UNIVERSITY OF WATERLOO

Faculty of Applied Health Science

LEISURE AS ALTERNATIVE THERAPY FOR POLICE STRESS

Ontario Police College

Physical Training Department

Aylmer, ON

Prepared by:

Alexandra Longo

ID 20302747

3B Recreation and Sport Business Management

May 9, 2013

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May 9, 2013

Dr. R. McCarville, Associate Dean

Applied Health Studies Undergraduate Studies

University of Waterloo

Waterloo, Ontario

N2L 3G1

Dear Dr. McCarville,

This report, entitled “Leisure as Alternative Therapy for Police Stress”, was prepared as

my fourth work report for my 3B term in recreation and sport business management. The main

objective of this report is to explore the issue of occupational stress in police officers and

investigate whether leisure may be a useful method of treating these conditions.

The Ontario Police College is and adult education facility which offers comprehensive and

modern training to police officers in order to prepare them to perform their duties safely and

effectively. The Physical Training Department is responsible for the fitness conditioning and

appraisal of recruits enrolled in the Basic Constable Training Program.

The Physical Training Department, in which I was a member of, was directed by the team leader,

Lori Neufeld. My role was to assist the full time physical trainers in delivering all aspects of the

fitness and conditioning program for basic constable recruits enrolled in the Winter 2012 intake

This report was written entirely by me and has not received any academic credit at University of

Waterloo or any other institution. I would like to thank Stella Majic for proofreading my report

and helping to improve its appearance. This was the only form of assistance I received in

completing this report.

Sincerely,

Alexandra Longo

ID 20320747

3

Abstract

Police officers are no strangers to stressful situations – it comes with the job description.

Not only do officers place themselves in harm’s way every shift, they also bear witness to some

of the worst humanity has to offer. Chronic stress, whether it is the result of routine work

incidents or additional traumatic incidents, may be hazardous, even life-threatening to the overall

health of an officer. Persistent exposure to work stress can develop health problems such as,

depression, anxiety, addiction, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), heart disease and other

stress related disorders.

Recent literature has shed some light on serious cases of work stress and to what extent

they can affect the wellness of police personnel. Failure to cope with short-term stress may

result in substance abuse, excessive alcohol intake, depression, anxiety and other health related

conditions. In addition, those suffering from acute stress fear they may be ostracized and

stigmatized within their respective service, thus discouraging them from seeking professional

help.

Several treatments are available to those suffering from severe forms of stress, including

counseling and rehabilitation programs. However, it has been hypothesized that leisure

participation is a safe and easy alternative for police personal to prevent and alleviate work

stress. Depending on the severity and complexity of the perceived stress of an officer, regular

participation in leisure activities has been found to improve short- and long-term physical and

mental health.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES .................................................................................5

1. INTRODUCTION..........................................................................................................6

2. METHODS AND FINDINGS .......................................................................................7

2.1 Leisure Benefits and Stress Reductions .............................................................7

2.1.1 Physical and Psychological Benefits ..................................................7

2.1.2 Leisure Resiliency ...............................................................................7

2.1.3 Job Stress and Leisure Coping ............................................................8

3. STRESSORS OF POLICE WORK ...........................................................................10

3.1 Types of Stress .................................................................................................10

3.2 Reactions to Stress and their Outcomes ...........................................................11

3.2 Effects of Stress ...............................................................................................12

4. STRATEGIES FOR RELIEVING POLICE STRESS ............................................14

4.1 Reactive Strategies ...........................................................................................14

4.2 Proactive Strategies ..........................................................................................15

4.3 Leisure Coping Strategies ................................................................................15

4.3.1 Proactive/Preventative Strategies......................................................15

4.3.1 Reactive/Alleviating Strategies .........................................................16

4.3.1 Three Leisure Based Coping Strategies ............................................16

5. LIMITATIONS ............................................................................................................17

6. FINDINGS ..................................................................................................................18

7. CONCLUSIONS ........................................................................................................19

8. RECOMMENDATIONS ...........................................................................................20

REFERENCES .................................................................................................................21

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LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES

Tables:

Table# 1: Leisure Related Protective Factors ......................................................................8

Table# 2:Overall Health Effects of Stress for a Police Officer .........................................13

Figures:

Figure #1: Average Critical Incident Exposure for Police Officers on Duty…….... ........11

Figure #2 Serious Family and Health Problems of 2,300 Police Officers .........................12

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1.0 INTRODUCTION

During the Winter 2012 work term, I had the privilege of working as an instructor in the

Physical Training Department (PT) at the Ontario Police College (OPC). The primary role of the

PT department is to teach new officers (recruits) the relevance and value of physical fitness as it

relates to the occupation of policing. During the three months stay at the college, it is mandatory

for the recruits to attend all fifteen PT classes, as well as completing twenty-five workouts on

their own time. During the class, recruits are taught basic fitness movements, strength and

conditioning, proper nutrition and the physiological effects of shiftwork. In addition, the PT

department is responsible for assessing the fitness level of each recruit. My role as a PT

instructor was to assist full time staff with the planning and delivery of the training classes, as

well as assessing the recruit’s physical fitness.

This empirical report highlights the consequences of work stress experienced by police

officers and the potential for developing serious mental and physical health problems. Stress in

this report is referred to as, the reactions/responses to the perceived relationship between stimuli

and outcomes (Anshel, 2000). Officers experiencing chronic work stress can develop health

problems such as, depression, anxiety, addiction, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and

other stress related disorders. Subsequently, this leads to job dissatisfaction and burnout forcing

officers to eventually leave the police profession.

Therefore, participating in leisure activities not only enables an officer to be more

capable of overcoming the physical challenges associated with policing, but may also provide

that officer an escape or intervention from job related stress. In addition, the psychological and

physical benefits of leisure and physical activity have therapeutic potential as an effective tool

against occupational stress.

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2.0 METHODS AND FINDINGS

2.1 Leisure Benefits and Stress Reduction

Leisure is an enjoyable activity in itself. People freely choose to engage in leisure

because it acts as a buffer to the stressors of daily life. There are numerous advantages to

participating in leisure activities, including: social interaction, sense of belonging, engagement in

fun, care-free activities and most importantly, long- and short-term health benefits.

2.1.1 Physical and Psychological Benefits

A study conducted by Linda Caldwell (2005) found that leisure can be restorative and

acts as a catalyst for improving ones physical and psychological well-being. Physical well-being

includes a stronger immune and cardiovascular system and provides a positive feeling of one’s

own body (Godbey, Orsega-Smith, Payne, Sasidharan, 2006). Psychological well-being is a

sense of meaningfulness, joy, happiness and increased life satisfaction (Godbey, et al., 2006).

The physical and psychological aspects of a person’s life are the two most important

determinants of an individual’s health and longevity.

2.1.2 Leisure Resiliency

A large portion of the population have adopted and maintained a healthy lifestyle, which

aids them to continually thrive, despite all the negative events that occur in their lifetime. Linda

Caldwell (2005) has coined this concept as resiliency. Although there are many stressors in one’s

life, a healthy lifestyle that includes leisure and physical activity, can develop what Caldwell

(2005) labelled as protective factors. The common protective factors that were developed in

Caldwell’s (2005) study are shown below:

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Table #1Leisure-Related Protective Factors (Caldwell, 2005)

▪ Benefits of personally meaningful and/or intrinsically interesting activity derived in leisure

▪ Need for social support, friendships, and social acceptance in leisure

▪ Competence and self-efficacy derived from leisure participation

▪ Experiences of challenge and being totally absorbed in leisure activity

▪ Being self-determined and in control in leisure

▪ Feeling relaxed, disengaging from stress, being distracted from negative life events through

leisure

▪ Ability of leisure to provide continuity in life after experiencing disability

The table above highlights how leisure can create these desired protective factors which act as

buffers to the stresses of daily life. Therefore, leisure and physical activity can improve the

mental and physical quality of an individual’s life.

2.1.3 Job Stress and Leisure Coping

Coping is a mechanism that people use to manage stressful situations and it can influence

the relationship between stress/illness and health. Leisure has recently become a common form

of coping, which helps balance mental and physical health while creating a foundation for

enhancing personal growth following a negative life event (Caldwell, 2005). Butcher, Iwasaki,

Mannell & Smale (2005) conducted a study on leisure coping mechanisms and there effects on

police and emergency response personnel. The study concluded that continuous participation in

leisure played an important role for maintaining good physical and mental health (Butcher, et al.,

2005). The study also found that the type of leisure activity better predicted adaptational stress

relief outcomes. For instance, physically active leisure, including running, biking, etc., was the

strongest predictor of long-term benefits, leading to improvements in physiological and

cardiovascular fitness, subsequently leading to long-term physical and mental health (Butcher, et

al., 2005). Whereas relaxing leisure, such as reading, watching movies, etc., was the best

predictor for immediate adaptational outcomes for stress relief (Caldwell, 2005). In conclusion,

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leisure is an effective and practical coping mechanism for relieving stress, which subsequently

improves ones mental and physical health.

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3.0 STRESSORS OF POLICE WORK

Law enforcement is deemed as one of the most hazardous and stressful occupations.

Police officers encounter a wide variety and severity of stressors on a daily basis. Stress, such as

acute stress, which is the fight or flight response to a dangerous or hazardous incident, has the

potential to cause serious psychological, physiological and behavioural damage (Anshel, 2000).

Failing to effectively cope with any source of short-term stress can lead to long-term chronic

stress and burnout (Alkus & Padesky, 1999). Police stress-related issues are not only harmful to

the individual, but also to their family, friends, colleagues and the general public.

3.1 Types of Stress

Police work consists of two sources of stress: the routine aspects police regularly engage

in and the dangerous/traumatic or critical incidents, which includes being seriously injured or

witnessing or confronted with death (Best, Fagan, Liberman, Marmar, Metzler, Weiss, 2002).

Research conducted by Best, et al., (2002), found that the routine work load is just as stressful as

the dangerous or traumatic incidents for an officer. Best, et al., (2002) identified that the most

common responses to routine stress were: administrative policies, court time, extra-duty

assignments, lack of support from upper management, varying work shifts and inadequate

equipment. Routine incidents are mentioned as a major source of stress because they occur

much more often than critical incidents, where critical incidents are seen as inherent to police

work (Best, et al., 2002). Therefore, police officers consider the stressors of routine work as

unnecessarily stressful.

The less commonly occurring source of stress are dangerous/traumatic or critical

incidents. On average, a police officer will encounter a critical incident for 6% of the calls they

respond to (Best, et al., 2002). The figure below shows the average number and severity of

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critical incidents a police officer will experience in their career, averaging about thirty-five years

of service.

Figure #1 Average Critical Incident Exposure for Police Officers on Duty for 35 Years

(Best, et al., 2002)

The graph above depicts the seriously disturbing incidents a police officer could encounter on the

job and are expected to actively cope with any emotional or physical reactions. The combination

of police work routine stressors with additional traumatic incidents can be hazardous, even life-

threatening to the overall health of an officer.

3.2 Reactions to Stress and their Outcomes

Coping with stress is not a top priority for a police officer. In addition to their busy work

schedules, filled with court dates, administrative paperwork and constant calls to incidents, they

have obligations to their spouse, children, retired parents and other responsibilities. Stressors not

only affect the officer while on duty, they can also affect their life outside of the job. For

example, a study conducted by Blackmore (1978), surveyed 2,300 police officers and their

perceived quality of life. The figure below illustrates their findings.

Encounter with Recently Dead Bodies

Decaying Corpses

Sexuall Assulted Children

Colleagues Severly Injured Accidently

Colleagues Severly Injured Intentionally

Officers Themselves Being Seriously Injured or Shot at

2%

25%

1%

2%

10%

14%

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Figure #2 Serious Family and Health Problems of 2,300 Police Officers (Blackmore, 1978)

The chart illustrates that marital and health problems were the most common issues resulting

from police stress. Stress that is not addressed can cause additional serious health and

relationship problems for police. Officers who resort to drinking, drug use, anger and

withdrawal are more likely to suffer from serious health problems, causing additional chronic

stress, which subsequently leads to job burnout and leaving the profession.

3.3 Effects of Stress

The human body is programmed to “fight of flight” as a response to a stressor, tension or

sense of danger. Police officers are not free to fight back, only to defend, they are not allowed to

display anger and fear, and they are to never run away (Alkus & Padesky, 1999). The adverse

role of an officer creates a tremendous amount of stress affecting them physically, mentally and

behaviourally (Alkus & Padesky, 1999). The figure below lists most, but not all effects of stress

on a police officer.

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

Serious Marital Problems

Serious Health Problems

Serious Alcohol Problems

Serious Problems with Children

Drug-related Problems

10% 20%

23%

36% 37%

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Table #2 Overall Health Effects of Stress for a Police Officer (Alkus & Padesky, 1999)

Physical Effects ▪ Circulatory and digestive disorders

▪ Coronary heart disease

▪ Physiological disturbances: skin disorders, muscle

cramps, tension headaches, bronchial asthma,

hyperventilation, ulcers, genitourinary and endocrine

disorders

▪ Lower back pain

▪ Late onset of diabetes

Cognitive-Emotional Effects ▪ Guilt

▪ Anger

▪ Suspiciousness

▪ Depression

▪ Aggression

▪ PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder)

Behavioural Effects ▪ Overeating

▪ Gambling

▪ Use of tobacco and tranquilizers

▪ Alcohol abuse

▪ Exhaustion symptoms

▪ Absenteeism

▪ Risk-taking

Failing to cope with stress and relieving any short-term symptoms can be detrimental to the

officers’ health. Evidently, police stress and avoiding its effects can carry over to the officers’

family and social life. Chronic and long term occupational stress can result in reduced

motivation, poor performance, and burnout, where eventually an officer will leave the police

profession (Anshel, 2000).

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4.0 STRATEGIES FOR RELIEVING POLICE STRESS

Police work is one of the most rewarding, yet stressful professions. The honour of

protecting and serving your community is a compelling goal for a hopeful police officer.

However, policing is recorded as one of the highest dropout professions, where officers develop

severe forms of acute stress, leaving them with job dissatisfaction and eventually leading to

burnout (Smith & Webb, 2005). Subsequently, this raises questions of whether police

departments are providing enough support and counselling for their officers and whether or not

these programs are effective (Anshel, 2000). A recurring theme in the police profession is the

negative stereotypical view that any officer who seeks counselling or shows signs of

psychological weakness is an indicator of personal weakness (Anshel, 2000). Therefore, police

personnel do not seek the professional help of counsellors and cope effectively with their stress.

4.1 Reactive Strategies

Reactive strategies are rehabilitation programs and counselling services aimed to alleviate

sign and symptoms of stress (Anshel, 2000). The more common reactive strategies are the

counselling and referral programs. These programs offer special counselling and discussion

therapy to officers who are experiencing psychological difficulties from a traumatic event (Webb

& Smith, 2005). Another common reactive strategy for police is alcohol rehabilitation programs.

As mentioned above, alcohol abuse is a common coping strategy among police and alcoholism is

seen as a major recurring problem for many police departments (Webb & Smith, 2005).

Alcoholics Anonymous is a commonly know rehabilitation program, which is aimed to provide

group therapy and support for anyone who is dependent on alcohol to cope with stress (Webb &

Smith, 2005). Reactive strategies are extremely beneficial to an officer who legitimately wants

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help to relieve stress and eliminate the consequences that led them to their unhealthy, hazardous

lifestyle.

4.2 Proactive Strategies

Reactive strategies are aimed to alleviate the symptoms of stress, whereas proactive

strategies are meant to prevent the development of stress (Anshel, 2000). The goals of these

programs are to educate and change an officer’s skills, knowledge and attitudes towards stress

and its consequences (Webb & Smith, 2005). The first type of proactive strategy is education

programs. These are meant to enhance an officer’s skill set and knowledge, preparing them for

the unexpected challenges of their profession (Webb & Smith, 2005). Whereas training

programs, also known as cognitive training, are aimed to provide an officer with more

information about themselves, their abilities and their reactions to certain stressful situations

(Webb & Smith, 2005). In conclusion, proactive strategies aim to build a police officer’s

confidence and sense of self-worth, enabling them to effectively cope with all types of work

stress.

4.3 Leisure Coping Strategies

As mentioned above, leisure participation and physical fitness are restorative and acts as

a catalyst for improving ones physical and psychological well-being. Physical fitness and leisure

participation have been proven to act as both proactive and reactive coping strategies for

alleviating stress (Webb & Smith, 2005).

4.3.1 Proactive/Preventative Strategies

Proactive strategies are known to prevent stress, whereas reactive strategies are meant to

alleviate stress. With regard to preventing stress, there is a considerable amount of evidence

indicating that a physically fit person is better able to cope psychologically and physiologically

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with various stressful events (Webb & Smith, 2005). Additionally, there is a profuse amount of

evidence that supports the fact that regular participation in aerobic fitness decreases the

susceptibility to heart disease and other stress related disorders (Webb & Smith, 2005).

4.3.2 Reactive/Alleviating Strategies

Reactive strategies regarding physical exercise, is more likely prescribed to alleviate any

forms of anxiety, tension and depression (Webb & Smith, 2005). Therefore, many police

departments encourage and even provide access to recreational facilities for their officers to

release any tension and give them time to participate in enjoyable recreational activities (Webb

& Smith, 2005). Regular participation in leisure and physical activity provides a safe avenue for

officers under extreme stress to calm down and refocus so they are mentally fit for their job.

4.3.3 Three Leisure Based Coping Strategies

In a study on police and emergency response workers, their stress, leisure participation

and their outcomes, Iwasaki and Mannell (2000) found that there are three types of leisure-based

coping strategies. The first being leisure palliative coping, which is a type of leisure, such as

running, that gives them temporary relief from daily life stressors in order to regroup and gain

perspective (Iwasaki & Mannell, 2000). The second leisure coping strategy is leisure mood

enhancement, which is engaging in leisure that enhances ones mood, such as going to a comedy

act (Iwasaki & Mannell, 2000). The last strategy is leisure companionship, which could be

spending time with friends over coffee or dinner (Iwasaki & Mannell, 2000). The study found

that leisure coping positively predicted both immediate and long-term physical and

psychological wellbeing on police and emergency response workers (Iwasaki & Mannell, 2000).

Therefore, the previous evidence supports the belief that leisure is beneficial in preventing and

alleviating the symptoms of stress among the policing community.

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5.0 LIMITATIONS

There were three main limitations that became apparent during the research and writing

of this report. The first being that every person is unique in their beliefs, skills, abilities,

reactions and perceptions and that these unique characteristics can be the determining factor of

how stress is perceived to each individual (Webb & Smith). Different perceptions of stress can

cause some individuals to react negatively and resort to unhealthy coping behaviours, such as

drinking, while others have a more positive reaction and deal with their stress in a healthy

manner like seeking counselling or engaging in pleasurable leisure activities.

A second limitation to this report is that being “physically fit” is not an adequate defence

or coping mechanism from stress (Webb & Smith, 2005). Participation in leisure does not

guarantee an individual from experiencing health consequences from job stress.

Lastly, this report found that leisure coping strategies were only beneficial if the

individual had the time and money to participate in leisure activities (Iwasaki & Mannell, 2000).

Time and money can be a huge limiting factor, and could therefore cause additional stress.

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6.0 FINDINGS

The report did meet the goals and objectives of suggesting that leisure participation is a

safe and easy alternative for police personal to prevent and alleviate work stress. Leisure has

also been proven to be an extremely effective coping strategy to prevent and alleviate the signs

and symptoms of work stress. Additionally, leisure participation was found to be a guilt-free

form of stress relief for officers who chose not to seek counselling and rehabilitation for fear of

showing personal weakness on the job (Anshel, 2000). Lastly, leisure and physical activity

provided short- and long-term physical and mental health benefits, improving happiness and

quality of life.

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7.0 CONCLUSIONS

Police officers are always expected be fit for duty – both mentally and physically. An

exercise program not only enables an officer to be more capable of overcoming the physical

challenges associated with policing, but may also provide that officer an escape or intervention

from job related stress.

However, leisure and physical activity is by no means a cure for police stress and every

individual suffering from severe symptoms of stress will need specialized treatment to fully

recover; however, leisure can possibly be used as a therapeutic tool to prevent elevated feelings

of anxiety or depression before these feelings persistently affects an officer’s mental well-being

– both on and off duty.

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8.0 RECOMMENDATIONS

This report has identified leisure as a viable and effective method for alleviating the

symptoms of stress. Unfortunately, policing is unpredictable, and there is no way of anticipating

if an officer will remain psychologically healthy both during and after they serve the force.

Therefore, based on the evidence supplied by this report, police officers are encouraged to

actively participate in leisure throughout their career to ensure optimal occupational

performance.

Furthermore, officers should use leisure and physical activity as an alternative tool for

stress relief, rather than resorting to alcohol and substance abuse. In addition, the psychological

benefits of leisure cannot be ignored – its therapeutic potential used in conjunction with

professional counseling yields an effective tool against occupational stress. Therefore, police

departments need organizational structure that monitors officers coping strategies and continue

to provide stress management training.

Lastly, officers who are experiencing severe symptoms of stress, such as PTSD, anxiety

or depression are encouraged to seek professional help immediately, and not perceive this help as

a form of personal weakness.

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REFERENCES

Alkus, S., Padesky, C. (1999). Special problems of police officers: stress-related issues and

interventions. Social Science Collection, 11(2), 55-62.

Anshel, M.H. (2000). A conceptual model and implications for coping with stressful events in

police work. Criminal Justice and Behaviour, 27(3), 375-400.

Best, S.R., Fagan, J.A., Liberman, A.M., Marmar, C.R., Metzler, T.J., Weiss, D.S. (2002).

Routine occupational stress and psychological distress in police. Policing: An

International Journal of Police Strategies & Management, 25(2), 421-439.

Blackmore, L. (1978). Are police allowed to have problems of their own? Police Magazine, (3)1,

47-55.

Butcher, J., Iwasaki, Y., Mannell, R.C., Smale, B.J.A. (2005). Contributions of leisure

participation in predicting stress coping and health among police and emergency response

services workers. Journal of Health Psychology, 10(1), 79-99.

Caldwell, L.L. (2005). Leisure and health: why is leisure therapeutic? British Journal of

Guidance & Counselling, 33(1), 7-23.

Godbey, G., Orsega-Smith, E., Payne, L., Sasidharan, V. (2006). Older adults’ physical activity

participation and perceptions of wellbeing: examining the role of social support for

leisure. Managing Leisure, 11(1), 164-185.

Iwasaki, Y., Mannell, R.C. (2000). Hierarchical dimensions of leisure stress-coping. Leisure

Sciences,(22)1, 161-181.

Smith, D.L., Webb, S.D. (2005). Stress prevention and alleviation strategies for the police.

Criminal Justice Review, 4(2), 52-72.