The Relation between Work Stress and Personality of Police Personnel

Police work is no doubt a highly stressful occupation. Not only are police personnel frequently exposed to the most violent, antisocial, and mistrustful elements of society, they are also expected to exercise discretion under critical circumstances. In spite of the abundance of literature on the general relationship between police work and job-related stress, empirical evidence pertaining to the study of relationship between stress, work-life balance, coping strategies and job satisfaction and how stress, work-life balance, coping strategies predict job satisfaction is still in dearth.

Everyone in today’s life experiences a fair share of stress, irrespective of personal characteristics, environment and social conditions. The Concept of Stress was first introduced in the sciences by Hans Selye (1956). The term Stress is applied to the total transaction of stressor. One may speak of system being ‘Under Stress’ or a Particular situation being stressful (Selye, 1978).He defined stress as the non-specific response of the body to any demand. The presence of stress among policemen is felt but not recognized as the major issue. Social change, economic conditions, the total criminal justice system and the demands made on policeman’s time by their families, all contributes towards the stress.