Contrasting emotional labor and burnout in civilian and sworn law enforcement personnel

Abstract

PurposeThis study introduces emotional labor into an analysis of multiple dimensions of burnout in sworn and civilian employees across three law enforcement agencies.Design/methodology/approachUsing data from a survey of law enforcement employees in a metropolitan police department, a full-service sheriff's department, and a state corrections agency located in the western United States (n = 1,921), we test the explanatory power of an emotional labor-based model of burnout.FindingsResults partially confirm the lone prior study to examine civilian and sworn personnel. Sworn and civilian employees experience variant levels of emotional exhaustion and depersonalization, though the underlying emotional labor correlates are significantly related to burnout for both groups. Further, we extend prior results by capturing multiple facets of burnout as well as contributing an emotional labor explanation for burnout, while controlling for individual demographic characteristics and agency type.Research limitations/implicationsLaw enforcement agencies rely upon non-sworn employees to support their missions. The experience of non-sworn law enforcement personnel is under-researched in both the emotional labor and law enforcement organizational literature. Burnout is a phenomenon that has high costs for both employees and organizations, particularly in the law enforcement context. Investigating the emotional labor experience of employees is critical for practitioners who are tasked with effectively managing both groups.Originality/valueOne previous study has investigated the emotional labor of civilians in law enforcement and used community-level predictions for burnout. This study builds on those findings by capturing two facets of burnout rather than the lone gauge of burnout used in the previous study. Furthermore, we use an emotional labor model to investigate emotional exhaustion and depersonalization reported by sworn and civilian personnel.

An evaluation of the implementation of reflective practice supervision standards in the national probation service

“…We also found that there is a considerable risk of work-family conflict and work-life spillover (Westaby et al, 2016) and that probation staff have to perform a high level of surface acting as part of their job (Westaby et al, 2019). Surface acting -a concept taken from the literature on emotional labour (Hochschild, 1983) -has been linked to higher levels of burnout amongst workers in other criminal justice institutions (such as the prison (Nylander et al, 2011) and the police (Adams and Mastracci, 2020;Black and Lumsden, 2020;Schaible and Six, 2016) and other jurisdictions (e.g. the US).…”

The response of law enforcement agencies and police officers' experiences under the Covid-19 state of alarm in Catalonia, Spain

“…This situation forced SLBs to make new or different decisions in their jobs every day. The interaction and emotional engagement of SLBs and police officers with citizens, along with work environments with a high workload, unpredictability and ambiguity, may lead to symptoms of distress (Braquehais et al, 2020;Riedy et al, 2021;Tummers et al, 2015); PTSD, anxiety, insomnia and/or depression (Navin et al, 2020;Pappa et al, 2020;Wagner et al, 2019); alienation, depersonalization, emotional exhaustion, surface acting, burnout (Adams and Mastracci, 2020), decoupling and coping practices (Johnson and Vaughn, 2016;Knight, 2017); or even increased risk of suicide mortality (Baumert et al, 2014).…”

“…, 2020; Wagner et al. , 2019); alienation, depersonalization, emotional exhaustion, surface acting, burnout (Adams and Mastracci, 2020), decoupling and coping practices (Johnson and Vaughn, 2016; Knight, 2017); or even increased risk of suicide mortality (Baumert et al. , 2014).…”

Research on Emotional Labor and Management of Takeaway Delivery Staff

“…For the deliverer, in the face of customers, merchants, platforms and other third-party personnel, the inconsistency between the false emotional expression and the inner reality brought by wearing the mask will consume more psychological resources and aggravate the psychological fatigue [8]. By actively adjusting their own subjective experience and inner expression, and providing services from the heart, to achieve an active deep performance that is consistent with the outside, the takeaway deliverers can improve their personal sense of accomplishment and job satisfaction [9]. Delivery personnel should strengthen their own active emotional labor strategy, and perform more deep roles in the process of delivery, so as to meet the requirements under various rules.…”