A comparative analysis of the perception of job related stress in class II and class III police personnel in Navi Mumbai region

 

Satish More^1*, Shyam More², Priyanka Manghani³, Rahul G Peddawad⁴

 

{^1,2Assistant Professor, Department of Community Medicine} {⁴Associate Professor, Department of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology}

Dr.D. Y.Patil Medical College, Nerul, Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra, INDIA

³Intern, Terna Hospital and Research Centre, Mumbai, Maharashtra, INDIA.

Email: satishcmore@gmail.com, drpriyankalata@gmail.com, rahul.peddawad@dypatil.edu

 

Abstract               Background: Police Personnel play a vital role in maintaining law and order across the nation. They are constantly under pressure to perform and comply as per their duties noted by the government. Owing to such a taxing job profile with long and rotational duty hours, they are thus subjected to a varied amount of job stress. Owing to this growing concern of job related stress in police personnel, it is important that it be given prime importance before more harmful effects of job related stress arise. Aim and Objectives: This study is thus aimed at providing an insight into the perception of job related stress in class 2 and class 3 police personnel in Navi Mumbai Region and suggest interventions to curb them. Materials and Methods: It is a cross sectional study in which Police personnel of Navi Mumbai Region were selected by systematic random sampling. Total duration of study was one year. Results: Majority of the respondents suffered from long term stress majorly due to factors like political interference and negative public/press image. Conclusion: Police officers are at risk of not only extreme stress and fatigue but also likely to develop ailments due to the nature of the job and various other factors. Regular health checkups along with stress management should be done and the importance of a well-balanced and healthy mindset should be emphasized upon.

Key Words: Duty Hours, Occupational Stress, Police Personnel, Quality of Life.

 

 

 

 

INTRODUCTION

Police Personnel play a vital role in maintaining law and order across the nation. Police Personnel are constantly under pressure to perform and comply as per their duties noted by the government. Be it terrorism or criminal investigation, there’s not one area where police isn’t required. Owing to such a taxing job profile with long and rotational duty hours, they are thus subjected to a varied amount of job stress which only increases with time. There are various factors which lead to an increasing amount of stress in law abiders /police personnel such as constant deadlines, lack of family support /family pressure, poor wages, lack of sleep and constant threat to life, especially in today’s time where in the crime rate is increasing steeply not only on a local level but also in terms of global terrorism. Despite these cruxes, many a times, police personnel are not acknowledged for their hard work and the various risks they deal with in terms of job promotion further adding to their stress and misery due to prolonged stagnation in the same rank. Occupational stress results in disruption of the psychological as well as physiological homeostasis of the individual, leading to deviant functioning in the working environment.¹ Indian police personnel can be broadly categorized into constables, inspectors, and officers.² While the first comes under the lower strata of jobs , the second and third form the intermediate and higher strata of jobs. Thus, the work pattern and pressure may vary as per the rank, also affecting the amount of stress on the individual. In other countries, levels of suicide several times higher than in age-matched populations are being reported among police officers^3,4. Owing to this growing concern of job related stress in police personnel, it is important that it be given prime importance before more harmful effects of job related stress arise. Stress adversely affects their health as well as leads to poor quality of life and functional outcome required from them. This study is thus aimed at providing an insight into the perception of job related stress in class 2 and class 3 police personnel in Navi Mumbai Region.
MATERIAL AND METHODS

The present study is a cross sectional study aimed at comparing the job related stress among class 2 and class 3 police personnel in Navi Mumbai Region. Prior to starting the study ethical clearance was taken from Ethical Committee. Also, informed consent was taken from all of the participants

Sampling Method: There were 178 class II and 1702 class III police personnel in selected area of study. To get proportionate sample from each group for comparison, it was decided to take 30% from Class II and 10% from class III. Systematic random sampling method was used for selection of samples from each group. Thus, 53 from class II and 187 from class III were included inthe study which was conducted approximately for 6 months.

Inclusion and exclusion criteria: Those who were present and agreed to participate were included in the study. Those with incomplete questionnaire were excluded. Interpretation of data was initiated after completion of data collection. The statistical tool used was chi square test. The data was analyzed using SPSS software.

 

RESULTS

Table 1: Demographic Variables and Socioeconomic Distribution

 

Table 2: Socio-Economic status and Duration of service

*Revised Modified BG Prasad Socioeconomic Classification Scale, 2016⁵

Table 3: The Causative Factors Leading To Stress

Table 4: Overwork and Night Shifts

Table 5: Distortion of Police Image By Media, Lack Of Public Support

Table 6: Distribution of respondents as per duty hours

(X²= 11.69, DF = 2, P < 0.05)

 

Table 7: Frequency off getting yearly vacation

(X²= 23.25, DF = 3, P < 0.05)

DISCUSSION

In our study, it is found that 53.8% total respondents had more than 10 yrs of service followed by 27.5% up to 5-10 yrs and only 18.7% had less than 5 years of service (Table 2). A Similar study was conducted by Channabasvanna et al (2000)⁶ found that 20% respondents were in police profession since < 5yrs, 16.6% were since 5-10yrs while 62.6% served the dept for >10yrs. 45.3% of class II perceived the stress arising out of court work to a great extent while it was found in 36.9% of class III policemen (Table 3).Kroes at et al (1974)⁷, in his study done on policemen, mentioned that perceived stress arising from the court was noted by 56% of the respondents.In the study of James Hillgren et al (1976)⁸, 75% police administrators had identified court as a stressor affecting their line personnel. It was found that because of changing shifts stress was perceived to a great extent by 22.1% respondents while 50.8% respondents perceived it to small extent (table 4).Similar results can be seen in study conducted by Kroes et al⁷ (1974) on the policemen of Cincinnati police department where 28 day shift cycle existed, 56% respondents mentioned changing shifts routines as stressful. Because of perceived lack of cooperation by public, 57.5% respondents were feeling frustrated, 23.8% were irritated and 14.6% considered themselves helpless (table 5). Kroes at et al⁷ (1974) found that 38% of police personnel and 26.6% of police administrative were emotionally disturbed because of lack of public co-operation. It was observed that as a result of distortion of image by press 57.5% of the total respondents were frustrated (table 5). Eisenberg (1975) stated that distorted press accounts of police incidents as one of the stressors to the police personnel.⁹ Distribution according to duty hours of class II and class III police was found to be statistically significant (Table 6). The study conducted by Channabasavanna et al⁶ (2000) found that 79.7% of total respondent work more than 12 hours per day. The difference between Class II and Class III was found statistically significant in case of yearly vacation that participants get (Table 7)

 

CONCLUSION

It was observed that both class II and class III Police personnel are at risk of not only extreme stress and fatigue but also likely to develop ailments due to the nature of the job and various other factors. The difference of perception regarding stress factors like political interference, duty hours and yearly vacation was not found to be statistically significant about majority of stressors among these two groups in our study except factors like that they get.

RECOMMENDATION

It is crucial that measures be taken to curb job stressors so as to work towards the prevention of work stress hazards.  Efforts should be taken for stress management in police personnel by having regular counselling and therapy sessions for them to help them deal positively with the stress. In addition regular Yoga and Relaxation Sessions should also be done. In addition, regular health checkups should be done and the importance of a well-balanced and healthy mindset should be emphasized upon. In addition, government should also take measures to improve the safety for officers and address their grievances related to work and differences with their colleagues.

 

REFERENCES

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