Deck 6: Police Culture, Personality, and Stress

Question 1

More federal agents are killed in the line of duty than local police officers.

Answer 1

False

Question 2

Many police officers find it fairly easy to sleep after a tense, busy evening tour because they are mentally and physically exhausted.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

Suicide is a serious problem in policing.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

The police subculture is characterized by clannishness, secrecy, and isolation from those not in the group.

Question 5

Some experts say that stress alone probably does not cause illness, but it contributes to circumstances in which diseases may take hold and flourish.

Question 6

According to your text, which is not an issue related to stress:

A)stroke
B)ulcers
C)impotence
D)AIDS

Question 7

Which is not a trait of the police personality?

A)authoritarianism
B)suspicion
C)racism
D)liberalism

Question 8

The majority of studies have determined that the police personality derives from the socialization process in the police academy, field training, and patrol experience, instead of being inherent in the personality of those who enter into the police profession.

Question 9

Most police departments have management programs to deal with the stress problems of police officers.

Question 10

Which of the following is not indicative of the police culture?

A)trust
B)clannishness
C)honor
D)individuality

Question 11

The refusal of some police officers to report fellow officers' misconduct is called:

A)the uniform code of silence
B)the blue wall of silence
C)the police omerta
D)blue loyalty

Question 12

The stress affecting police officers rarely affects their families.

Question 13

Police officers and their families tend to avoid other police officers and their families when they are off duty.

Question 14

The police have a subculture that is somewhat different from other occupations in society.

Question 15

The idea of danger permeates the police subculture.

Question 16

Which is not indicative of the police personality?

A)hostility
B)insecurity
C)cynicism
D)social conscience

Question 17

Numerous academic studies have indicated that the nature of policing and the experiences officers go through on the job cause them to band together into their own subculture.

Question 18

Which type of stress is produced by the daily need to confront the tragedies of urban life?

A)personal
B)organizational
C)operational
D)physical

Question 19

Police officers murdered in the line of duty are more likely to be killed with firearms than any other cause.

Question 20

Studies have indicated that police officers face serious marital problems, health problems, and problems with alcohol and drugs.

Question 21

The stress produced by elements inherent in the quasi-military character of the police service, such as adjusting to changing tours of duty, odd working hours, and working holidays, is classified as:

A)external stress
B)organizational stress
C)personal stress
D)operational stress

Question 22

According to research, compared to other professions the police exhibit higher rates of:

A)divorce
B)suicide
C)stress
D)all of the above

Question 23

After the 9/11 terrorist attacks, what was required of all NYPD officers?

A)racial profiling classes
B)mental health counseling
C)terrorist identification classes
D)weekly safety briefings

Question 24

Which of the following is not one of the four general categories of police stress discovered by researchers?

A)external stress
B)organizational stress
C)personal stress
D)command stress

Question 25

Suicide by cop incidents accounted for _____ of municipal police shootings.

A)less than 1%
B)11%
C)39%
D)59%

Question 26

The Dirty Harry problem refers to:

A)the corruption problem in law enforcement
B)the brutality problem in law enforcement
C)the moral dilemma officers face when they can use evil means to achieve good ends
D)the stress problem in policing

Question 27

Which of the following is not one of the factors leading to stress in police work?

A)poor training
B)role conflict
C)exposure to brutality
D)early retirement

Question 28

Stress produced by real threats and dangers, such as responding to gun runs and other dangerous assignments, is classified as:

A)external stress
B)organizational stress
C)personal stress
D)operational stress

Question 29

The attitude that there is no hope for the world and a view of humanity at its worst is called:

A)police social control
B)police prejudice
C)police attitude
D)police cynicism

Question 30

The stress produced by the interpersonal characteristics of belonging to the police organization, such as difficulties in getting along with other officers, is classified as:

A)external stress
B)organizational stress
C)personal stress
D)operational stress

Question 31

Studies indicate that police officers are _____ more likely to suffer from alcoholism than the average citizen.

A)25%
B)55%
C)75%
D)300%

Question 32

The majority of recent studies have found that the police "working personality" comes from:

A)the officer's teenage years
B)the socialization process in the police academy, field training, and patrol experience
C)the officer's early experiences as a child
D)the officer's adulthood

Question 33

According to Ellen Scrivner, which of the following is not a job-related issue that contributes to family dysfunction in police families?

A)family disruption due to rotating shifts
B)unpredictable work environment
C)the constant exposure of police officers to members of the opposite gender
D)community expectations and demands

Question 34

Michael K.Brown says that the police subculture is based on three major principles: honor, loyalty, and ____________________.

Question 35

A(n) ____________________ is the culture of a particular group that is smaller than, and essentially different from, the dominant culture in a society.

Question 36

Which type of stress is produced by the interpersonal characteristics of belonging to the police organization, such as difficulties in getting along with other officers?

A)personal
B)operational
C)organizational
D)mental

Question 37

The stress produced by the daily need to confront the tragedies of urban life, such as dealing with derelicts, criminals, and the mentally disturbed, and the need to engage in dangerous activity to protect a public that appears to be unappreciative of the police, is classified as:

A)external stress
B)organizational stress
C)personal stress
D)operational stress

Question 38

The human body's reaction to highly stressful situations is known as the:

A)flight-or-fight response
B)stressed-out syndrome
C)adrenaline response
D)fight-or-freeze syndrome

Question 39

The ________ maintains a record of all police officers killed in the line of duty.

Question 40

A situation in which police officers trust only other police officers and do not aid in the investigation of wrongdoing by other officers is called the:

A)red curtain
B)blue curtain
C)blue shield
D)red shield

Question 41

According to Jerome Skolnick, the police officer's role contains two principal variables: danger and ____________________.

Question 42

The body's reaction to highly stressful situations is known as the ____________________.

Question 43

What is stress? Name some factors causing stress in policing.

Question 44

What is the Dirty Harry problem? Could you ever justify an officer acting the way Dirty Harry Callahan did? Why or why not?

Question 45

Discuss why police officers commit suicide at very high rates.Explain what can be done to lower this suicide rate.

Question 46

According to your text, an officer is most likely to be assaulted when responding to a ______ call for service.

Question 47

Discuss assault on officers. When are they most likely to occur, and what are departments doing to prevent assaults?

Question 48

Under stressful circumstances, quantities of______________, a hormone produced by the adrenal glands, are released into the bloodstream.

Question 49

The phenomenon in which a person wishing to die deliberately places an officer in a life-threatening situation, causing the officer to use deadly force against them, is known as ____________________.

Question 50

Assaults on police officers most commonly involve _________________________.

Question 51

Closely associated with the problem of stress in policing is the problem of __________, which seems to worsen over the years.

Question 52

The ethical problem in which police are confronted with situations in which they feel forced to take certain illegal actions to achieve a greater good is known as the ____________________ problem.

Question 53

What is the police culture or subculture and how does it manifest itself?

Question 54

The deadliest decade for law enforcement officers so far was the _________.

Question 55

Describe the police personality.Does police work attract people who already have this personality or is it the result of becoming an officer?

Question 56

What are some of the methods being used by police departments today to deal with stress?

Question 57

____________________ is the body's reaction to internal or external stimuli that upset the body's normal state.

Question 58

Explain the phenomenon of suicide by cop.

Question 59

Working long hours and overtime produces ________and consequently stress in officers.

Question 60

The attitude by police that there is no hope for the world and a view of humanity at its worst is known as ____________________.

Question 61

Why do police officers socialize together?

Question 62

Discuss the killings of police officers.What are the trends in the killing of police officers during the past three decades?