Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to highlight the stressors involved in an occupation at potential risk -the profession of law enforcement. Design/methodology/approach -The paper reviews the history of police stress studies. It describes prevention and treatment programs that have unfortunately not been sufficiently utilized because of the police culture. Findings -The documented symptoms of stress include digestive orders, cardiovascular diseas, alcoholism, domestic violence, post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and suicide. While some police officers start their careers in excellent physical health, some retire early or even die from job-related stress disorders if the cumulative impact of stress exacts its toll. Originality/value -The paper offers a description of COP.2.COP a confidential hotline for officers and their families staffed by retired officers and licensed professionals.
This article delineates the factors that have long contributed to the high rate of stressrelated disorders in ''first responders,'' those frontline professionals responsible for the safety and security of the public (law enforcement officers, firefighters, and emergency service personnel). It covers the rationale for COP-2-COP, a unique program designed to address the mental health needs of a high-risk population, its history, its components, and outcomes. This state funded program is a crisis intervention ''helpline'' for first responders, and their families, providing peer support, clinical assessment, referrals to mental health practitioners with relevant experience, and Critical Incident Stress Management. We begin with two newspaper reports of actual cases and end with four fictional case studies that reflect a composite of typical symptoms experienced by clients contacting one of the COP-2-COP hotlines. These cases are presented along with the special programs that were designed to address the consequences of the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001. Fortunately, COP-2-COP was already in place and prepared to act in response to the impact of a trauma of unprecedented magnitude.
In this article, the events of September 11, 2001, and the continuing aftermath are placed in the perspective of a Stress/Crisis/Trauma Response Model that covers (a) the categories of predisposing factors contributing to the individual's level of resiliency (hardiness factor), (b) the nature, scope, and potential outcome of the actual event(s), (c) the immediate and, hopefully, transient responses (acute stress disorder), and (d) the potential long-term outcomes (e.g., physical illness, post-traumatic stress disorder, and other forms of psychopathology). Prevention activities, early interventions including emergency services, crisis intervention strategies, and treatment programs for serious mental disorders are incorporated into the model. The early intervention disaster response efforts directed towards both families and first responders following the events of September 11 are discussed. There is also a critique of the present state of mental health disaster response policy and our level of preparedness as well as a reply to that critique. [Brief Treatment and Crisis Intervention 2:55-74 (2002)]
The real problem is not teenage pregnancy alone, but the destructive combination of single motherhood, poverty, and drug abuse. The consequences of being a poor, inner-city, single mother with an expensive drug habit may include prostitution, drug dealing, dependency upon welfare and/or extra support from an already overwhelmed family system, and neglected children. Almost inevitably, the children exhibit cognitive deficits and behavioral problems, may turn to drugs at a young age, and may have an early involvement with the criminal justice system. To design effective prevention programs it is essential to understand the myriad complex risk factors that affect the lives of these vulnerable young women. As the first stage in a larger study of motivation and readiness for change and the development of self-protective health practices, interview data were collected from 30 participants. Sixteen were residents and staff who had graduated from a drug treatment program and 14 were undergraduate and graduate students, all of whom had been pregnant as teenagers. The results yielded a surprising commonality of experiences for both groups that included childhood physical and sexual abuse, coercive adolescent sexual relationships, early first sexual contact, early first pregnancies (often as a function of rape or incest), abortions, and chemical dependency, especially during pregnancy.
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