Chapter 6- Stress in Organizational Life: Nature, Causes, and Control

This set of vocabulary flashcards covers the terminology, career stages, stress types, and management concepts related to stress in law enforcement as discussed in the lecture notes.

Stress

The physical and psychological condition that results from attempting to adapt to one's environment.

Eustress

Also known as "good stress," it is a positive viewpoint of a stressor where it is perceived as a challenge or a pleasant event.

Organizational Stress

The general, unconscious, and patterned mobilization of an individual's energy when confronted with any organizational or work demand.

Malstress

Bad or negative stress.

Holmes-Rahe Life Stress Inventory

An assessment tool based on $43$ potentially stressful life events that measures the adjustment required of a person, assigning a point value to each event.

Law Enforcement Critical Life Events Scale

A police-specific stress inventory devised by James D. Sewell consisting of a questionnaire of $144$ events experienced by police officers.

Alarm Stage (0-5 Years)

A transitory stage of a police career where officers adjust to the reality of the street and may question their personal ability to handle police work.

Disenchantment Stage (6-13 Years)

A career stage where stress increases as officers learn not all crimes can be solved and that there is a limit to what can be done.

Personalization Stage (14-19 Years)

A period characterized by a dramatic decrease in stress as an officer finds the demands of police work less taxing and fears of failure lose importance.

Introspection Stage (20 Years and Over)

A "coasting period" where stress continues to decrease and the officer is usually more secure in the job, with the exception of concerns for retirement.

Role Conflict

Occurs when an officer is simultaneously subject to two or more sets of pressures, and compliance with one would hinder or prevent compliance with the other.

Role Pressures

The significant, continuing, and often competing expectations of an officer that constitute role conflict.

Role Ambiguity

The uncertainty resulting from a lack of clarity about tasks and the way an individual can perform them.

Quantitative Overload

A type of work overload where an employee simply has too much to do, such as an investigator with an unmanageable caseload.

Qualitative Overload

A situation where employees feel they are not competent enough to perform certain tasks or that performance standards are unrealistic and too high.

Circadian Schedules

Repetitive daily cycles of body functions (eating, sleeping, waking) that are often disrupted by rotating shift work in law enforcement.

Ascendant

Type A employees who are "on the fast track," relating positively to the organization, are goal-oriented, and thrive on stress.

Indifferent

Employees who do not actively seek rank, view power as an interest of others, and often identify with the informal organization or union for support.

Ambivalent

Officers who take the alarm stage in stride but become frustrated during the disenchantment stage, eventually becoming less committed to the department.

General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS)

A three-stage process of stress damage consisting of alarm reaction, resistance, and exhaustion.

The Relaxation Response

A technique discovered by Herbert Benson that elicits a decrease in heart rate, metabolic rate, and blood pressure using four elements: a quiet place, a mental device, a passive attitude, and a comfortable position.

Functional Fitness

A state of health consisting of cardio-respiratory endurance, muscular strength, body composition, and muscular flexibility.

Target Heart Rate

A calculation used for aerobic exercise: $(220 - \text{age}) \times 0.8$, which should be maintained within $10$ beats during workouts.

Employee Assistance Program (EAP)

A program designed to assist in the identification and resolution of personal or job-related concerns, including health, marital, financial, or substance abuse issues.

Peer Counseling

A support system where specially trained fellow officers provide psychological assistance to colleagues following critical incidents or professional crises.

Type A Behavior

A behavior pattern characterized by individuals for whom work is more important than social or family matters and who vigorously pursue organizational goals.

Post-shooting Trauma

The psychological and emotional consequences suffered by an officer after being involved in a deadly force encounter.

Standard 22.2.10

A guideline from the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies recommending that agencies provide EAPs to assist employees.