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Police officers’ aggressivity: How is related to psychological variables and how is likely to impact community?
Thu, September 4, 4:00 to 5:15pm, Communications Building (CN), CN 2111Abstract
Police officers’ aggressivity has been investigated in its external dimension, namely excessive use of force against citizens. However, it has an internal dimension, against the police officer himself, expressed in suicidal ideation. This study aims to examine in what extent police officer’ aggressivity is related to operational/organizational stress, burnout and suicidal ideation. An online questionnaire was applied to 2,485 Portuguese police officers. In addition to sociodemographic and professional questions, five validated questionnaires were used, namely the Aggression Questionnaire (AQ; Buss & Perry, 1992), Operational Police Stress Questionnaire (PSQ-op; McCreary, & Thompson, 2013a), Organizational Stress Questionnaire (PSQ-org; McCreary, & Thompson, 2013b), Burnout Assessment Tool (BAT; Schaufeli et al.), Suicidal Ideation Questionnaire (SIQ; Reynolds, 1988). Results indicate averages of 4.23 (1 to 7 scale), 4.45 in organizational stress, 2.50 in burnout (1 to 5 scale), 2.15 in aggressivity (1- to 5 scale) and 0.4 in suicidal ideation (0- to 6 scale). However, the analysis through the cut-off indicated 71.5 with high operational stress, 63.5 with high organizational stress and 25.5 with high burnout, as well as 9.2% with suicidal ideation and 16.2 with aggressivity (more verbal than physical, respectively 17.7% and 11.8%). Positive correlations were also found between all variables of the psychological state. Criminology can help deepen our understanding of the risk of aggressivity, both internal and external, within professional groups where psychological discomfort is common. This distress can hinder interactions with citizens, especially when combined with easy and immediate access to coercive tools, such as firearms, which may also increase the risk of suicide.