Stress and Coping in Undercover Law Enforcement Officers.

摘要

It has been reported that the law enforcement profession has been considered by many to be one of the most stressful occupations in the world (Anshel, 2000 & Arter, 2008), while the specialty assignment of undercover operations has been reported to be one of the most stressful duty assignments within the law enforcement profession (Farkas, 1986 & Girodo, 1985).;Law enforcement officers assigned to undercover operations are subjected to high levels of stress while serving in an undercover role. Prior to being selected for an assignment into an undercover program, some law enforcement agencies require their officers to undergo a selection process, which may consist of psychological testing, a counseling interview, and a review of the test results with a psychologist. This process is also repeated on a periodic basis throughout the officer's tenure as an undercover operative.;Current research on stress and coping has placed an emphasis on the uniformed law enforcement officers that perform traditional police work (Anshel, 2000 & Arter, 2008). This study compared the impact of stress and the use of coping strategies on a sample of law enforcement officers assigned to a specialty unit (undercover) with law enforcement officers who are assigned to patrol. The overall results indicated that there were no significant differences between the two groups; however, a detailed review of each question reflected that there were some significant differences related to the patrol officers having more stress than Undercover Operators. In addition there were some significant differences related to the Undercover Operators' use of maladaptive coping skills.