clothing and the expressions on our face.
One of the most interesting findings from the study by Argyle, Alkema and Gilmour (1967) was that people tend to believe non-verbal communication far more than the words that we actually say. Their study involved a group of actors communicating messages that were friendly, hostile or neutral. These messages were accompanied by a non-verbal manner, which was also friendly, hostile or neutral. The two forms of communication however did not always correlate. The results showed that when the actor’s manner and words were the same, there was very little misunderstanding. But it was found that when the actor’s non-verbal communications contradicted the words, people were four times more likely to take notice of the non-verbal communication, than the words.
Gesturing is one of the most common ways in which people communicate as an alternative to speech. Rude gestures such as a ‘V’ sign is a way of passing a clear message without words, whereas pointing at somebody to come and talk to you is a way which we illustrate what we are saying. As we can see then, gestures can be used both as speech replacements as well as illustrators. Cultural differences are also important in this area. Some cultures such as the Italians tend to use their hands much more than the British do when they communicate. The same is said for touching, where many cultures will touch each other whilst talking. An understanding of these cultural areas of difference is important to the ‘Bobby on the Beat’. They help to avoid any misinterpretation of a gesture or a touch made by a person, and as important to the officer, ensure a member of the public is not inadvertently insulted by the inappropriate use of the wrong gesture.
A similar area of psychological research, which is related to posture, is proxemics, which deals with personal space and the distances that humans keep between each other. The term often used is the ‘bubble’ of personal space that we are surrounded by, and we only allow people into our bubble if we know them well enough. Edwin Hall (1966) proposed that “there are four distances at which people interact. Intimate friends interact at 0-30 inches, casual friends at 30-48 inches. People in social-consultative encounters interact at 4-12 feet, whilst distances greater than 12 feet would indicate a public encounter”.
One of the reasons that this should be of interest to the working police officer is that invasion of ones personal space, for instance, whilst interviewing will make the individual feel threatened and uncomfortable, before a word has even been said. Certain tactics employed, such as moving chairs very close together, invading a person’s intimate space to within touching distance, as advocated in a certain police-training book (Ibanu and Reed, 1963), should be avoided. This will not only lead to the interviewee leaning back, moving their chair and showing overt signs of non compliance, an obvious unwillingness to cooperate, as well as possible accusations of oppressive behaviour or even indecent assault.
The effect that one slovenly dressed, gum chewing, slouching, rude police officer may do to a service that is trying to improve its public image, is quite easily avoidable. The fact that this will be an adverse reaction, may be seen as obvious, but is borne out of the work completed by psychologists. Occasions when the Bobby on the Beat will have to invade the intimate space will include when affecting an arrest. An understanding of how this intrusion may make a person fell threatened and aggressive will help the officer deal with the situation far better. Especially if the officer is overtly displaying personal protection equipment and projecting an authoritative and forceful persona.
Is invading a person’s intimate space, causing them to feel intimidated the best way in which the Bobby on the Beat should go about establishing the facts during an interview? Knowledge of personal space is also important, whilst engaged in on street working, in the multi- cultural United Kingdom. The space with which people feel comfortable varies from culture to culture. For example, people who originate from a Middle Eastern country will feel too close to a person from a North European country during an everyday contact. It is simple to see how simply tension may arise when the two interact.
The Government and police service as a whole are now showing genuine concern about the long-term effects that stress has on their officers. These can include medical problems, alcoholism, absenteeism, marital problems and high staff turnover. This was reinforced by a study of 2300 police officers by Kroes (1985) from 29 different stations or squads. It painted the following picture of stress indicators: marital problems 37%, health problems 36%, drinking problems 23%, having children with emotional problems 20% and using tranquilisers 10%. Empirical evidence also indicates that those officers who stay within the service for their entire working career will continue to experience ‘burnout’ or work related exhaustion even after they have retired (Oligny, 1994).
Manolias (1983) offered the following reason as to why stress in the police should be given special consideration by the organisation and the public alike:
- “The police fulfill an essential function in society. This requires an effective workforce and stress potentially under mines the effectiveness and efficiency of the police service.
- The consequences of police stress may have an adverse effect on the development and the maintenance of good police relations with the public.
- There exists the possibility that police officers under stress can, in certain situations, constitute a real threat to their own safety, that of fellow officers, the offenders they deal with and indeed the general public”.
One of the problems emanating from within the service is that police officers in general are taught to be strong, and to be able to handle any situation that might be thrust at them. If an officer shows signs of depression, stress or anxiety, he or she believes that others will think upon them as weak or ineffective in their duties. This is far from reality. Police officers are human and are just as susceptible, if not more so, to mental disorders such as stress, as the rest of society.
This denial appears to be linked to the police or ‘canteen culture’ as well as to the duties performed. The police service is seen as a ‘macho style’ organisation that discourages officers from showing emotion. It would rather they keep a ‘stiff upper lip’ and show no signs of weakness. But what are the real stressors that affect officers adversely.
“Police officers would appear vulnerable to stress because of the very nature of some of their duties” Bull et al. (1983)
There are certain operational task related issues that cause stress to the police officer. They witness death and mutilation regularly and deal with violent criminal and potentially life-threatening situations. Officers are also expected and/or choose to drive at high speeds, in built up areas, and more and more of them have to confront the real threat of firearms.
There are also the management and organisational stressors within the service. A British study by Cooper et al (1982) examined 200 officers of Sergeant to Superintendent Rank found the biggest causes were “work overload, lack of personal recognition and unfulfilled work aspirations, perceived unnecessary obstacles that undermine the police function, and the consequences of autocratic management”.
There are a number of ways that stress adversely affects the way in which the ‘Bobby on the Beat’ operates. The first of these is impaired job performance, which include difficulties in carrying out duties effectively, absenteeism and early medical retirement. These manifest themselves in the workplace by officers becoming forgetful, being unable to concentrate, lack of punctuality and loss of interest and motivation. A second factor is psychological problems. The most common of these are depression, alcoholism, marital problems and anxiety. The latter trait is a physical health problem that includes hypertension, heart problems, stomach ulcers, respiratory problems and skin problems.
Research into these areas is equivocal in its findings. In their study of a British police force, Alexander, Innes, Irving, Sinclair and Walker (1991) found that 15% of male and female officers reported levels of alcohol consumption, which would be, designated moderate or high risk. However, they reported that this proportion was not statistically different from the proportion falling into the same categories amongst fire officers, prison officers or nurses. Similar findings were noted when the rates of suicide and marital breakdowns were also compared with other groups in society.
However, analysis of the OPCS data has noted that male sergeants are found to have a mean annual death rate that is around twice that of other police officers. It was also found that officers of other ranks have higher death rates compared to other emergency and prison service staff.
The ‘Bobby on the Beat’ must overcome these cultural beliefs and pressures and recognise when they are suffering from stress and take the appropriate action to counter this. Psychologists have provided more than enough assistance in this area. Police organisations are increasingly offering formal (professional counsellors and critical incident de briefs) and informal (confidential help lines and post incident colleague supporters) support mechanisms, but they need to be used. It will only then that senior management will, with the aid of future psychological research based on honest reporting of the problem from within, fully understand the problems and make the strategic organisational changes that are required.
Individual cultural changes coupled with strong organisational changes, in response to findings from the psychological literature into police stress, can help improve the health and future well being of its most precious resource, the employees. The result will be a more effective police officer that will be able to serve the needs of the public, and the organisation, in a more effective and efficient manner. The individual will be able to achieve far more job satisfaction and be in a better physical and mental state and remain stress free to enjoy their retirement.
The question asked was can psychology help the Bobby on the Beat. I have examined the Bobby on the Beat and their personal reaction to aggression, non-verbal behaviour and stress. It is quite evident that all three factors can have an adverse effect on the way the Bobby polices the beat. This can be unintentional through demeanour, stance and attitude; it can be borne out of personal and work related frustrations, stress or the authorised use of force (whether excessive or not).
It is apparent that all three variables are interlinked. Stress can cause outburst of aggression and quite obvious negative non-verbal signs. Aggressive posture and a lack of respect for personal space can cause stress and anxiety and even provoke an aggressive reaction. Violent behaviour and confrontation, which will trigger the ‘flight or fight’ stress reaction within the body. It will also almost always show the police service off in a very poor light.
In conclusion, it is my opinion that psychology can greatly assist the ‘Bobby on the Beat’ by offering an insight into what causes aggression within a police officer. Understanding the way that officers present themselves and how the public perceive some images, appreciating the non-verbal behaviour such as dress and demeanour they display existentially. Recognising the factors that cause them frustration and stress, and using the skills acquired through training and shared knowledge in controlling such emotions will make policing much easier and enjoyable. Psychologists are able to offer the Bobby on the Beat a plethora of advice in helping to appreciate how these factors can affect the way they patrol. But this requires change both from the individual in terms of culture and with strong managerial support in terms of organisational change.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Ainsworth P. (1995), Psychology and Policing in a Changing World. Chichester, Wiley.
Ainsworth P. and Pease K. (1987), Psychology in Action: Police Work. Leicester, British Psychology Society.
Ann Taylor, Wladyslaw Sluckin, Davies D., Reason J., Thomson R. and Colman A. (1982), Introducing Psychology (Second Edition), Harmondsworth, Penguin.
Atkinson R.L., Atkinson R.C., Smith E., Bem D. and Nolen-Hoeksema S. (2000), Hilgards Introduction to Psychology (Thirteenth Edition), Orlando, Harcourt College Publishers.
Hayes N. (2003), Teach Yourself Psychology. Reading, Hodder and Stoughton.
Kapardis A. (2003), Psychology and Law (Second Edition), Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.
Needs A. and Towl G., (2004), Applying Psychology to Forensic Practice. Bodmin, Blackwell.
Warr B. (1978), Psychology at Work (Second Edition), Harmondsworth, Penguin.
All references taken from Kapardis A. (2003) Psychology and the Law (Second Edition): A Critical Introduction. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Illnesses associated with stress are often referred to as psychosomatic or psycho physiological disorders.
Office of Population Census and Surveys 1988.
