After reading the article ‘Controlled Burn: The Gendering of Stress ?and Burnout in Modern Policing’ by Kurtz, focus on the results of this ?article and discuss: Do you understan

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Author’s Note: I would like to thank the Division of Women and Crime graduate student paper review- ers and committee for awarding an earlier version of this article honorable mention in 2005. I would also like to acknowledge the theoretical and practical guidance of Dr. L. Susan Williams and Dr. Dana Britton for the foundations of this article. Finally, I want to thank the editor and anonymous reviewers of Feminist Criminology for suggestions and criticisms that greatly improved the final version of this article. Please address correspondence to Don L. Kurtz, PhD, Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work, Kansas State University, 204 Waters Hall, Manhattan, KS 66506-4003; e-mail: [email protected]

Feminist Criminology Volume 3 Number 3 July 2008 216-238

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Controlled Burn The Gendering of Stress and Burnout in Modern Policing Don L. Kurtz Kansas State University

Despite the interest in the interplay between subcultural attitudes, organizational structure, and high stress events, most research on police stress fails to address a fundamental concern—that of gender. In fact, the majority of research addressing officer stress fails to mention gender or concentrates on gender as a simple control variable. Data from the Police Stress and Domestic Violence in Police Families in Baltimore, Maryland, 1997-1999 study were analyzed to examine how gender affects stress and burnout in law enforcement. Findings indicate that stress and burnout by officers is embedded in the gender structure and process of policing and not simply a response to high stress events.

Keywords: policing; stress; burnout; masculinity; gender and policing; social construc- tion of gender; gendered organization theory

Asignificant body of research contends that policing is one of the most stressful professions in American society (Anderson, Litzenberger, & Plecas, 2002;

Harpold & Feenster, 2002; Howard, Howard Donofrio, & Boles, 2004; Liberman et al., 2002; Lott, 1995). Officer stress is associated with a number of negative behaviors and psychological outcomes, including high rates of substance abuse, divorce, suicide, and violence (Harpold & Feenster, 2002; Lott, 1995; Violanti, 1996). Attempts to deal with officer stress and burnout generally focus on psycho- logical, physical, or psychiatric responses to critical incidents or high stress work environments (Anderson et al., 2002; Brooks & Piquero, 1998; Liberman et al., 2002; Loo, 2004; Mashburn, 1993; Purpura, 2001). Some scholars identify a sub- culture of policing through which selected behaviors and attitudes influence officers’ reactions to organizational and job related stress (Harpold & Feenster, 2002; Purpura, 2001). Despite interest in the interplay among subcultural attitudes, organizational

Kurtz / The Gendering of Stress and Burnout in Modern Policing 217

structure and high stress events, most research addressing officer stress fails to incor- porate gender issues. This research extends the current literature by addressing a fun- damental question: How does gender shape police stress and burnout?

Literature Review

Officer Stress and Burnout

A number of factors directly associated with law enforcement are identified as sources of stress and burnout, including the nature of the job requirements, police organizational structure, and interactions with the public (Anderson et al., 2002; Harpold & Feenster, 2002; He, Zhao, & Archbold, 2002; Liberman et al., 2002). These areas are not mutually exclusive factors, and stress in one area likely aggra- vates anxiety in another (He et al., 2002).

Police Stress and Burnout

Research supports the idea that stress leads to a number of problems for both the individual employed in law enforcement and the policing agency as a whole (Anderson et al., 2002). A number of social scientists have drawn connections between stress and problems with health related issues including increased anxiety and alcohol use, hypertension, insomnia, migraine headaches, and heart disease (Harpold & Feenster, 2002; He et al., 2002; Liberman et al., 2002). Stress also results in bio-physical responses such as elevated heart rate, increased blood pres- sure, increased muscle tension, increased acid secretion (Anderson et al., 2002), and psychological concerns like burnout and fatigue (Harpold & Feenster, 2002). These responses may vary according to the officer’s assessment of the situational demands and his or her ability to deal with the circumstances (Anderson et al., 2002).

Some research asserts that acute responses to stressful events, generally, are asso- ciated with critical incidents (Anderson et al., 2002; Liberman et al., 2002), which are situations when an officer witnesses or is confronted with the potential for seri- ous injury or death (Liberman et. al., 2002). Several work environment stressors are identified in the literature as critical incidents including shooting somebody in the line of duty, making a violent arrest, responding to a gruesome crime scene, or deal- ing with fatal accidents (He et al., 2002). Although police officers frequently face hostile citizens, life-threatening events rarely occur in policing (Hart, Wearing, & Headey, 1993). In fact, some research finds that danger is not a significant cause of daily stress among police officers (Hart et al., 1993); however, critical incident stress also may occur when officers perceive stress-inducing events as situations that are beyond their immediate control (Anderson et al., 2002).

Whereas critical incidents can result in acute psychosocial stress that may cause any number of short-term behavioral or psychological difficulties, chronic stress

builds over time and frequently is related to the work environment, the nature of interpersonal relationships, issues associated with organizational structures, and stressors inherent to the job requirements of policing (Anderson et al., 2002; He et al., 2002; Liberman et al., 2002; Weber & Leeper, 1998). Nonviolent work-related stressors include, shift work, overtime, negative time management, paperwork, and physical requirements such as walking patrols and carrying heavy equipment. Problems of this type are more likely to compound and create chronic stress. Chronic stress may not immediately overwhelm the officer’s coping ability, but over time it can result in negative consequences or overpower stress management skills (Anderson et al., 2002).

One consequence of chronic stress is the psychological concept known as burnout. Although burnout and stress represent connected psychological concepts, some important distinctions are noted. Currently in the police stress literature, no universal term exists to describe stress or burnout (Liberman et al., 2002; Loo, 2004). Frequently, researchers conceive of stress as the reaction or response to neg- ative or emotionally challenging stimuli (Liberman et al., 2002). On the other hand, burnout can represent the cumulative influence of long-term stress and includes aspects of emotional exhaustion and depersonalization (Loo, 2004).

Several aspects of police organizations are identified as sources of elevated stress and burnout. These factors include frustration with the criminal justice system, departmental politics and lack of departmental support, concerns with the promo- tional process, poor training (Anderson et al., 2002), and the bureaucratic nature of law enforcement (He et al., 2002). The size of the law enforcement agency may also influence the potential for stress and burnout. Most research on stress and burnout focuses on larger departments located in urban centers (Brooks & Piquero, 1998). Patrol officers from large departments generally have greater stress across a number of variables including organizational structure, administrative arenas, public demands, fear of danger, and interactions with other areas of the criminal justice system (Brooks & Piquero, 1998).

Interpersonal relationships also have a significant influence on the development of stress and burnout. Interpersonal relationships refer to both personal relationships, like friends and family, and job-related relationships, such as patrol partners or shift supervisors. Family responsibilities may both enhance and mediate stress for officers depending on the nature of the interpersonal relationships. For example, some research shows that family support reduces stress for men/husbands (He et al., 2002). Work requirements, however, may directly conflict with obligations at home creating stress in both environments (Howard et al., 2004). Stress generated from conflicts between work and home also may exacerbate work-related pressures. Work–family conflicts can reduce job satisfaction and increase emotional exhaustion and burnout. This relationship may be more pronounced for female officers who are expected to maintain domestic roles as mothers, wives, and caregivers; however, this issue has not been the target of much empirical evaluation (He et al., 2002).

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Peers also are an important source of interpersonal support for police officers and provide context for understanding police behaviors (Brooks & Piquero, 1998; Violanti, 1997). Shared work experiences allow officers to develop a mutual under- standing of work stressors that can serve as a protective factor in terms of stress and burnout, although a significant amount of research has established that police peer relations also may become a source of hostility, stress, discrimination, and cynicism (Brown, 1998; Harpold & Feenster, 2002; S. Martin, 1994; Miller, Forest, & Jurik, 2003). As such, these relationships may indirectly increase rather than decrease levels of stress and burnout.

Finally, the research suggests that a number of demographic variables are related to stress and burnout among police officers. These factors include age, officer rank, and length of service (Lennings, 1997). Some research finds a positive relationship between an officer’s age and increased stress levels (Brooks & Piquero, 1998; Lennings, 1997). Many police managers with higher rank also struggle with burnout and stress (Loo, 2004). Another demographic variable linked to stress is years of ser- vice which appears to demonstrate a curvilinear effect. Officers in their first few years of service and those close to retirement have the lowest levels of stress, whereas officers in the middle years of employment appear to have elevated stress (Brooks & Piquero, 1998; Lennings, 1997). There is also a limited body of research indicating that men and women in law enforcement may experience and manage stress differently (He et al., 2002). For example, Loo (2004) found stress on male officers generates only moderate levels of burnout, whereas female officers show higher levels. Garcia (2003) found that perception of gender roles attached to differ- ent job task also influences the level of stress for women officers.

The current study will examine several distinct conceptual sources of officer stress and burnout including stressors related to work requirements, organizational structures, and interpersonal relationships. It also extends the current literature by addressing a fundamental question: How does gender influence reactions to stress and burnout? Gendered organization theory, the concept of hegemonic masculinity, the social construction of gender, and ideas about the intersectionality of race and gender are used to explore this question.

Gendered Organization

The gendered organization framework provides a theory that extends beyond some of the limitations in the current police stress literature. Acker (1990) argues that the gendering of organizations occurs along five interactive and interconnected processes. The first component is a division of labor by gender. Quite simply, this means that men and women perform different tasks within an organization. The sec- ond factor is the creation of images that account for, oppose, or reinforce cultural ideas about gender. The third process explores how gender guides social interactions

Kurtz / The Gendering of Stress and Burnout in Modern Policing 219

among people within an organization. The fourth component examines how gen- dered activities shape individual identities in an organization. The last factor deals with the ways in which gender frames social and organizational structures and becomes a vital aspect of how individuals understand the practices and perceptions that dominate organizational culture (Acker, 1990; Britton, 2003). Because of data limitations, the current research will focus on two areas of gendered organizations— gendered images and interactions. A detailed explanation of the proxy variables is available in the Method section.

Hegemonic Masculinity

Connell’s concept of hegemonic masculinity and emphasized femininity also is important to the current research. Hegemonic masculinity refers to the idea that men dominate women on a global level, and this notion explains differentiation between men and women. In fact, hegemonic masculinity not only establishes the gender relations between men and women but also among men because hegemonic mas- culinity establishes a dominant idea of what it means to be a man and all other con- ceptions are constructed as something other than masculine. Hegemonic masculinity generally is not maintained by force, although both physical and economic force can be used to bolster the masculine dominance of society (Connell,1987).

The relevancy of hegemonic masculinity to policing is evident in several ways. Policing is clearly a profession with an organizational structure that supports hegemonic masculinity; women, homosexuals, and nonmasculine traits are often shunned in law enforcement. Characteristics that have been traditionally associated with a good police officer—fearlessness, heroic demeanor, physical and emotional strength, assertiveness, and intelligence (Darien, 2002; Moore, 1999)—are features of hegemonic masculinity. Policing also directly involves the use of violence and force as a means to maintain social order; consequently, policing helps reinforce hegemonic masculinity, for example, by enforcing laws that limit other forms of masculinity, such as laws that target the gay community or make certain sexual prac- tices illegal (i.e. homosexuality, sodomy).

Recent work on hegemonic masculinity by Connell and Messerschmidt (2005) describes the complexity associated with masculinity and notes that different con- structions of masculinity may operate on different levels. In particular, the authors formulate research oriented hierarchies of hegemonic masculinity that include local, regional, and global arenas. Locally constructed masculinity may develop in direct interactions found in face-to-face contact, organizational contexts, and community relations. Regionally constructed masculinity operates more prevalently on the level of culture and nation. Finally, globally constructed hegemonic masculinity is assem- bled within world politics and media.

Localized differences in hegemonic masculinity among police officers may reflect the nature of police organizational practices, interactions in local police agencies, and

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the nature of crime and stress attributed to local communities whereas regional and global influences of hegemonic masculinity in policing may vary. For example, the same masculine perception of police officers in Texas may not be present in officers in New York. Similarly, the ways in which masculinity are demonstrated in policing in the United States may not be present in officers in other parts of the world; how- ever, some consistent conceptions of hegemonic masculinity related to law enforce- ment permeate all three of Connell and Messerschmidt’s levels of analysis. For example, law enforcement officers throughout the world have a relationship to state sponsored use of violence that could reinforce conceptions of hegemonic masculinity.

Community-level aspects of hegemonic masculinity provide a rich context for understanding the problem of stress and burnout. Community differences influence law enforcement agencies in a number of ways. First, police organizations primarily recruit new officers from their local community; therefore, localized aspects of the community extend directly into organizational culture. Second, the size of the com- munity likely influences organizational structure, size, and specialization of depart- ments. Third, communities influence the daily behavior of officers through local standards of behavior (Liederbach & Frank, 2006).

Although local context influences the conception of police masculinity, some sim- ilar traits also should be observed at the regional level. For example, research demon- strates that police officers, as a rule, reject alternative forms of masculinity, specifically gay masculinity (Miller et al., 2003), which is associated with (or assumed to repre- sent) femininity. Power and physical aggression are associated with hegemonic mas- culinity and therefore incompatible with emphasized femininity (Connell, 1987). The association between hegemonic masculinity and policing leaves little room for femi- nine traits in the daily activity of law enforcement officers and limits the possible response patterns officers can select when faced with stress and burnout.

Social Construction of Gender

The final concept relevant to this article is the idea of doing gender as developed by West and Zimmerman (1987). Doing gender involves creating perceived differ- ences between what is considered masculine and feminine and then using these dif- ferences to justify gender as essential or biologically linked. This process is not necessarily a conscious decision by the actors. Doing gender involves organizing activities in a way that conveys gender and perceiving the actions of others as related to gender (West & Zimmerman, 1987). In this theoretical framework, gender is no longer a static social category, but a process used to reinforce the concept of mascu- line and feminine traits. Gender becomes an accomplishment and not an inherent property of an individual. Through the doing gender process, particular behaviors, pursuits, social interactions, and social–psychological perceptions become associated with a natural understanding of what is masculine or feminine (West & Zimmerman, 1987). This creates situations in which behaviors are deemed as part of gender.

Kurtz / The Gendering of Stress and Burnout in Modern Policing 221

This situational practice of doing of gender also extends to work related stress and definitions of responses as masculine or feminine. In law enforcement, this situated doing involves expectations of how officers respond to the daily hassles and/or the unique situations of policing. Officers are required by both the public and other offi- cers to react in ways consistent with the image of policing. In policing, a profession highly associated with masculine ideals, doing police masculinity may involve expressing a number of behaviors that enhance gender specific displays. Violence, the use of force, controlling conduct, assertiveness, self-reliance, and other behav- iors associated with a good police officer are also associated with accomplishing masculinity. Doing police masculinity and performing police activities are intercon- nected and mutually reinforcing behaviors that enhance common sense assumptions about police officers and the occupation’s connection to masculinity.

Intersections of Race and Gender

Although this research primarily focuses on aspects of gender in police work environments, race remains a theoretical and methodological consideration as well. Some research indicates that both gender and race affect officer assignments, gen- eral behavior patterns in police organizations, and perceptions of treatment by peers (Dodge & Pogrebin, 2001; S. Martin, 1994). Currently, some scholars are attending to the interactive nature of race, class, gender, and sexual orientation (Burgess- Proctor, 2006; Barak, Flavin, & Leighton, 2007). For example, S. Martin’s compre- hensive research of five police agencies found that race, class, and gender guide organizational behavior, gender interactions, and officer conduct. The interactions between men and women, between women, and between Black and White individu- als aligned with the historical context of policing as both White and male. Race also played a significant role in the gendering process. Men either reified White women as objects of sexual desire or glorified secretaries. White male officers viewed Black women as a source of labor (S. Martin, 1994). Similarly, Dodge and Pogrebin (2001) used the intersection approach to their qualitative study of police professional rela- tionships, finding that the intersections of race and gender shaped perceptions of the officers. The researchers found that masculine norms in police organizations height- ened the marginalization of both women and other minorities. The authors state, “The exclusion of black women is apparent in their relationships with fellow offi- cers; black and white, male and female” (p. 559).

The current research explores the relationship between gender, stress, and burnout. Building from theories that focus on gender, this research examines the relationship between gender and police psychological and behavioral outcomes to determine some of the ways that hegemonic masculinity and the process of doing gender contributes to police stress and burnout. It also explores the intersections of race and gender to evaluate their impact on stress and burnout.

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Method

The data from this study come from an existing data source: The Police Stress and Domestic Violence in Police Families in Baltimore, Maryland 1997-19991 (Gershon, 2000). This study contained a 5-page questionnaire that assessed officer stressors, negative health outcomes, current stress levels, level of support, and use of violence by police officers.

Sample

The survey was distributed to officers of the Baltimore Police Department during roll calls for all shifts in all nine of Baltimore’s precincts and their headquarters. At the time of the survey, the Baltimore Police Department had slightly more than 2,500 sworn officers; approximately 1,200 surveys were distributed and 1,104 officers (92%) completed the questionnaire.

Measure

For the purposes of this project, several sets of variables from the survey were used including demographic characteristics, nature of interpersonal relationships, work related events, psychological and physiological responses to stress, level of burnout, and perceptions related to gender dynamics. Comparative cross tabulations and quantitative analysis are employed with these variable groupings. All missing data for each variable were coded as missing and the case was excluded in regres- sion analysis. The data set had very few missing cases and the valid numbers are included as a note in each regression table.

The specific demographic variables included in these analyses are sex, race, edu- cational level, and marital status. For quantitative analysis, dummy variables repre- sent each demographic category. To explore differences along the intersections of race and gender in nongender spilt models, race and sex categories were combined to create four groups: African American females, African American males, White females, and White males. Dummy variables were also created to assess marital sta- tus and college education. Officer reporting that they are currently married are coded as one with all other responses coded as zero. Similarly, officer with at least a col- lege degree are coded as one (1) with all other groups coded as zero (0). The descrip- tion of the sample reported in Table 1 also includes simple frequency distribution information on the rank of officers within this sample.

Several dummy variables measured support by family and administrative offi- cials. A measure of family support was coded as one (1) for officers who agree or strongly agree with the following statement: “I feel that I can rely on support from my family.” Officers who remained neutral or disagreed were coded as zero (0). Support of administration was coded as one (1) for officers who agree or strongly

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agree that “The administration supports officer who are in trouble.” Officers dis- agreeing with this statement were coded as zero (0).

Dummy variables also measured officer responses to critical events. Respondents were asked if they were “emotionally” affected or fearful of work-related stressful events. The events included making a violent arrest, shooting someone in the line of duty, knowing the victim or perpetrator of a crime, and being the subject of an inter- nal affairs investigation. The variable was coded as one (1) for participants who answered “Very much,” and zero (0) for those answering “a little” or “not at all.”

The acceptability of women in law enforcement was measured by creating dummy variables from responses to two statements: (a) Gender-related jokes are often made and (b) The department is lenient in enforcing rules for female officers. Variables were coded as one (1) for those respondents who agreed or strongly agreed and zero (0) for respondents who were neutral, disagreed, or strongly disagreed with these statements.2 The first variable served as a proxy variable for aspects of gender interaction in the workplace and the second provided a proxy for the image of women in law enforcement agencies.

The questionnaire used several Likert scales that address elements of stress. Respondents were asked if they experienced the following 7 signs of psychological

Table 1 Characteristics of Survey Respondents

n Percentage

Race/gender African American women 102 9.2 White women 51 4.6 African American men 253 22.9 White men 643 58.2

Martial status Married 658 59.6 Live-in partner 88 8.0 Divorced/separated 135 12.2 Single 213 19.3

Rank Officer/trainee 692 62.6 Detective 144 13.0 Sergeant 143 13.0 Agent 62 5.6 Lieutenant or above 59 5.3

Level of education High school 165 14.9 Some college 603 54.6 College degree 285 25.8 Graduate school 41 3.7

stress in the past 6 months: restlessness, feeling hopeless, panic attacks, irritability, withdrawal, depression, and emotional depletion. The physiological portion of this index used five questions assessing whether respondents had experienced nausea, trouble getting their breath, a lump in the throat, pains or pounding in the chest, and faintness or dizziness in the 6 months prior to the survey. A 4-point Likert scale with possible answers ranging from never to always was used. Many of these items mea- sured the same latent traits, and for the purposes of quantitative analysis, they were combined into a single item measuring both physical and psychological stress. The index scores ranged from 12 to 48 (α = .82).

The burnout index was constructed by combining responses to the following three questions: I feel like I am on automatic pilot most times, I feel burned out from my job, and I feel like I’m at the end of the rope. The possible responses ranged from strongly disagree to strongly agree. The range on this index was from 3 to 15 (α = .78).

Findings

Table 1 displays general characteristics of the survey respondents. The vast majority of respondents in the sample were White male (n = 643), constituting 58% of the sample. The next largest group was African American males (n = 253) who represented about 23% of the sample population. Not surprisingly, women repre- sented the lowest proportion of survey participants. About 14% of the sample were women; 9% (n = 102) were African American and 5% were White (n = 51). The sam- ple also included a small number of Hispanic males (n = 14) and 24 individuals selected other as a race category. Unknown participants (n = 10) were coded as 9 and excluded in all regression analysis.

Patrol officers and patrol officers trainees represented the majority of respondents (n = 692) and made up 62% of the sample, whereas 5% of the participants were high- ranking officers holding the rank of lieutenant or higher (n = 59). Officers also help various other positions within the department including detective (n = 144), sergeant (n = 143), and agent (n = 62). The sample had only 4 missing cases. Nearly 60% of the sample was married with an additional 8% having a live-in partner. Roughly 12% of those sampled were divorced or separated and slightly more than 19% were sin- gle. In keeping with the movement to professionalize law enforcement, the vast majority of officers in this study had some college education (85%) and more than a quarter of respondents held a college degree. In this sample, education level was similar for both genders; roughly, 28% of female officers held a college degree com- pared with 26% of the males.

The rank and job distribution of officers in the Baltimore Police Department at the time of the survey reflects the fact that few women advance beyond simple patrol duties in modern law enforcement (Schulz, 1995). Only 4 of the 59 survey respondents who held the office of lieutenant or above are women, and 14 female respondents held

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the position of sergeant. This means that roughly 2% of the women completing the survey held positions of sergeant or greater. The males in the survey appeared to have better avenues for advancement within the organization. Nearly one in five male officers (19.5%) in the survey holds the position of sergeant or greater. Given the small number of female off

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