Abstract
The aim of the current study was to evaluate
stress levels during routine activities and during a major
political event by members of the VI Reparto Mobile, an
Italian specialized police unit exclusively deployed for riot
and crowd control, which had undergone serious stress and
liability consequences after the 2001 G8-Summit in Genoa.
The investigation protocol consisted of a psychological
assessment at the beginning of the study, evaluation of
task-related stress with the Job Content Questionnaire
(JCQ) and the Effort-Reward Imbalance questionnaire
(ERI) at two time periods, and evaluation of behavioral
and clinical outcomes as measured by short-term sickness
absences (STSA) throughout the duration of the study. The
sample consisted of 290 policemen, representing a 98.6 %
participation rate. Results found that unit officers were more
emotionally stable, conscientious and open to experiences
than the general male population and career soldiers. JCQ
and ERI decreased significantly when compared with daily
and special event activities (p<0.001). Fifty-one percent of
officers took STSA during three months of routine deployment,
whereas only 35.5 % took it during the 2009 G8-
Summit. These results suggest that members of the specialized
unit had good capacity to withstand stress. Chronic
routine work might be significantly more stressful for these
kinds of officers than assignment to a special high-risk
political event when adequate training, positive psychosocial
support and appropriate organization of the event are
provided.
Lingua originale | English |
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pagine (da-a) | 1-12 |
Numero di pagine | 12 |
Rivista | Journal of Police and Criminal Psychology |
Volume | 2012 |
DOI | |
Stato di pubblicazione | Pubblicato - 2012 |
Keywords
- Law enforcement
- Operational stress
- Sickness absence
- critical incident
- riot and crowd control