Rekindling Police Burnout: Implications for the Motivation

A qualitative research design was utilized to address the issue of police burnout as described in the pertinent literature. The goals of the study were to determine the causes of burnout among a sample of recently retired or separated police officers and what could be done to alleviate those feelings. Data gleaned from respondents produced three common themes: benefits of higher education (graduate degrees); physical separation from the policing environment coupled with critical reflection of their careers; and the art or practice of teaching traditional age students courses in criminal justice in a higher education setting. Respondents reported all of these factors combined to alleviate their former feelings of burnout and to significantly transform their previous perspectives of the field of policing. The conclusions section of the report offer sound recommendations for an improved response to the individual and organizational consequences of police burnout. Rekindling Police Burnout 3 Advances in technology, increasing budgetary constraints, changing police roles, and generational differences regarding attitudes and beliefs within the law enforcement community all combine to create problems with the recruitment and retention of qualified personnel more than ever before. Regarding retention issues specifically, burnout plays a critical role. In its most basic sense, burnout is described as ". a chronic state of emotional exhaustion stemming from an unrelenting series of on-the-job pressures with few moments of positive experience" (Champoux, 2000, p. 308). However, much of the literature surrounding the issue of stress and subsequent burnout center around what many authors identify as critical incident stress, or severe emotional trauma brought on by involvement with deadly force and/or other violent encounters (McCamey et al, 2003). Similarly, corresponding employee assistance programs, if they exist at all, tend to focus on violence-induced forms of stress or symptoms of stress such as alcoholism, drug abuse, and cynicism (Thibault et al, 2001). Practical experience, however, coupled with data collected for this research project, suggest that a substantial number of stressors related to burnout are caused by a variety of internal or organizational factors, (such as rigid bureaucratic or mechanistic structures and commensurate polices and procedures) as well as feelings of marginalization due to a lack of any real input into the decision making process or any real or perceived sense of autonomy. Supporting the notion that a variety of stressors contribute to police officer burnout, Zhao, Thurman, and He (1999) conducted an exhaustive study that found job satisfaction among police officers to be multidimensional. These dimensions included perceptions about the importance of their work; recognition, or lack thereof, received from their respective agencies; autonomy; and the capability to do their work. Autonomy, however, emerged as a significant variable in all related regression analyses (Zhao et al., 1999). ". this finding suggests that police officers like to work in an environment where they enjoy considerable freedom to decide what they will do. [The] traditional model of policing emphasizes control to enhance employees' conformity and predictability . this is achieved, however, by sacrificing field officers' freedom to solve problems" (Zhao et al., 1999, p. 12). It is these variables-employer control, forced conformity, and lack of autonomy--that, in part, drive the research at hand. No matter what the particular cause, the fact remains that when burnout occurs, a significant number of police officers who may once have been productive members of their organizations, frequently become marginal employees, or worse. The consequences of this condition, at the very least, can be damaging to the organization, not only in terms of work productivity, but perhaps more important, in terms of positive community relations. The question which begs an answer then is what actions or steps can be implemented to take police officers who were once productive and enthusiastic but have fallen victim to burnout for the reasons cited above, and re-instill or rekindle the flame which once motivated them. Herein lay the goals of this research project. Review of the Literature There is a large body of extant literature that addresses the related issues of stress and burnout as they pertain to law enforcement practitioners, as well as personnel that work in similar human service professions. Accordingly, there is an imperative to provide a pragmatic framework for understanding the various components of behavior that exacerbate the concept of burnout. In a study of 250 New Zealand nurses for example, Kalliath and Beck (2001) noted the affect of low levels of supervisory support in relation to job burnout and turnover. Nurses, like police officers, "are frequently exposed to intense and emotionally draining life and death situations, which over time can take a toll on them personally" (p.72). Similarly, Zhao, Thurman, and He (1999) found that the affect of the police agency's work environment is a principal source of job satisfaction. Their detailed study revealed that the majority Rekindling Police Burnout 4 of research into the concept of job satisfaction among police officers has previously focused on four key independent variables that have revealed inconsistent and contradictory results, namely: an officer's educational background; ethnicity; gender; and years of service and/or police officer's rank. The results of their research indicated that the work environment is a crucial feature of job satisfaction in police work along with the significance of individual autonomy, wherein police officers have the freedom to choose how they will carry out their specific function. Carter (2002) focuses on the concept of self-image and the relationship of that image to the work environment as it pertains to issues such as morale. He correctly points out that "What is called good morale is a state of well-being that stems from a sense of purpose and confidence in the future. It depends on role conception, role performance, and role satisfaction" (pp. 177-178). Carter has emphasized that the move toward community policing may serve to enhance job satisfaction giving the police officer a "greater sense of purpose in their profession, and the feeling of accomplishment when they help resolve community problems" (p. 182). Related to Carter's study is the seminal research of Herzberg (1968), who indicated that job satisfaction is closely associated with how important the employee perceives the work to be, the level of responsibility that is attached to the work, and the recognition received by the employee for doing the work. Other research studies have highlighted the lack of supervisor and organizational support, while indicating that long-term police stress will result in burnout, reduced motivation, and poor performance (Anshel, 2000). Research by Elroy, Terpining, and Kohls (2001) revealed that the major factors contributing to burnout included role conflict, role ambiguity, adequacy of time to accomplish tasks, and low worker support. A review of the literature as it relates to strategies for the retention and motivation of personnel addresses the issue of continuing education in its relationship to the law enforcement professional specifically, and the field of criminal justice in general. Continuing professional education as it relates to the law enforcement profession has not witnessed a great deal of research, both from the pre-service and in-service perspective. The value and need for continuing professional education within the law enforcement community, however, is undisputed. New procedures, changing trends of crime, information technology, the ever-expanding base of knowledge regarding criminal behavior, and huge liability concerns (to mention a few) add to the level of perceived stress and are a major contributory factor in regards to the concept of "burnout. " Effective solutions require continuing education programs that are informative, relevant, and address a specific need or concern. Creating programs that enable that needed change involves a careful assessment of how a program should be structured and carried out. The objective of this category is to shift the emphasis on the way continuing law enforcement professional education has been conducted. Moreover, it is an attempt to arrive at a system of continuing education that has substance and quality, and causes a positive change in behavior and attitude, both in the pre and in-service practitioner. The purpose is to attempt to correct perceived inadequacies in the current state of continuing law enforcement education while improving the quality of service delivered as the result of that correction. It is our belief that law enforcement professionals seek continuing educational programs of substance and worth and that current methods of instruction have proven both inadequate and of little practical use. It is also our belief that as criminal justice practitioners become involved in the direction and delivery of their education and training, they become stakeholders in the value that the profession has to them as individuals. Houle’s (1975) classic work identified eight "aims" of continuing professional education. According to Houle (1975, pp. 438-439) continuing profession education should strive to: 1. keep up with the new knowledge required to perform responsibly in the chosen career; Rekindling Police Burnout 5 2. master new conceptions of the career itself; 3. keep up with changes in the relevant basic disciplines; 4. prepare (sometimes after the fact) for changes in a personal career line; 5. maintain freshness of outlook in the work done, so that detail is not neglected; 6. continue to grow as a well-rounded person; 7. retain the power to learn; and 8. discharge