倡导以人为本 关注警察心理健康

警察机关作为政府的重要职能部门,拥有国家法律赋予的较大的执法权与执法空间,人民警察肩负打击犯罪、维护社会治安、服务人民群众的重要任务,其特殊的职业属性使他们不同程度地存在着各种各样的心理压力和危机。警察是一个高应激、高对抗性和高风险的职业,警察在履行职责的过程中,很容易出现心理障碍,若不能及时排解、疏导,后果将不堪设想。正视警察个体的心理健康问题,倡导以人为本的健康理念,保持警察身心健康,掌握一些排除心理压力的策略和技巧,优化警察人力资源,提高警务工作效率,提高警察的综合素质,增强公安队伍的战斗力,对进一步做好新时期公安工作具有十分重要的现实意义。     

Work Conflict as Predictor of Job Stress＂ The Case of an Italian Public Administration

Job stress is a pervasive problem for workers and employers in today＇s economy and it is a timely and important topic for organizational setting. Negative job stress may adversely affect an employee＇s mental and physical health. The aim of the present research is to explain why job stress in the public administrations is a theme of increasing interest and why many studies have analyzed its functioning and diffusion. The variables influencing job stress are numerous and often analyzed from different perspectives. Despite the influence of a number of different factors, job stress can be studied by looking at several aspects as physical environment or/and psychosocial environment. This preliminary study investigated the role of one psychosocial source, level of perceived work conflict, on job stress. A case study was presented. A survey instrument was used to collect information from a Regional Public Administration of South Italy. Data from 1,127 respondents, representing a 91.63% of response rate, were analyzed. Statistical correlations and hierarchical regression showed that work conflict was a predictive aspect of job stress and has the highest contribution to explain the phenomena. The present research has a multidisciplinary value, by linking business science, psychology, and social science.     

Offenders as victims: post-traumatic stress disorder and substance use disorder among male prisoners

Background: Comorbid substance use disorder(s) and post-traumatic stress disorder (SUD-PTSD) is common among prisoners and linked to an increased risk of criminal recidivism; however, little is known about the characteristics of prisoners with this comorbidity. Aim: This study provides a preliminary examination of the clinical and criminal profile of male inmates with symptoms of SUD-PTSD, and examines whether this profile differs according to whether a person has experienced a trauma while in prison. Methods: Thirty male inmates from two correctional centres in Sydney, Australia, were recruited and assessed using a structured interview. Results: The sample reported extensive criminal, substance use and trauma histories. A history of substance dependence was almost universal (90%) and 56.7% met diagnostic criteria for PTSD with the remainder experiencing sub-threshold symptoms. Forty-three per cent reported a traumatic event while in prison. Those who had experienced trauma in prison, compared to those who had not, were more likely to nominate heroin as their main drug of concern and to be receiving drug treatment in prison. There was also a trend toward inmates who had experienced a trauma in prison being more likely than inmates who had no prison trauma to have experienced a physical assault. Conclusion: Male prisoners with SUD-PTSD are a high-needs group yet treatment responses are poor. Further research examining treatment options for this comorbidity may improve prisoner well-being and reduce recidivism.     

VARIETIES OF VIOLENT BEHAVIOR

There is an implicit assumption of homogeneity across violent behaviors and offenders in the criminology literature. Arguing against this assumption, I draw on three distinct literatures [child abuse and neglect (CAN) and violence, violence and post‐traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and CAN and PTSD] to provide a rationale for an examination of varieties of violent behaviors. I use data from my prospective cohort design study of the long‐term consequences of CAN to define three varieties of violent offenders using age of documented cases of CAN, onset of PTSD, and first violent arrest in a temporally correct manner [CAN → to violence, CAN → PTSD → violence (PTSD first), and CAN → violence → PTSD (violence first)], and a fourth variety, violence only. The results illustrate meaningful heterogeneity in violent behavior and different developmental patterns and characteristics. There are three major implications: First, programs and policies that target violence need to recognize the heterogeneity and move away from a “one‐size‐fits‐all” approach. Second, violence prevention policies and programs that target abused and neglected children are warranted, given the prominent role of CAN in the backgrounds of these violent offenders. Third, criminologists and others interested in violence need to attend to the role of PTSD, which is present in about one fifth (21 percent) of these violent offenders, and not relegate the study of these offenders to the psychiatric and psychological literatures.     

A Response to Fiscal Stress: Public Sector Employment Reduction across States during a Budget Crisis

This paper incorporates measurements of the four financial condition dimensions of cash, budget, long-run, and service solvency to explore the link between financial condition and public sector employment among states in the context of the Great Recession of 2008–2009. The finding is that the severity of this economic recession led states to reduce public workers as one type of fiscal response to cope with budget shortfalls. The results suggest that not all dimensions of state financial condition affect public sector employment.     

What Should We Do? Public Attitudes about How Local Government Officials Should Confront Fiscal Stress

Despite strong scholarly interest in the topic of fiscal stress, little attention has been paid to understanding how the general public thinks local governments should respond to situations where declining revenues endanger service levels. This study reports findings from a survey of 660 residents undertaken between November 2006 and January 2007 in the US state of Michigan to examine their support for eight potential strategies to cope with fiscal stress in five different local government services. We find that the public has a surprisingly nuanced perspective about these strategies and on their use for different services. Our findings may provide local policymakers with some insights about how to respond to fiscal stress.     

Public affairs,privacy, and family stress: a case study in rural northern Sweden in the mid-nineteenth century

This article is a case study based on court records. What seems initially to be a petty theft gives rise to remarkable events. Affairs that are initially private later become public. Various events in and around the court throw light upon the way court and community respond to family stress in a mid-nineteenth century rural northern Swedish community. Testimonies by a large number of witnesses in court reveal a society in transition with elements of a money market, which means here a huge amount of ready money in circulation and arenas ready to shelter private transactions.     

Depictions of correctional officers in newspaper media: an ethnographic content analysis

The public relies on the media for most of its information about the criminal justice system. Unfortunately, media depictions of justice actors are not always accurate which, in turn, can lead to distorted images about the system and its operations. Using ethnographic content analysis to analyze 489 articles from major newspapers across the United States, this study seeks to discern how correctional officers and the jobs that they perform are portrayed in print media. The results suggest that correctional officers are overwhelmingly portrayed negatively, with 79.6% of the articles in the research sample presenting one of six distinct negative themes. A typology of these themes is explored in detail, along with its implications for societal support for corrections and correctional officers, especially with regard to the media’s potential contributions to officers’ job stress, burnout, and job dissatisfaction.     

Economic Stress and Psychological Distress Among Urban African American Adolescents

SUMMARY

The present study tested the hypothesis that maternal depression and negative parenting mediate the relationship between economic stress and psychological symptoms among urban African American youth. Two distinct economic Stressors were examined: (1) acute economic loss and (2) chronic economic strain. Each of these economic Stressors was expected to predict maternal depression, which, in turn, was expected to predict negative parenting, which, finally, was expected to predict adolescent symptoms. Results suggest that maternal depression and negative parenting partially mediate the relationship between economic stress and adolescent psychological symptoms among urban African American youth. Directions for future research and intervention implications are outlined.     

Impact of Stressful Life Experiences and of Spiritual Well-Being on Trauma Symptoms

Abstract

Stressful life experiences, trauma symptoms, and spiritual well being were assessed in an adult college student population. Using a regression analysis, results indicated that both stressful life experiences and spirituality were significantly related to the level of trauma symptoms. Approximately 47% of the variance in trauma symptoms was predicted by the model. Spirituality was related to lowered traumatic stress. An additional finding was that trauma symptoms were significantly higher after the September 11 terrorist attacks than before the attacks, when samples from the same population were compared. Results are discussed in terms of the moderating effects of spirituality, and current literature on traumatic stress. Recommendations are made for the careful use of spirituality as a resource when addressing traumatic stress in prevention or intervention programs.