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liams, 2007, p.2). There are multiple programs put in place to help the officer cope with their personal issues in a positive and healthy manner. Unfortunately, some police use negative coping methods such as drinking, domestic violence, and/or suicide, hurting themselves and those around them. By understanding what causes stress and how the body reacts, in both male and female officers, it will be much easier to create effective programs that help officers cope with their issues experienced from the norms of their job.

研究方法-Research Methods

The purpose of this paper is to examine what causes stress and how it negatively effects those in law enforcement, particularly police officers. Luckily, there have been many studies conducted about stress and policing. To find research, most information was provided through online academic and scholarly article search engines such as EBSCO and ProQuest. Key words such as 'police stress', 'stress and policing' or 'police stress and alcohol' narrowed the results even further. After reading each source, gathering ideas and backing it up with scholarly evidence followed. Each academic source performed its own study which helped to back up the information. Otherwise, there are numerous books and studies that could have been used as reference.

原因-Causes

Police officers face higher than normal amounts of stress in their everyday lives. Regardless of agency size or service area, all law enforcement officers are subject to gross amounts of stress from nearly the moment they enter the profession (Lindsey & Kelly, 2004, p. 2). Strain is caused by various situations faced in the work environment:

'Prior research on stress often suggests that police officers face a work environment that is commonly depicted as one of the most stressful occupations because officers can encounter violent criminals and crime scenes during the course of their daily work. Additionally, the police possess a great amount of discretion that requires them to make tough decisions about arresting certain individuals or even using deadly force. Furthermore, the nature of law enforcement organization is often identified as a primary source of work related stress in that it is characterized by impersonal rules and a rigid chain of command' (McCarty et al., 2007, p. 1).

It is interesting to also look at this in terms of evolution, going back to the days of the cave man. When faced with these various intimidating and sometimes life-threatening situations, the body automatically responds with the fight or flight response. 'From an evolutionary perspective, this allowed individuals to have the energy to stand their ground and defend themselves (fight) or to remove themselves from danger (flight)' (Anderson, Litzenberger, & Plecas, 2002, p. 2). Under normal situations faced by a police officer, most individuals would flee. As a sworn officer, it is their job to put their life on the line and fight, putting enormous amounts of strain on the individual. There is also a physical and emotional conflict that occurs. 'Under highly emotional circumstances, officers must exercise extreme restraint when excited, they must remain calm, when nervous, they must demonstrate their command of the situation; when in a highly emotional state, they must remain stoic' (Lindsey & Kelly, 2004, p. 2) New police are put through rigorou