Deck 12: Stress and Related Hazards of the Job

Question 1

Humans are naturally diurnal in their activity patterns.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

Female police officers must walk a fine line between fitting in and making their own way in law enforcement.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

Autocratic managers who seek no input from employees or fail to keep them informed increase stress.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

Everyday confrontations with crime victims are stressful.

Question 5

A type B personality is more likely than a type A to experience high stress levels.

Question 6

Fatigue is strongly associated with traffic accidents.

Question 7

Acute stress can be good for leaders, in that it keeps them alert and challenged.

Question 8

Nearly twice as many police officers are killed in the line of duty as commit suicide.

Question 9

Those most likely to experience burnout are those who enter the field with only half-hearted commitment.

Question 10

Investigators generally have less stress than others in the police department.

Question 11

A major source of employee stress may be upper-level management.

Question 12

Unfair discipline is a cause of organizational stress.

Question 13

An authoritarian structure decreases the level of organizational stress.

Question 14

Once burnout occurs, no amount of change can remotivate an employee.

Question 15

The brain relies on internal influences to keep its circadian rhythm functioning effectively.

Question 16

Officers rarely miss family birthday parties as well as their children's school conferences, concerts, plays and sporting events because supervisors realize that family comes first and allows officers time off to attend these events.

Question 17

Lack of participation in decisions that affect daily work tasks is a source of organizational stress.

Question 18

The national divorce rate for police officers is 50 percent.

Question 19

Everyday confrontations with those who commit crimes are stressful.

Question 20

No amount of police machismo can deflect the cold, hard reality of PTSD.

Question 21

Women police officers may __________.

A) receive less respect than male counterparts
B) have fewer stressors than male officers
C) encounter less hostility than males
D) receive more positive reactions from fellow officers

Question 22

Especially traumatic for officers are confrontations with individuals who __________.

A) are terrorists
B) refuse to be taken alive
C) emotionally disturbed individuals
D) all of these

Question 23

Stress may be caused by many work-related sources. Which of the following is not considered a work-related stressor?

A) line of duty deaths
B) paperwork
C) management practices
D) failure of the criminal justice system

Question 24

The worst response a manager can give to the media is to say __________.

A) "I have no comment"
B) "The matter is under investigation"
C) not respond
D) all of these

Question 25

Boredom, defensiveness and hostility are ___________ symptoms of stress.

A) physical
B) psychological
C) behavioral
D) psychosomatic

Question 26

Between 2000 and 2008, which year had the highest fatality rate of law enforcement officers?

A) 2000
B) 2001
C) 2007
D) 2008

Question 27

Among the programs designed to reduce stress in police organizations, which technique can be useful in reducing stress, reducing resignations and improving employee relationships?

A) prevention programs
B) training
C) stress exposure management training
D) testing and selection

Question 28

Stress is __________.

A) tension
B) pressure
C) anxiety
D) all of these

Question 29

Officers in smaller departments are more likely to suffer PTSD than officers in larger departments.

Question 30

Which of the following is not a mechanisms for reducing stress described in the text?

A) eating chocolate
B) exercising regularly
C) changing your mental attitude
D) making friends

Question 31

PTSD is an anxiety disorder.

Question 32

Abdominal pain, headaches and increased pulse rate are ___________ symptoms of stress.

A) physical
B) psychological
C) behavioral
D) psychosomatic

Question 33

Untreated PTSD can lead to depression.

Question 34

Stress that is severe and intense but lasts for only a limited amount of time is known as __________.

A) traumatic stress
B) cumulative stress
C) acute stress
D) chronic stress

Question 35

Stress __________.

A) is always harmful
B) may be helpful or harmful
C) is completely different from conflict
D) is emotionally but not monetarily serious

Question 36

The police job is __________.

A) a high stress profession
B) no more or less stressful than any other job
C) the highest stress job in the United States
D) among the lowest stress jobs in the United States

Question 37

The physical symptom most likely to be associated with stress is __________.

A) fatigue
B) anger
C) paranoia
D) drug or alcohol abuse

Question 38

Although they improve officer feelings in the short term, peer support groups do little to reduce chronic stress.

Question 39

According to your text, the best way to identify and replace dysfunction beliefs and stressors (distress) with appropriate aggression (eustress) is __________.

A) admitting you are stressed
B) seeking psychological assistance
C) through training and practice
D) physical exercise

Question 40

Which of the following is untrue of stress?

A) continued exposure to stress decreases its severity
B) stress is an abnormal bodily reaction to fear
C) stress does not need to be addressed immediately
D) all of these

Question 41

Argumentativeness, inability to concentrate and rage are ___________ symptoms of stress.

A) physical
B) psychological
C) behavioral
D) psychosomatic

Question 42

A ________________________________________________________ (CISD) is an effective way to prevent or reduce stress.

Question 43

Officers are often faced with prosecutors who decide not to prosecute a case, exclude police officers during plea bargaining, and fail to exhibit any appreciation for the role of law enforcement; a court that is perceived as too lenient. These are examples of __________.

A) internal stressors
B) external stressors
C) organizational stressors
D) public stressors

Question 44

To address the problem of officer sleep deprivation, managers should __________.

A) review policies that affect overtime
B) give officers a voice in decisions related to their work hours and shift schedules
C) formally assess the level of fatigue officers experience
D) all of these

Question 45

Acute stress is sometimes called ___________________ stress.

Question 46

The period of hypovigilance, impaired cognitive and behavioral performance that is experienced upon wakening is known as _________________________.

Question 47

An heightened expectation that law enforcement is able to catch all criminals is called __________.

A) the CSI effect
B) unrealistic public goals
C) the Law and Order effect
D) none of these

Question 48

____________ results from long-term, unmediated stress.

Question 49

EAP stands for ____________________________________________________.

Question 50

A _____________________ is any event that elicits an overwhelming emotional response from those witnessing it and whose emotional impact goes beyond the person's coping abilities.

Question 51

An aggressive, hyperactive "driver" who tends to be a workaholic is known as a _________________ personality.

Question 52

Stress may be increased by__________.

A) alcohol abuse
B) drug abuse
C) smoking
D) all of these

Question 53

In the aftermath of a stressful incident, an officer's family can be greatly affected leaving emotional scars, a phenomenon known as ________________.

Question 54

A CISD should take place ___________ after a critical incident.

A) immediately
B) within 24 to 72 hours
C) one week
D) two weeks

Question 55

Police organizations can assist members to reduce stress by providing __________.

A) annual physical examinations
B) periodic psychological fitness-for-duty evaluations
C) in-service health and fitness training
D) all of these

Question 56

Police experience a unique kind of stress called ___________ stress, a result of frequent and near-instant transition from complete calm to high activity and pressure.

Question 57

The _____________________________ asserts that if a person has intentionally or unintentionally provoked a police officer, at that instant the provoker rather than the police officer should be viewed as causing the resulting injury or damages.

Question 58

_____________ is the public's heightened expectation of what police can do and the tools available to police in solving crimes.

Question 59

Chronic stress is also known as ____________ stress.

A) acute
B) traumatic
C) cumulative
D) transitional

Question 60

All of the following are behavioral symptoms of stress except __________.

A) stomach pains
B) anger
C) sleep problems
D) nail biting

Question 61

Discuss the interplay of stressors. How does this concept help distinguish police work from other professions?

Question 67

Explain PTSD, what it stands for, who is at risk, what the common symptoms are and how it can be dealt with.

Question 68

Discuss the law enforcement duty of death notification. What reactions might an officer expect? What death notification guidelines should be followed?

Question 72

Discuss the coping methods commonly used by law enforcement officers to handle stress. How can managers reduce their own stress levels?

Question 74

List and discuss the common responses officers have to critical incidents. What happens physically? Emotionally?

Question 77

How does stress affect different personnel within the police department? Be sure to provide examples for each of the groups identified in the text.

Question 78

Describe the various types of stress and the symptoms associated with each.