On-the-job stress and stressors among police officers of a metropolitan city of pakistan

Author: 
Mohammad Noman, Shabibul Hassan and Rehana Khalil

Background: The experience of work stress can cause unusual and dysfunctional behaviour at work and contribute to poor physical and mental health. No job is immune from stress, but for the law enforcement officer, the strains and tensions experienced at work are unique, often extreme, and sometimes unavoidable. The study was intended to explore the workplace stressors responsible for stress among police officers working in Karachi which is a Cosmopolitan City of Pakistan. Material and Methods: This descriptive cross sectional study was conducted among police officers working at selected police stations from all zones of Karachi, Pakistan. A sample of 146 police officers was selected through random sampling. Data were collected through a structured adopted self-administered questionnaire and analyzed using IBM SPSS version 18. Results: The mean ± SD age of study respondents was 35 ± 5 years. The mean ± SD duration of marriage was 10.56 ± 5.44 years. Majority (85%) belonged to middle socio-economic class. Significant positive relationship has been found between the Job Demand and Stress(correlation coefficient = 0.961, sig at p < 0.01), Job Control and Stress (correlation coefficient = 0.937, sig at p < 0.01), Relationship issues and Stress (correlation coefficient = 0.939, sig at p < 0.01), Role uncertainty/Conflict and Stress (correlation coefficient = 0.939, sig at p < 0.01), Change and Stress (correlation coefficient = 0.898, sig at p < 0.01), and Lack of support and Stress (correlation coefficient = 0.939, sig at p < 0.01). Conclusion: The current study concludes that the stress in police officers (assumed dependent variable) was highly correlated with the independent variables like Job demand, Control over one’s job, relationship with in and outside the organization, role uncertainty and conflicts, changing environment with rapid pace and the lack of support for a police officer in his office, peer, family and the society.

Paper No: 
860