Job-related Stress: A Survey of Hong Kong Police Officers

• In Event: ACCCJ Policing in Chinese Societies

Abstract

The Hong Kong Police Department is the largest disciplinary force in Hong Kong with 25,000 officers at general rank. While police stress has been widely examined in Western literature, empirical research on the same issue in Chinese societies is quite underdeveloped, with a very small number of studies being published in Chinese outlets. Our understanding of occupational stress among police officers thus is severely limited. This study seeks to fill the knowledge gap in the existing literature. Besides, in the wake of social unrest in Hong Kong (e.g. the “umbrella movement” at the end of 2014 and the “fishball riot” at the beginning of 2016), a study of police officers’ stress is timely and relevant to policy. Using a survey with a random sample of about 200 front-line police officers of both genders and from different family structures (i.e. single and married officers), the study attempts to understand the extent to which police officers suffer from their job-related stress, to examine the predictive power of the work-family conflict, organizational and operational variables, and to see the moderating effect of social support and personal coping. The research findings have policy and practice implications.

Authors

• Jessica Li, City University of Hong Kong

• Ivan Sun, University of Delaware

• Jacky Cheung, City University of Hong Kong