| Research has shown that stress and burnout of officers reduces job satisfaction, impairs health, and decreases performance. The police subculture can also add to the problems caused by stress. The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to explore the concepts of stress, burnout, and perceived organizational support on 12 retired police-law enforcement officers. The research questions examined are, (1) what is the role of perceived organizational support in shaping police officer willingness or unwillingness to use stress interventions from the perspective of retired police officers? and, (2) how could police leadership have utilized perceived organizational support to meet the needs of their officers to reduce stress from the perspective of retired police officers? Twelve (12) retired police-law enforcement officers from the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area (Maryland, D.C., Virginia) were interviewed for the study. These retired officers related their experiences with the inhibiting subcultural factors related to stress and seeking treatment. The major findings of this study centered on the specific factors within departments that either encouraged or discouraged the interview participants in seeking stress intervention services. The attitude of leadership and management was a critical factor, as was the police subculture itself. Future research on the topic should include the replication of this study to explore the lived experiences, concepts, and behaviors that influence stress to examine differences in retired police-law enforcement officers by agency, gender, ethnicity, age, education, length of service, as well as in other areas of the country, and including a much larger sample of retired police-law enforcement officers. |
