M.A. / Stress related problems within the South African Police service have escalated in recent years. Symptoms that can be identified are the high number of suicides, alcohol abuse, family violence, aggression, depression, emotional blunting, lack of motivation and decreased interest in the outside world. The amount of diverse tasks that are expected of a police officer are multiple. Some of them are confronted with life threatening situations on a daily basis and are often exposed to death and its gruesome aspects. This study maintains that there appears to be a gap between the police officer in need and the psychological unit which is supposed to look after his mental well being. It seems as if the support rendered is predetermined by those in the helping professions and police management, without taking the unique needs and expectations of police officers into account. This study then focuses on such experiences in an attempt to bridge this gap. The study makes use of the narrative research method within the framework of social constructionism. This research attempts to co-constuct the meaning attached to the working experiences of members of a flying squad unit. This unit was specifically selected on the basis of members' broad exposure to life threatening and traumatic situations. Informal interviews were conducted with six members of the flying squad and their narratives may be found in the following pages. Themes identified from their interviews include: feelings of isolation, work circumstances, perceived lack of support, relationships, views of life and encounters with death. The researcher hopes that these stories will be heard.

M.A. (Psychology) / The present study was undertaken in an attempt to understand and ascertain the nature of PTSD in the South African Police leading to chronic illness and work-related dysfunctions as well as to investigate the possibility of triggering events leading to the loss of latency in PTSD. The specific hypothesis for this study was that a significant proportion of members of the SAP who report for medical treatment of stress-related physical or psychological complaints, will show PTSD in conjunction with a triggering stimulus event prior to the manifestations of the first clinical signs of PTSD. The testing of the hypothesis, entailed utilizing an experimental group. consisting of a number of police officers, who had been referred for psychological and/or medical treatment for work-related disorders. None of these subjects had previously been diagnosed with PTSD. A control group was used that consisted of police officers who had not seen active duty in an area where a traumatic stress disorder event could take place. These subjects were subjected to assessment of PTSD by means of the Mississippi Scale for Combat-Related PTSD, and concomitant stress-related events by means of the Life Experiences Survey. Alienation was assessed by the means of the VSVA. Indices of psychophysiological reactivity were obtained by means of galvanic skin response deviation and heart rate deviation to specific stimuli, including neutral stimuli, war-related stimuli and stimuli with political content.

The thesis deals with the psychological aspects of stress in police work from the perspective of police psychologists. Firstly, key terms and psychological aspects of police work are described in the theoretical part. Subsequently, a chapter of individual aspects of stress in police work is introduced. The aspects are divided into four separate groups - organizational stress, stress and lifestyle, stress and family life and borderline situations in police work. The following chapter deals with psychological care for police officers. The research part of this work brings findings obtained qualitatively in in-depth interviews. A wide range of themes arose - exceeding bureaucracy and control, incessant need to keep up with the police role, limited career growth and the absence of meaning leading to burn-out. In the context of family life, themes of alienation, infidelity or other common family problems were registered. Alcohol abuse as an escape strategy was mentioned. Borderline and traumatizing events are marginal matter according to participants. A range of relevant themes arose - encounter with death, children victims, car accidents and suicide among police officers.

Postal survey research was conducted between September and November, 1986, to gather information concerning the evolution, existence and extent of mental health services available to police personnel. Questionnaires were mailed to all 366 municipal, county, and state police agencies in the United States that employed 200 or more workers. Usable data were obtained from 76.8% of the agencies surveyed. Of the 281 respondents who returned usable data, 65.1% reported the existence of mental health services available to their police personnel. The majority of respondents (58.6%) perceived their mental health programs as being equally reactive and preventive in orientation. The most frequently reported existing components were outside agency counseling, stress management seminars, and testing of potential police recruits. Over half (54.8%) of the responding police agencies reported having between 10 and 19 components in their respective mental health programs. The implementation dates and evolution of twenty-five (25) components were examined, and specific components of various police agencies were also revealed. The majority of respondents (70.7%) reported their mental health programs were available to sworn and nonsworn personnel and their families. Almost all respondents (98.3%) viewed their programs as being cost effective. Also, most agencies were satisfied with the four treatment resources listed, which included in-house counseling, outside agency counseling, hospital in-patient programs, and alcohol/drug rehabilitation centers. Slightly over half (50.8%) of the respondents stated their service programs were entitled "Employee Assistance Program." Of the 300 staff workers holding mental health degrees, 101 were reported to have doctoral degrees in psychology. The most frequently reported personality theory utilized by staff members was eclecticism (48.5%). The prevailing high interest in police mental health services is discussed as well as possible reasons why some police managers may be apathetic towards the implementation of such services. Ways of educating police managers as to the benefits of police mental health programs are listed as well as topics for future research.

published_or_final_version / Criminology / Master / Master of Social Sciences

M.Cur. / Die idee waarmee hierdie studie 'n aanvang geneem het, het ontstaan vanuit my waarneming dat al hoe meer polisiebeamptes opgeneem word in die psigiatriese kliniek waar ek, die navorser werksaam is. Hierdie polisiebeamptes vertel 'n storie van blootstelling aan talle traumatiese situasies in die beoefening van hul beroep, waar geweld, misdaad, lewensgevaar en die dood vir hulle bekende verskynsels is. Maar dit lei dikwels tot depressie, alkoholmisbruik en aggressie by die polisiebeamptes. Hierdie probleme word, volgens polisiebeampes, dikwels vererger deur 'n autokratiese bestuurstelsel in die SAPD, swak salarisse, 'n lae status in die gemeenskap en ontoereikende fasiliteite. Die winde van politieke verandering wat sedert 2 Februarie 1990 deur Suid-Afrika waai, verg van polisiebeamptes om sekere fundamentele aanpassings te maak en 'n nuwe benadering tot polisiering te volg. Hierdie aanpassings word dikwels as moeilik ervaar. Die gesinne van polisiebeamptes word dikwels direk geaffekteer deur al die genoemde faktore, in die sin dat, die polisiebeampte se manier van "dink en wees" as polisiebeampte, sy interaksie met sy gesin beInvloed. Ek het dus gewonder hoe die gesinne van polisiebeamptes dit beleef wanneer 'n lid van die gesin werksaam is as 'n polisiebeampte in 'n hoe-risiko metropolitaanse area in Gauteng. Geen studie is voorheen hieroor uitgevoer nie. Om hierdie vraag te beantwoord, het ek van 'n verkennende, beskrywende, kontekstuele en kwalitatiewe navorsingsontwerp gebruik gemaak in die uitvoering van hierdie studie. Semigestruktueerde, fenomenologiese onderhoude is gevoer met agt vroue van polisiebeamptes, werksaam by 'n geIdentifiseerde polisiestasie in Gauteng. Die vroue is volgens die sneeubalmetode geselekteer. Dit is gedoen nadat die nodige ingeligte toestemming van hulle verkry is. Stappe is deurgaans deur die studie geneem om vertrouenswaardigheid te verseker, volgens Guba se model. Daar is ook verseker dat hierdie studie op 'n etiese wyse uitgevoer is, deurdat ek myself laat lei het deur die Suid-Afrikaanse Verpleegstersvereniging se standaarde vir verpleegkundige navorsers. Die meta-teoretiese aannames wat hierdie studie rig, is verkry uit die Verplegingsteorie vir Mensheelheid, waarvolgens die mens 'n geestelike wese is wat op 'n gentegreerde, biopsigososiale wyse binne die gesin en gemeenskap funksioneer. Data is ontleed volgens die metodes van Tesch en die dienste van 'n onafhanklike kodeerder is verkry. Sodoende is ooreenstemming bereik oor die kategoriee en subkategoried van temas wat die storie van die vroue so akkuraat as moontlik sou kon beskryf. Die resultate het daarop gedui dat gebroke interaksie dikwels in die gesinne van polisiebeamptes vookom. Hierdie interaksie word gekenmerk deur oppervlakkige, konkrete kommunikasie, aggressie en fisiese, sowel as emosionele afwesigheid van die polisiebeampte in die gesin. Die vrou neem dikwels sekere rolle in die verhouding aan en ervaar emosies van pyn, alleenheid, woede, verwerping, vrees en onsekerheid. Riglyne is beskryf wat moontlik kan lei tot die ondersteuning van die gesinne van polisiebeamptes, deur die psigiatriese verpleegspesialis. Voorstelle vir die aanwending van die resultate in die verpleegonderwys, -praktyk en —navorsing is gemaak. Daar word tot die gevolgtrekking gekom dat die verkenning en beskrywing van die beleweniswereld van die gesinne van polisiebeamptes, die psigiatriese verpleegspesialis instaat kan stel om die gesinne te ondersteun in die mobilisering van hulpbronne en die gesin te fasiliteer in die bevordering, handhawing en herstel van gesinsgeestesgesondheid as 'n integrale deel van gesondheid.

De nombreuses études (De Soir, Rivolier, Babin, Violanti, …) ont non seulement mis en évidence le stress vécu par les policiers dans l’exercice de leur fonction mais également démontré l’intérêt de modules de formation à la gestion du stress opérationnel à destination des acteurs de l’urgence dont les policiers. Il n’existe cependant pas de recherches ayant investigué les corrélats psycho-biologiques des bénéfices liés à l’acquisition d’une technique de préparation à la tâche recourant à l’hypnose et l’autohypnose chez les aspirants policiers. Les techniques d’hypnose ont par contre, fait l’objet de multiples recherches mettant en évidence son efficacité dans des affections et situations très diversifiées (Salem, Edgette, Fromm,….). L’existence de travaux récents (Kirschbaum et al, Meyerhoff et al, Dinsdale et al, Fontaine et al, Hurwitz et al, Sanders et al, …) indiquant que des facteurs de stress peuvent entraîner une sécrétion augmentée d’hormones de stress (dont le cortisol), une réactivité cardiovasculaire secondaire à certains facteurs de stress et une modulation des réponses immunitaires permettent de poser l’hypothèse que le fait d’intervenir dans un contexte hautement émotionnel (vidéo-tir reprenant des situations d’intervention avec utilisation possible de l’arme à feu) sera également associé à de telles constatations ainsi qu’à l’accentuation des réactions psychologiques.<p>L’acquisition d’une technique de préparation à la tâche recourant à l’hypnose et à l’autohypnose, permettrait donc une meilleure gestion du stress et réussite de cette tâche, pouvant ainsi réduire l’amplitude des réactions psychologiques et physiologiques secondaires au stress psychologique associé à la situation présentée sur vidéo-tir.<p> / Doctorat en Sciences Psychologiques et de l'éducation / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

M.A. / The goal of the present study was to investigate the relationship between trait anxiety, years of service and posttraumatic stress disorder in the South African Police Service. This study was regarded as important because posttraumatic stress can have a significant influence on the personal life and work-related performance of police officers. One hundred and twenty white, male police officers volunteered to participate in the study. A structural model of the relationships between trait anxiety, years of service and posttraumatic stress was postulated. The model specified that trait anxiety and years of service influence posttraumatic stress both individually and jointly. Trait anxiety is operationalised by means of the IPAT Anxiety Scale and posttraumatic stress disorder by means of the Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Interview Schedule. The fit of the postulated model with the observed data was investigated by means of structural equation modelling. The results indicated that the postulated model showed an acceptable fit with the observed data. The estimated parameters of the model indicated that the subscales of the IPAT Anxiety Scale and the Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Interview Schedule are good indicators of their respective constructs. It was further shown that trait anxiety and years of service have a significant influence on posttraumatic stress disorder. The results support those of previous studies where it was shown that these variables can influence posttraumatic stress disorder. The present study emphasizes that trait anxiety may predispose police officers to the development of trait anxiety. The study also shows that if police officers are exposed to extended periods of traumatic experiences, they run the risk of developing posttraumatic stress disorder.

M.A. / The purpose of the study was to investigate the relationship between job involvement and job satisfaction between the traffic officers and bus drivers of the Germiston Transitional Local Council. The following research questions were addressed: What are the levels of job involvement and job satisfaction that traffic officers and bus drivers experience? How does job involvement and job satisfaction of traffic officers and bus drivers compare? What is the relationship between job involvement and job satisfaction? Since this is a quantitative quasi-experimental investigation, the following hypotheses have been formulated, namely; Hypothesis 1. There is no statistically significant differences between the mean test scores of traffic officers and bus drivers in respect of job involvement and job satisfaction. Hypothesis 2: There is no statistically significant correlations between job involvement -- --and -job satisfaction, satisfaztion-and-extrinsit -satisfactioa of traffi -c--. officers - - bus drivers. In order to test the above mentioned hypotheses, the two group comparison and the popular Job Involvement Scale and Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire have been utilized as measurement instruments. The results of this study supported hypothesis one because there was no statistically significant difference between the mean test score of traffic officers and bus drivers in respect of job involvement and job satisfaction. With reference to hypothesis two, the results indicated that there is no correlation between job involvement and job satisfaction (including the sub components). The results indicated a correlation between job satisfaction, intrinsic and extrinsic satisfaction. The results of this study have demonstrated that the traffic officers and bus drivers are able to distinguish the extent to which they like their job (satisfaction), the degree to which they are absorbed in or preoccupied with their job, and the degree of attachment of loyalty they feel toward their employing organization. Finally, there is a need to replicate these findings. The use of a single local authority as the research site is a potential limitation in terms of validity and reliability of the results.

M.A. / The present study was undertaken in an attempt to understand and ascertain the relation between personality traits and posttraumatic stress (PTSD) in the South African Police Service (SAPD) leading to chronic illness and work-related dysfunctions. The specific hypothesis for this study will show that by means of the Comrey Personality Scales (CPS) a statistic significant distinction between police officers with PTSD and police officers without PTSD exists. The testing of the hypothesis entailed a group of 120 functional police officers that consists of white, male nonofficers. They worked in the Pretoria area of the SAPD. The PTSD status of the subjects was assessed by means of the PTDS Interview Guide of Watson, Juba, Manifold, Kucala and Anderson (1991). Police officers that met the criteria for PTSD by means of the PTSD Interview Guide were place in one group (PTSD-group, n = 414. Police officers that did not meet the criteria were placed in another group (Non-PTSD-group, n = 79). Personality traits were measured by means of the CPS. There was a significant difference between the personality traits of the PTSDgroup in comparison with the Non-PTSD-group. The PTSD-group appears to be more compulsive and ordered, more introspective, more neurotic, more sensitive and more defensive in comparison with the Non-PTSD-group. It is postulated that these personality traits can possibly cause policemen to be more susceptible for the development of PTSD.