‘vt 1\ t J. l ("5’53” ‘14.;95 ‘5 s ‘ '2 ”@539“? r $1253: ' , ' .:’\ l‘ L' 1 .5‘ . a “1&2 \ ’3‘ V. ‘ l I i 1.". 13'.- ~ ‘34- j '41“; \ § ‘ 7 (4:2 - A: I y ‘ ,3; a "‘7. 3.2 '. - , 33.1.51-‘g‘tflgfiéé 9'. ‘ ‘ .; ,. ' 3. guy-'1‘" ,l'A ' J “:41 ' 33:: 1%va “\‘h’rh‘ u." . . LY“ 221‘ .5‘ t», J‘ . '0‘ \ . ‘v ‘ ‘1 F. If} r ‘. .151. 4Yg§£i . ‘ n . V ".54 H1“: . _ '_ w! J ‘vf’gétxl’xg . 1‘ ’a " .' ‘ H ‘ ' 'U'Pr..if<3 “9“ ’5 x 7' I "L" "MIME”!!! fill (IT! my {111: “fl'fl‘i’i ,, THESIS This is to certify that the thesis entitled THE EFFECTS OF SHIFT ROTATION 0N POLICE JOB STRESS presented by SYDNEY W. WHITE has been accepted towards fulfillment of the requirements for ‘ Ph. 0. degree in kSocial 5;; ence m 7%‘ no”? Major professo Date December 2, 1980 0-7639 A 914:“; ‘ i I an$ . saw? ;5;,' W (3 lug CLC ocfi 9.52:. ‘4 .1; . '2 M J WIT. ‘7‘ ;; 18E}: 'w »§z% _‘ if?" ’2 ’ kn"! OVERDUE FINES: 25¢ per day per iten mumue mam mums; Place in book return to remove charge from circulation records 932 ,33 £259 1999.7: THE EFFECTS OF SHIFT ROTATION ON POLICE JOB STRESS By Sydney N. White A DISSERTATION Submitted to Michigan State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY College of Social Science 1980 ABSTRACT THE EFFECTS OF SHIFT ROTATION ON POLICE JOB STRESS By Sydney H. White The effects of rotating shifts on police job stress were measured for 35 officers transferred from a rotating shift to a fixed shift schedule in a medium-sized midwestern police department. Participant scores were measured both before and after the shift change on 14 stress and strain variables using individually administered self- report questionnaires, supplemented by physical measurements. Com- parison of change scores were made with a control group of 10 officers who remained on rotation. The results indicated there were no signi- ficant differences between the experimental and control groups for ll of the tested variables. Two variables, participation and social support showed significant reductions in stress for persons transferred from rotating shifts. One strain variable, job dissatisfaction, decreased significantly for officers moving to fixed shifts. An analysis of correlations of the stress and strain variables and several demographic variables revealed a number of significant relationships among them. The results are discussed in terms of their implications for current theories of police job stress and the practical measures that might be taken to improve stress management. Suggestions are made for changes in the variables and other improvements which could enhance the value of future research into the stress effects of rotating shifts. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS It is a pleasant duty to acknowledge my indebtedness to those who helped and supported me in this research. All the members of my committee provided advice and constructive recommendations. They are: Dr. Robert Trojanowicz (Chairman), Dr. William Faunce, Dr. Lester Hyman, Dr. Kenneth Christian, and Dr. Eugene Jacobson. It was both stimulating and rewarding to work with them. Dr. Robert Trojanowicz originally suggested the topic and intro— duced me to the people in the field. More important, he went out of his way to give me strong support and assistance not only during the research phase, but at all stages of my doctoral studies. I shall always be grateful for his help and friendship. Dr. Faunce made insightful contributions to both the proposal and dissertation drafts. Dr. Christian made many practical suggestions, some of which were particularly helpful at the final stages. Dr. Jacobson raised several critical points which helped me to revise and improve my original proposal. Unfortunately, he was prevented by ill health from continuing on my committee. Dr. Hyman has my sincere gratitude for agreeing to become a member of my committee on short notice and for making many construc- tive suggestions. ii Chief Rice, Captain Rowlison, and the members of the Jackson Police Department were most patient and helpful. Without their friendly cooperation, this research could never have been completed. The final tribute must go to my wife who gave unstinting counsel, love and support at every step of the way. TABLE OF CONTENTS Page LIST OF TABLES ......................... vi LIST OF FIGURES ........................ vii Chapter I THE PROBLEM ..................... I Need ...................... 1 Purpose ..................... 5 Propositions .................. 5 Theory ..................... 5 Overview .................... 9 2 REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE ............... ll Shift Work ................... 17 University of Michigan Study of Shift Work . . . 2l HEW Study of Twenty-Three Occupations ...... 22 NIOSH Police Survey Data ............ 25 Discussion of Previous Research ......... 27 3 DESIGN OF THE STUDY ................. 29 Sample ..................... 29 Measures .................... 3l Reliability ................... 32 Validity .................... 33 Design ..................... 35 Testable Hypotheses ............... 36 Analysis .................... 38 Summary ..................... 39 4 ANALYSIS OF RESULTS ................. 4l Restatement of Hypotheses, Results of Statistical Tests and Statements of Acceptance or Rejection Hypothesis 1 .................. 4T Hypothesis lA ............... 4l Hypothesis lB ............... 42 Hypothesis lC ............... 42 Hypothesis lD ............... 42 Hypothesis lE ............... 43 Hypothesis lF ............... 43 Hypothesis lG ............... 43 TABLE OF CONTENTS (Continued) Chapter Page 4 (Continued) Hypothesis 2 .................. 44 Hypothesis 2A ............... 44 Hypothesis 28 ............... 44 Hypothesis 2C ............... 45 Hypothesis ZD ............... 45 Hypothesis 2E ............... 45 Hypothesis 2F ............... 46 Hypothesis 28 ............... 46 Results of the Correlation Analyses ....... 48 Summary ..................... 48 5 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS ............... 55 Summary of Chapters ............... 55 Findings on Rotating Shift Effects ....... 59 Hypothesis lA ............... 59 Hypothesis lB ............... 60 Hypothesis lC ............... 61 Hypothesis lD ............... 6l Hypothesis lE ............... 6l Hypothesis lF ............... 62 Hypothesis lG ............... 63 Hypothesis 2A ............... 64 Hypothesis 28 ............... 64 Hypothesis 2C ............... 64 Hypothesis 20 ............... 65 Hypothesis 2E ............... 65 Hypothesis 2F ............... 66 Hypothesis 28 ............... 66 Findings on Stress, Strain, and Demographic Correlations ................. 66 Summary of Main Findings ............ 72 Rotating Shift Data ............ 72 Stress and Strain Correlations ....... 74 Implications for Further Research ........ 75 Conclusion ................... 82 BIBLIOGRAPHY .......................... 84 APPENDICES .......................... 87 APPENDIX A: The I977 Questionnaire ......... 37 APPENDIX 8: Definitions of Stress and Strain Variables and Content of Related Questionnaire Items ......... 104 APPENDIX C: The 1978 Questionnaire ......... 110 APPENDIX D: The Jackson Police Department ...... 119 V Table 3-2 4-] 4-2 4-4 4-5 4-6 LIST OF TABLES Composition of Questionnaire Sample by Rank and Type of Shift Worked .................. Demographic Characteristics of Sample ......... Summary of Results of Hypothesis Testing ........ Correlations Among Stress Variables .......... Correlations Among Strain Variables .......... Correlations Between Stress and Strain Variables . . . . Correlations of Age, Years of Service and Years of Education with Stress and Strain Variables ....... Summary of Significant Correlations .......... vi 3O 3O 47 49 50 51 52 53 Figure l-l LIST OF FIGURES A theoretical model showing the sources and effects of job stress in organizations ............ vii Chapter l THE PROBLEM Nggg Stress at work has been the subject of much discussion and investigation in recent years.1 Police job stress has likewise been a focus of interest for those concerned with police problems. A l975 symposium on how to identify psychological stress factors and develop techniques for reducing them drew 20 participants, in- cluding psychologists, psychiatrists, criminologists, police chiefs and police officers. Contributors identified a large number of psychological stressors, of which negative public image, lack of court support, conflicting job demands, and varying shift routines are among the most prominent examples.2 These experienced professionals discussed a host of ideas about stress and suggested programs for reduction and elimination of stress and strain in policing. Recommendations ranged from techniques for the individual officer such as counseling and biofeedback to 1For a comprehensive review of studies of mental and physical stress at work, see Stanislav Kasl, "Epidemiological Contributions to the Study of Work Stress," Stress at Work (New York: Wiley, 1978), pp. 3-48. 2National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), Job Stress and the Police Officer: IdentifyingStress Reduction Techniques (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Dept. of HEW, l975) p. vii. l 2 changes in organization policies and procedures, and even to efforts at modifying political influence and community attitudes. Although there are many references to overall stress research and how it can be applied in developing techniques to manage police job stress, there are few descriptions of actual field studies of police stress, and even fewer studies which appear to follow up-to-date procedures for experimental design and data collection and analysis.3 A psychiatrist who has treated a substantial number of disabled police officers states that the number of stress-related disabilities is increasing, but that the resultant effectsin terms of decreased productivity, work days lost, and suffering, anxieties and depression of those disabled have not yet been measured accurately. He gives examples of a number of disorders produced by psychological stress, including emotional and psycho-physiological disturbances which often contribute to, or develop into, organic diseases. Common examples of stress-related diseases are high blood pressure, peptic ulcer, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease.4 A study of policemen in Tennessee revealed that their general hospital admission rates were significantly higher than for other occupations and that circulatory and digestive disorders accounted for a large proportion of the admissions. The suicide rate for police 3Of these better designs, the best is briefly described in "A Compara- tive Look at Stress and Strain in Policemen," by John French, in Job Stress and the Police Officer, pp. 60-7l. See also the HEW study of 23 occupations in Chapter 2. 4Jerome Jacobi, "Reducing Police Stress: A Psychiatrist's Point of View," Job Stress and the Police Officer, pp. 85-86. 3 in Tennessee was reported as the third highest out of 24 occupations in the state with significant numbers of suicides. A study of physi- cal fitness in police personnel found that the blood pressure levels of middle-aged police officers average about 10% higher than levels for the same age group in other occupations.5 There is no indication from available studies that police recruits have significant differ- ences in either blood pressure or heart rate from those of the general population for the same age group.6 There is evidence through correlational studies that job stress is related to job strain, illness and disease, but little direct evi- dence that stress is caused by specific situations or conditions. This is the case with shift work, particularly rotating shift work, which is often cited as a contributing factor to police job stress: "Shift work characterizes law enforcement work scheduling. It is considered a significant stressor in that it has substantial adverse effects upon one's family life and possible health. Changing shifts every month, three months, or what- ever is disruptive to one's personal and occugational styles. AdJustments become a demanding way of life. Only one study has been found which compares police stress effects 8 from rotating shifts with those from fixed shift schedules. In it 5Michael Pollack and Larry Gettman, "Coronary Risk Factors and Level of Physical Fitness in Police Officers," Proceedings of the 83rd Annual Conference of the International Association of Chiefs of POlicePTT976). 6Wayne Richard and Ronald Fell, "Health Factors in Police Job Stress," Job Stress and the Police Officer, pp. 78-84. 7Terry Eisenberg, Job Stress and the Police Officer, p. 32. 8Robert Caplan, "Social-Psychological Dynamics in Shift Work," Shift Work and Health (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Dept. of HEW, 1976), pp. 206-209. 4 the rotaters reported higher levels of work load, role conflict, job dissatisfaction and somatic complaints than officers on fixed shifts. There are a number of studies which have been made of the effects of shift work on industrial workers. Probably the most thorough of these was made by Mott et al. in examining social, psychological, and physical consequences of shift work at five plants in the United States. They found that rotaters reported more trouble with time- oriented body functions than any other category of shift workers. Also, those on rotating shifts have more difficulty with home and social roles because the changing shift prevents them from giving enough attention to family and friends. In their conclusions, Mott et al. state that "Longitudinal studies among the concepts of the worker's shift, his ability to adjust his time-oriented body functions, and his subsequent health, would be especially valuable."9 This recommendation is also contained in Kasl's article reviewing job stress research: “First, we need to concentrate on longitudinal studies of the work setting, preferably those designed around 'natural experiments,‘ that is, significant events and transitions, which may better reveal the way the work environment affects health and well-being, and the way individuals adapt to this environment and to changes therein."10 Thus, the need for more research is evident to help determine the stress effects of rotating shifts on police personnel, particu- larly "natural experiments" designed to measure the impact of actual changes in working conditions. 9Paul Mott, Floyd Mann, Owen McLaughlin and Donald Warwick, Shift Work (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1965), p. 3l4. 10Kasl, Stress at Work, p. 35. Purpose The primary purpose of the study is to investigate the stress and strain of rotating work shifts on the life of police personnel. To accomplish this, measures of job stress and job strain variables will be made both before and after discontinuance of rotating shift work in a police department. A secondary purpose is to find significant correlations among stress, strain, age, tenure, rank, and education variables. These correlations can help to identify the factors which are associated with the most important effects of stress and strain. Propositions 1. Job stress will be reduced for police changing from a rotating shift to a fixed shift schedule. 2. Strain responses to job stress will be reduced for police changing from a rotating shift to a fixed shift schedule. Theory A number of theories have been advanced to explain the impact of job stress on physical and mental health. This study adapts a theoretical framework developed by researchers at the Institute for Social Research of the University of Michigan. It is shown in Figure l-l, which depicts a model of stress together with the .flmfimp .mupmwo mcwu:_ca pamEch>ow .m.: u.o.o .coumcwsmmzv cupom: cmxgoz new mesmemo new .ammccpm .m .m cam .comrceez ce> .m .gocmgu ccoa .nnou xmcuwm .cmpamu uemnom soc» cmpamv< "mucaom .mcowpm~mcmago cw mmogum non co muummem use mmuczom as» mcwzo;m pmvos pmuwuocomgu < .P-F mcamwd acmxcwgo mmmeou msmpaoea mcvxosm FecomcwnemucH Pecow>mcmm auwucmzo xeoz ooze; w a no mumpmao xgoz Logo; meammwcm wuopu Emwmmucmmn< fl“ pecanzm meoom », mcumaam moa Page OPOPm ca cmanmwquMMu n moccmeg » .am- usou opumsom a. .ne< mmmcppfi xgoumcwnmmm :owwume unsung now ”mac-PH -m-pemmeo ace Aumzmwae< apex .mezppao Pacwpmwucw-ogpmmo . covmcop yuppmcou mpom Fmpuom emu S 6.5%; VI .38.. etc: 2293“. Lapsumwwmwmwmmu quemopocuzwa Ammmeom aoav hzmzzome>zu . . nmcwegumy hzmzzomH>zm u>~humamo mmmzooH-:»4Hhumwmnm 4 mm>_uoz hHm hzmzzomm>zm zommua mmmcmmmo mumpmapxmpu < mnxw zommmm 7 resulting strains and the effects on individual job performance and health.11 Before the model is explained, the relevant terms should be defined: .Stpppg refers to any interaction of person and environment which is perceived as threatening by the individual concerned. Examples are work loads perceived as heavy, or a pay rate perceived as inequitable. Stppjp_refers to the effects of stress on the behavior of the individual as shown by deviation from normal responses. Examples are tension (psychological strain), high blood pressure (physiological strain), or increased smoking or drinking (behavioral strain). Objective environment means the surroundings, circumstances, situation, or set of conditions which exist independently of the individual's perception of them. It includes not only the organi- zational or work environment, but also the physical, social and cultural environment which produce stimuli that may be perceived by the person. Subjective environment is a construct denoting the private perceptions by the individual of stimuli which are received from the objective environment, particularly those perceived as stressful. Person-environment fit is a term used to describe the relationship between the characteristics of the person and those of his environ- ment. One main type of fit is the extent to which the person's needs nRobert Caplan, Sidney Cobb, John French, R. Van Harrison, and S. R. Pinneau, Job Demands and Worker Health (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Dept. of HEW,‘T975). P. 5. 8 and expectations can be met in the job environment; another is the extent to which job requirements are met by relevant abilities and skills in the person. Responses refer to the feelings, behaviors and actions of the person affected, as the effects of, or reactions to, the subjective environment. Examples are psychosomatic complaints, blood pressure changes and changes in smoking habits. Health-Illness is the state of being of the individual with refer- ence to wellness, fitness, illness, accidents and disease. Job Effects refers to results, consequences or outcomes in the individual's job, particularly those which can be measured objectively, such as the quantity of work performed and the number of absences.l The Person as a concept comprises the inherited and acquired characteristics of the individual which affect job stress and strain. The theory illustrated in the model consists of a group of general propositions which seek to explain causes and effects of job stress: 1) Stimuli from the objective environment impinge upon the per- son's subjective environment at work and are perceived by him. 2) Those stimuli perceived as threatening cause job stresses of various kinds to the person. 3) The job stresses elicit from the person strain responses which may be physiological, psychological or behavioral in nature. 4) The effects of job stresses are conditioned by personal char- acteristics and by the degree of individual person-environment fit. 5) Strain responses caused by traumatic stress or elicited over an extended period may result in various types of illness. 9 6) Strain responses tend to reduce the efficiency and effective- ness of overall job performance. The theory illustrated by this model can be applied quite well to the conditions of rotating shifts. The objective environment of rotating shifts gives rise to differing physiological and social sti- muli, which in turn cause varying perceptions by the individual of the demands on him. The characteristics of the individual are very important, particularly his flexibility and how well his psychological and biological rhythms fit the changing shift environment. One might expect rotation to cause disturbances in sleeping and eating habits and social life with increased strain showing up as irritability, job dissatisfaction, higher blood pressure and increased smoking and drinking. If the rotating shift schedule was prolonged, then strains would also tend to lead to illness and adverse effects on attendance and job performance. Thus, the theoretical model predicts that rotating shifts will cause increases in physiological and psychologi- cal stress which will in turn result in increases in strain responses, and eventually in adverse effects on health and job performance. Overview In Chapter 2, the literature review begins with early concepts of job stress in police organizations and two early studies of police job stress. Effects of shift work on employee health in industry both in the U.S. and overseas, are reviewed from results of several field studies. The chapter concludes with a report on a massive research project by HEW of stress and worker health in 23 occupations, including police. 10 In Chapter 3 the design and methodology of the study are presented. The sample and its demographic data will be discussed. The question- naire to be employed and estimates of the reliability of its various measures are described. The methodology used for data collection and processing is explained. The hypotheses to be tested will be restated, and the analysis techniques given. In Chapter 4 the results of the data gathering and analyses are set forth, including detailed presentation of the acceptance or rejec- tion of the hypotheses. In Chapter 5 the conclusions from this study are presented and explained. Implications of the results for the theoretical framework and for further research are discussed. Chapter 2 REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE In recent years a good deal has been written about stress, but comparatively little about job stress, and very little about the effects of shift work on police job stress. There is only one study which deals with the effects of rotating shifts on police 1 This study and a major investigation of 23 occupations 2 job stress. including police will be reviewed in some detail in this chapter. Before this is done, a general review will be made of other research and writings which have a bearing on this topic, including studies of other aspects of police job stress as well as research on shift work in police and other organizations. Concluding this chapter will be a discussion of the previous research reviewed and its impli- cations in the planning of the present study which is described in Chapter 3. The policeman's job has long been considered a stressful one and the tensions and riots arising from the civil rights movement of the 60's greatly increased the attention paid to police job prob- lems. But it was not until the 1970's that the first serious attempts 1Robert Caplan, Shift Work and Health, pp. l98-210. 2Caplan et al., Job Demands and Worker Health. ll 12 were made to write about police job stress. The first article dealt with organizational stresses affecting policemen by first describing the main stresses to which the policeman is subjected within the department. Then the sequence is outlined of how stress develops and is handled as the rookie policeman becomes more experienced and accepted by his peers.3 Reiser points out that in addition to the violence and danger of work on the street. organizational and role stresses also contribute a great deal to the policeman's stress load. In a police department, the chief is the father figure, arousing feelings related to power, dependence, and independence in his officers. Typically in the past there has been authoritarian and even despotic control by the chief over younger men who strive and compete for recognition and acceptance. "This dynamic profoundly influences the organization in many significant areas such as communi- cation, morale, discipline and professionalism."4 Reiser, however, emphasizes that the traditional pattern is changing: "More enlightened police management is aware that manage- ment by participation is necessary in order to move from the stifling effect of the pecking order to the energetic involvement and commitment 3; employees who are actively identified with management. But as police organizations move toward greater democracy and participation, "numerous internal pressures and stresses still 3Martin Reiser, "Some Organizational Stresses on Policemen." Journal pf Police Science and Administration, Vol. 2, No. 2 (1974), pp. l56- 59. 4Ibid., p. 155. 5151a., p. 157. l3 exist that affect the individual policeman."6 Reiser lists among these organizational stressors on the individual officer such items as how he is rated, what assignments he is given, the ways in which the promotion system is handled, and, especially, the handling of the internal discipline structure and internal investigations. It is here that "the officer often feels he is in double jeopardy in that he is not only liable criminally and civilly for a misdeed, but, in addition, faces punishment within the organization."7 He may be subject to polygraph tests, lengthy interrogations, and a trial board hearing if the reputation of the department is involved. As a result of an internal investigation, the officer may develop hostile feelings toward his department's investigative unit: "It is interesting that the feelings of policemen toward the internal investigative branch are somewhat analogous to the feelings of certain citizenstoward the police department. This is the assumption of an antagonistic stance and the expectation of unfair treatment and punishment."8 Training of policemen can help to manage stress. Simulation of critical field situations helps to reduce anxiety through familiar- ity and experience. Coping mechanisms are explained and practiced as aids in controlling stress. But the value of this training is often diminished by the negative attitudes of older policemen to whom the recruit is exposed in the field.' Peer pressure is one of the strongest influences in shaping values, attitudes, and role behaviors of impressionable recruits: 61bid., p. 157. 7Ibid., p. 157. 8ibid., p. 158. 14 "Identification with the group as 'one of the boys' is a powerful, if not irresistible, force. One of the main reasons for this is that peer group identification serves a necessary defensive function. It bolsters and supports the individual officer's esteem and confidence, which then allows him to tolerate higher levels of anger, hostility and abuse from external sources.... Without the peer group effect, young policemen would find it much more stressful and difficult to survive the initial acculturation process."9 As long as group pressures act in a supportive manner, feelings of stress and strain can be handled. But if negative influences appear or if the individual's role is subject to rapid change, feel- ings of strain often develop: "When there is internal strife in the organization, with cliques and special interest groups pulling in different directions, feelings of depression, alienation and low morale tend to emerge."10 Reiser concludes his article by describing a common behavioral set of young officers which apparently helps to protect them from their own emotions while they are maturing, but often has adverse affects on family relationships: "During his recruit training period, [the young recruit] is relatively flexible, open and accepting. However, he very shortly begins to develop what has been called the 'John Wayne Syndrome.I ' The symptoms of this malady are cynicism, over-seriousness, emotional withdrawal and coldness, authoritarian attitudes and the development of tunnel vision.... Frequently part of this picture involves distancing from his family as the new policeman strongly identifies with his peer group and feels he must choose between the two. He may become emotionally cool and lose some of his 'love' for his wife. Consequently, she feels alienated and rejected and reacts 915111., p. l58. 1011514., p. 158. 15 in ways that significantly influence their total relationship including communication, sex, and value systems."11 During their first several years of service, most officers gradually shake off these symptoms by developing a broader set of values and regaining a closer relationship with their families. One of the earliest field studies of police job stress was conducted by Kroes, Margolis and Hurrell in Cincinnati to determine whether stress produced by police work created significant health problems.12 Their approach was to conduct lengthy interviews with lOO male officers involved with patrol operations. The sample was not random, but was based on policemen available when interviews could be scheduled. All three shifts in all police districts were represented. Each man was initially asked what things bothered him on his job, then what bothered others in the same work. Next, he was asked about the prevalence of five stressors: adminis— tration, crisis situations, changing shiftroutines,isolation/boredom, and relations with supervisors. The answers to the first two questions indicated that negative feelings about administration policies were by far the strongest causes of complaints. Grievances fell into two broad categories: (l) policies concerning work assignments, procedures and personal conduct, and (2) administration support, including relationships with superiors. There were strong feelings llIbid., p. 158. 12William Kroes, Bruce Margolis and Joseph Hurrell. "Job Stress in Policemen," Journal of Police Science and Administration, June 1974. Pp. l45-l55. 16 that the respondents were required to spend too much time on paper work and demeaning or trivial duties such as acting as a taxi service or investigating weed complaints. Very few officers mentioned crisis situations (holdups, family quarrels). The researchers speculate that the interviewees may consider them as dangerous instead of “bothersome,“ or may simply suppress any thoughts about them in the interests of their own peace of mind. Changing shift routines were reported as affecting home and social life adversely. Non-police friendships were neglected; the men did not see enough of their children; and they missed the weekends and holidays with their families that were lost because shift changes made it difficult or impossible to plan ahead for them. Kroes et al. summed up their findings from the survey by conclud- ing that the policeman is more heavily stressed than most other occupations because the nature of his job sets him apart. He must learn to accept "prejudice, fear, suspicion and sometimes open hos- tility from a large segment of society.... The policeman's job affects his own personal social life, his family's social life and his children's perception of him as a father, etc. Finally, police work is among those very few occupations where the employee is asked to put his life on the line."13 They suggest these unusual stressors make policemen more vulnerable to the other organizational stressors discussed. 13Ibid., p. 155. 17 In a follow-up to the above study, Kroes et al. also interviewed 30 police administrators in Cincinnati (12 captains, and 18 lieuten- ants) using the same type of format. The responses indicated that their major perceived stressors resulted from their ambiguous role as "man in the middle" between superiors, subordinates, and the community. Shift changes were reported as bothersome by only four administrators, but probably contributed to the negative effects of the job on home life which were mentioned by 25 of the adminis- trators.14 Shift Work Enquiries into the effects of shift work began in the 19th Century although there are recorded complaints about adverse effects of night work on worker efficiency as far back as the European guilds of the thirteenth century. The early enquiries began after disclo- sure of shocking working conditions in British and European factories, and were chiefly concerned with health and social problems arising from night work, particularly for women and apprentices.15 During World War I, and again during World War II, the demand for full use of plant capacity provided a stimulus for investigation of the economic effects of shift work. Most studies to date have tended to be either organization—centered or worker-centered. The 14William Kroes, Joseph Hurrell and Bruce Margolis. "Job Stress in Police Administrators." Journal of Police Science and Adminis- tration, 1974, g_(4), pp. 381-387. 15Paul Mott, Floyd Mann, Owen McLaughlin, and Donald Warwick, Shift Work (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1965) p. 4-7. 18 former usually focus on productivity, absences, turnover and work quality, while the latter have been primarily concerned with employee health, family and social effects. The psychological effects of shift work have been given only secondary consideration.16 The findings from industrial research are largely in agreement about physiological and social effects of shift work. Time-oriented body functions such as sleep, appetite, and elimination are affected, particularly for rotating shift workers. Rotating shifts were found in one study to be the most disadvantageous of all shift schedules for the physical well-being of the workers.17 Loss of social life was also a major difficulty for one-half of the rotating shift workers. For single men, however, or married men with pre-school children, rotating shifts were less disruptive than fixed night or afternoon shifts, which interfered excessively with the association of workers with their wives and older children.18 An interesting study of the effects of a change in rotating shifts on absenteeism was made in a British food factory. Seven day rotation was changed to a 2 x 2 x 3 method of rapid rotation and it was found that absence rates increased more than 30% in the year after the change. Despite this adverse effect, the employees voted nearly 4 to l to continue the new system. The reasons for 161bid., p. 8. 17Eileen Philipp and Stephen Griew, One Hundred Shift Workers, Research Paper No. 15 of the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research, Inc., 1970, pp. 87. 181bid., p. 88. 19 19 These absenteeism this seeming contradiction are not explained. findings, however, were not confirmed by another study which compared the health records of 1219 nurses on fixed and rotating shifts. The rotaters did not have significantly higher sick days than fixed shift workers, but had a significantly higher rate of visits to the hospital clinic and developed more serious health problems.20 A study of the productivity of weavers in an Indian textile mill found the overall average production of the day shift to be significantly higher than that of swing shift workers, but noted that some weavers produced more on the swing shift.21 Another study by Taylor of oil refinery workers found that nearly half of them reported their health was affected by rotating shift work, yet the absence records showed they had consistently lower rates of sickness than day shift workers in similar positions.22 It is possible that the higher sickness rates of day shift workers resulted from transfers of illness-prone workers from rotating to day shifts. 195. Pocock, R. Sergean and P. Taylor, "Absence of Continuous Three- Shift Workers." Occupational Psychology, 1972, 46, pp. 7-13. 20M. Colligan and D. Tasto, "Frequency of Sickness Absence and Work- site Clinic Visits Among Nurses as a Function of Shift." Unpub- lished study, 1979. 21F. Malaviya and K. Ganesh, "Shift Work and Individual Differences in the Productivity of Weavers in an Indian Textile Mill." Journal of Applied Psychology, 1976, 61 (6), pp. 774-776. 22F. Taylor, "The Problems of Shift Work." Journal of the Royal College of Physicians, 3 (4), pp. 370-384. 20 R. Sergean reviews a number of British and European studies of shift work and sums up his findings as follows: "(1) Provision must be made for the highly individual differences of men and women. Some flexibility in shift arrangements to allow for differences in capacity to adapt is essential. (2) Shift strategy must be tailored to each particular organization with its particular human resources. Periodic reappraisal of shift arrangements to make sure they continue to meet current needs is also essential."23 These findings about the need to allow for individual differences in shift planning and for periodic reappraisals are similar to the conclusions reached by the New Zealand Research paper: "The data in this report lend further support to recom- mending that no worker be placed more especially on rotating, or on fixed night shift, without a medical examination for his suitability for such kind of work. There are considerable grounds for also suggesting that there should be regular medical check-ups for all men in shift work.... Management should be prepared for, and even encourage, greater movement on and off shifts, at those or any stages when interference with families and with homg life is at a minimum, or when it becomes excessive."2 Another interesting study of the socio-psychological processes in worker adjustment to rotating shift work was made of 193 workers 25 It was found that rotaters were signi- in three plants in India. ficantly higher on anxiety, job dissatisfaction, and role conflict than permanent day shift workers. And yet it was also found that 30% of the respondents preferred the rotating shift system to day 23 24 R. Sergean, Managing Shiftwork, (London: Gower Press, 1971). Phillips and Griew, p. 93. 25Human Problems of Shift Work. Shri Ram Centre for Industrial Relations (New Delhi, 1976). 21 work. The researchers established that one reason for this was the extra pay earned on rotation. Another was to be found in person- ality differences between workers which caused some of them to perceive the interference caused by shift rotation in their social role per- formance as frustrating, while others did not. Older, more exper- ienced rotating shift workers were more satisfied than younger workers who seemed a better choice for the day shift. With regard to produc- tivity, the study established no strong relation between rotating shifts and productivity but found that those who liked rotating shifts produced more during the night phase while those who disliked rotation produced more during the day phase. University of Michigan Study of Shift work26 This study involved 500 men working in five plants in the eastern and mid-western United States. The social, psychological and physical consequences of shift work were carefully measured. The findings were extensive, but only those comparing rotating shifts will be dealt with here. They may be summarized as follows: 1) Rotating shifts present the most problems. Not only do workers have the problem of adjusting family and social roles and time-oriented body functions, but the adjustments must be made con- tinually. Also, their pattern of days off is quite variable and they tend to be left out of social activities because their friends cannot keep track of their shift changes. 25Mott, et 51., Shift Work, 1955. 22 2) Rotating shifts are especially difficult for younger, better educated workers with small children. They are more interested in building and maintaining friendships, but because of low seniority, they are more often consigned to rotating shift work. 3) Rotating shift workers have a very high rate of upper respir- atory infections. A higher proportion of night and rotating shift workers reported that they were fatigued a great deal, that their appetites were dulled, and that they were constipated much of the time. 4) Workers who have trouble adjusting to the rotating shift should be placed on a fixed shift protected from seniority rules by a union - management agreement. 5) Longitudinal studies on the relationships among the concepts of the worker's shift, his ability to adjust his time-oriented body functions, and his subsequent health, would be especially valuable. HEW Study of Twenty-Three Occupations27 This study investigated occupational differences in psychological stresses on the job and the effect of stress on strains and illness of workers. (See model in Figurel-l.) Four hypotheses were advanced. 1) Job stress produces strain in the worker. 2) Personal characteristics of the worker also affect job strain. 3) The fit between the worker's traits and abilities and the job requirements will also affect job strain. 27Capian et al., 1975. 23 4) Job strains affect rates of worker illness. These hypotheses were tested by administering a self-report questionnaire to 2000 men in 23 occupations, including police. Addi- tional tests for pulse rate, blood pressure and blood samples were made on 400 men from the sample. The results were as follows: 1) The hypothesis that job stress leads to strain was well supported by correlations between job stress measures and psycholo- gical strains, particularly by the job satisfaction indices. 2) The hypothesis that personality characteristics affected job strains was not supported. 3) The hypothesis that person-environment fit affects job strain was supported. 4) The hypothesis that job strains affect rates of worker illness was partly supported. Other findings about stress and strain variables which are relevant to the present study are as follows: Work Load. Dissatisfaction with work load was associated with underutilization of the person's skills and abilities, low partici- pation, high job future ambiguity, and poor social support from the immediate superior and from others at work. The mean work load for policemen was slightly less than that for all occupations. Role Conflict was found to cause irritation. The mean for the police sample was slightly lower than the average for all occu- pations. Role Ambiguity regarding what others expected of an employee in his work was highest for computer programmers, scientists and 24 engineers. The level for police was in line with the mean for all occupations studied. Job Future Ambiguity refers to uncertainty about one's future career. It is likely to vary with changing economic and other condi- tions. Assembly line workers were found high on this factor, while police had a relatively low score. Pay Inequity measures showed that all occupations felt underpaid to some extent. The police mean, however, was almost 10% higher, indicating that their feelings of inequity are somewhat stronger than the other occupations tested. Participation was highest for administrative professors, adminis- trators and white collar supervisors. Police were found to be low in participation, measuring almost 10% less than the mean for all occupations, and over 30% less than the mean for administrative professors. Social Support was measured three ways - from the immediate supervisor, from others at work, and from home. With regard to support from supervisors, police were 6% above the mean for all groups, although on the other two support measures they were only slightly above the means. Anxiety is highest among machine tenders, machine paced assemblers and electronic technicians. Police levels are slightly less than average for the occupations tested. Job Dissatisfaction. Police job dissatisfaction levels were measured at 11% less than the mean for all occupations and 27% below the highest mean (machine tenders). The study showed that boredom and dissatisfaction with work load tended to occur together with 25 job dissatisfaction. The researchers concluded that the major environ- mental characteristics contributing to dissatisfaction were: under- utilization of skills and abilities, low participation, high uncer- tainty about the future (job insecurity) and poor social support from the immediate superior and from others at work. Somatic Complaints. _The police mean on somatic complaints was virtually the same as the all occupations mean and was 17% lower than the highest mean, reached by machine-paced assemblers. Blood pressure was measured for a smaller group of seven occu- pations which did not include police. For ages 20-49, the average systolic pressure was 126.1 and the diastolic pressure was 76.5. Heart Rate for the seven occupations measured (not including police) averaged 74.2 for ages 20-49. NIOSH Police Survey Data28 This report is of particular interest because it is the only one found during this review which compares stress and strain among police on rotating and fixed shifts. It is a sub-set of the police sample reported in the HEW survey of 23 occupations. Data were gathered on 75 police from two precincts in a metro- politan area on the West Coast by means of self-report questionnaires. All subjects were either on fixed or rotating shifts - the rotaters changed shifts on the average every 100 days. Levels of age, edu- cation and seniority were not significantly different in the two groups. 28Shift Work and Health. Proceedings of a Symposium sponsored by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (HEW, 1976), pp. 205-209. 26 Compared to police on fixed shifts, those on rotation reported significantly higher levels of work load, role conflict, under- utilization of skills and abilities, and lower levels of social support from supervisor and others at work. There were no differ- ences in the amounts of social support from family and friends. Men on rotating shifts also had the highest scores on boredom, on dissatisfaction with work load, and on overall dissatisfaction with their jobs. They were also higher than men on fixed shifts on somatic complaints, and there were non-significant tendencies for rotaters to also be higher on anxiety, depression, and irritation. Much of the stress reported on rotating shifts is interpersonal in nature, and it is suggested that part of the cause may stem from the way rotation is handled. "Line" positions were being rotated but staff positions were not. Furthermore, because not all the line was being rotated at the same time, there were changes in super- visors and co-workers when each rotation occurred. This procedure might weaken relations among men who did not get to know each other well. This interpretation was also borne out by a finding that low social support from the supervisor and others at work was corre- lated with dissatisfaction with work load. The researchers conclude that some of the effects of rotating shifts may be due to psychological reactions to changes in the com- position of the role set brought about by the shifting people. These effects appear to be independent of any changes in circadian rhythms caused by rotation. 27 Discussion of Previous Research This review of previous research into stress in shift work and police work generally, indicates that there have been very few field studies in this area. The pioneer studies by Kroes et al. of job stress in the Cincinnati police force were valuable chiefly in drawing attention to the fact that most police job stress comes from inside, not outside the police organization. Changing shift routines, however, were mentioned not as a source of organizational stress but only because they interfered with the policeman's home and social life. With regard to field investigations of shift work, the majority of these studies have dealt with industrial organizations. The important concerns have centered in most cases on the deleterious effects of shift work on productivity, both directly through reduced or poorer quality of output and indirectly through its effects on attendance and health of workers. One study by an Indian research institute which concentrated on the socio-psychological effects on worker attitudes and behavior of rotating shifts, found that rotaters had more anxiety, role conflict and job dissatisfaction than fixed shift workers. A New Zealand study which was also worker- oriented, concluded that shift work puts unusual, and at times severe stresses on workers and their families. For this reason there is a need to find the shift system that is least disruptive for each organization, and to carefully select and fit workers into shift arrangements that are best for them. The University of Michigan study of shift work in five U.S. plants presented strong findings about the damage caused to worker 28 health and about the family and social effects of rotating shifts. Among the final study recommendations was one that longitudinal studies should be made in an attempt to establish a causal sequence running from the primary impact of shift work through the bodily adjustments stage to final effects on worker health. The HEW study of 23 occupations was a massive attempt to study the impact of psychological job stress on the lives and welfare of American workers and contains a wealth of findings which can be considered for application. However, the researchers conclude that they raised more problems than.they answered and make suggestions for further investigation including several that indicate the direction this study takes in Chapter 3. They are as follows: 1) There should be more research on how to change job stresses, and how to increase participation and social support. 2) Future studies should be broadened to include blacks and women. 3) There should be comparative evaluation of attempts to improve job design and humanize work. 4) Linkage of job stress and strain to disease should be attempted by use of medical examinations. Chapter 3 DESIGN OF THE STUDY The methods used to design and carry out the study are made clear in this chapter. The composition and certain demographics of the sample are given. The measures selected are explained and evidence is given about their reliability and validity. A model is presented of the experimental design used. The experimental hypotheses are stated here in order to link them with the study design. Data analysis methods used in the computer compilations are described. Sample The sample for this study consisted of the officers and other sworn personnel of the police department of Jackson, Michigan. The make-up of the force by rank and type of shift worked is shown in Table 3-1. Six sworn officers are missing from the sample in 1977 and eight in 1978 because of sick leave or refusal to cooperate in answering the questionnaire. Other department personnel comprising police cadets and administrative and clerical employees completed the first questionnaire but were excluded from the study because their role demands differ widely from those of police officers. A description of the Jackson police organization and its shift arrange- ments is given in Appendix D. 29 Composition of Questionnaire Sample by Rank and Type of Shift Worked 30 Table 3-1 First Second Questionnaire Questionnaire 1977 1978 Rotating Fixed Rotating Fixed Rank Shift Shift Shift Shift Officers 41 9 9 36 Detectives -- 11 -- 12 Sergeants 8 3 1 9 Command Staff 1 6 1 6 (Lieutenants, Captains and Chief) ___ ___ ___ .__ 50 29 ll 63 Total Sample 79 74 Table 3-2 Demographic Characteristics of Sample July 1977 Years of Years of Race Rank N Age Service Education Male Female White Black Other 1 % % Officers 50 30.7 7.5 14.8 94.0 86.0 8.0 6.0 Detectives 11 36.7 12.1 14.8 100.0 100.0 Sergeants 11 39.3 14.3 14.6 90.9 90.9 9.1 Command Staff* 7 41.3 18.6 14.3 100.0 100.0 A11 Ranks 79 33.7 10.1 14.7 94.9 89.9 6.3 3.8 *Command Staff includes Lieutenants, Captains and Chief. 31 Table 3-2 gives demographic characteristics of the persons who completed questionnaires in 1977. Although the numbers of females and minority group members are too few to use sex or race as a reliable demographic variable, it was decided to include them. Their answers, when combined with those of the predominant white males in the sample, may help to improve knowledge of today's perceptions by police person- nel of the variables under study. The decision to use this police department for the study was in part fortuitous. The original intention had been to survey police job stress in Jackson and two other Michigan cities of comparable size. By chance, it was learned after the 1977 questionnaires were completed, that the Jackson police department had decided to make basic changes in shift arrangements. The new policy provided for discontinuance of most rotating shifts in favor of fixed shifts, a change which has been made in recent years in a number of police forces in Michigan and else- where. The new shift schedules were to take effect at the beginning of 1978. This presented a rare, if not unique, opportunity to obtain "before" and "after" samples of stress perceptions which could be used to measure the effects of rotating shifts on a treatment group com- pared with a control group (see model on p. 36). Measures The measures used in this research were chosen in order to obtain reliable and valid information about psycho-social and physiological job stress and strain variables. The chief instrument is a question- naire prepared by the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare 32 for use in surveying police job stress.1 Most of its questions were taken from an earlier questionnaire prepared for HEW by researchers at the Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan. HEW conducted a large scale project to investigate work stress and strain in 23 occupations, including police. Reliability Reliability estimates were computed by the HEW researchers for most of the questionnaire measures they employed. Using the Kuder- Richardson Formula 20 (KR-20) for the reliability of a test based on internal consistency, they obtained reliabilities ranging from .71 to .85 for the psychologicalvariablesinfilized in the present question- naire. This is not complete assurance that the same results would have been obtained from the group studied here because some question- naire items were dropped and others added. However, since the changes were minor, it is considered that reliabilities would likewise change very little. The reliability of physiological measures and health-related behaviors were tested or confirmed as follows: Blood pressure and heart rate. The measurement sessions were con- ducted by two trained technicians under the auspices of the American Heart Association. Blood pressures were measured twice for each person and the results averaged. When questions arose about a measurement, it was checked independently by the other technician. Smoking and coffee drinking. These were reported by each 1The first questionnaire (1977) is reproduced as Appendix A. 33 individual on his questionnaire. The researcher tested about 10% of the behaviors reported by observation during patrol car "ride-along" tours and meetings in police headquarters. No discrepancies were observed. Validity According to Nunnally a measuring instrument is valid if it does what it is intended to do. As a check on validity of questionnaire items, definitions were prepared for each stress and strain variable and used to verify how well the items seemed to represent the "speci- fied universe of content" of the variable.2’3 The relatively high in- ternal consistencies reported above under reliability also furnish evidence that the items for each variable "hang together" in the sense that pppp construct accounts for the data. Further assurance is given in the HEW report from which the basic questionnaire was obtained, that the stress and strain measures used in many cases had “demonstrated validities."4 This, of course, is not complete assurance of validity, which is a matter of degree, rather than an all-or-none process. Some of the stress constructs employed in the HEW study were uncovered on the basis of field interviews and had no previously developed satis- factory measures. In the construction of indices, the researchers eli- minated all items which were not significantly correlated with other items measuring the same concept for a random stratified sample of responses. Evidence of discriminant validity among items was provided 2These definitions and the questionnaire items covering each variable are given in Appendix 8. 3Jim Nunnally, Pchhometric Theory, (New York: McGraw-Hill , 1967), 75-76. 4Caplan et al., Job Demands and Worker Health, p. 42. 34 by including only items in an index which had higher average correla- tion with other items in the same index than with items from other indices.5 The measures used were selected as likely to be the psycho-social and physiological variables most affected by such an important organi- zation change as the discontinuance of most rotating shift work. The stress variables chosen covered the individual's perceptions of his work load, ambiguity and conflict in his role relationships, equity in his pay, participation in decision-making, his future with the organization and the support he received from his superior, his asso- ciates, and his family. The strain variables were chosen as behavioral or physiological factors most likely to show the effects of the changes in stress. Tension and job dissatisfaction are psychological strains often linked with rotating shift work, as are the psycho-somatic com- plaints used in that index. Increased smoking and coffee drinking are thought to be related to the fatigue and disturbance in personal habits associated with rotating shift work. The blood pressure and heart rate measures were included because chronic stress is suspected as a contri- buting cause to hypertension and coronary disease. Although experi- mental confirmation of the role of stress in hypertension is lacking, there is strong evidence supporting it. It is known that the body reacts to trauma or to threats by preparing for "fight or flight," and that part of that preparation consists of the release of powerful hormones into the circulatory system which in turn increase blood pressure. 5Ibid, p. 42-43. 35 The questionnaire was administered on an individual basis to most of the respondents and questions about any aspects of the infor- mation sought were answered as they came up. Permission was obtained for the questionnaires to be completed during working hours to ensure that adequate time and attention was given to the task. The chief complaint about the first questionnaire concerned its length. To meet this objection which it was felt might lead to loss of subjects in the next round, it was decided to eliminate from the questionnaire most questions not required for the research design.6 This reduced the average time required to complete it from approximately 45 to 30 minutes. 9.25195 The form of this design accommodates the change from rotating to fixed shifts which took place for most of the patrol operations in the Jackson Police Department on January 1, 1978. Before the shift change, each individual on a rotating shift was asked to desig- nate the fixed shift that he/she would prefer. Actual shift assign- ments were then made partly on seniority, partly on the need to retain some experienced personnel on each shift, and partly in order to train new officers. The following model shows how the sequence of pre-test, treatment, and post-test phases for the treatment and control groups fit into the design. 6The second questionnaire (1978) is reproduced as Appendix C. 36 Pre-test Treatment Post-test (August, 1977) (July, 1978) Treatment Group lst questionnaire shift 2nd questionnaire (personnel chang- change ing from rotating (Januar , to fixed shift) 1978 Control Group lst questionnaire 2nd questionnaire (personnel re- maining on rotating shift) Differences in stress and strain effects for the treatment group are compared with the corresponding differences for the control group. This comparison allows for the potentially confounding effects of specific events occurring between pre-test and post-test, for maturation changes in the subjects, and for changes in the content and administering of the questionnaire. The model is known as the nonequivalent control group design because the experimental and control groups do not have pre-experi- mental sampling equivalence.7 It is an incomplete design because the subjects are not assigned randomly to the experimental and control groups. Testable Hypotheses The two propositions which express the main thrust of this research are presented again here for convenience, followed by 7Donald Campbell and Julian Stanley, Experimental and Quasi- experimental Design for Research, (Chicago: Rand-McNally, 1966), p. 47. 37 the experimental hypotheses to be tested. Proposition 1 states that job stress will be reduced for police changing from a rotating to a fixed shift schedule. This proposition will be tested by means of the following hypotheses: Hypothesis 1: A change from a rotating to a fixed shift schedule will result in a relative reduction in job stress. The following variables are to be tested: Hypothesis 1A: The perceived work load will be relatively less for police transferred from a rotating to a fixed shift than for those remaining on rotation. Hypothesis 18: The perceived role conflict will be relatively less for police transferred from a rotating shift than for those remaining on rotation. Hypothesis 1C: The perceived role ambiguity will be relatively less for police transferred from a rotating shift than for those remaining on rotation. Hypothesis 10: The perceived job future ambiguity will be relatively less for police transferred from a rotating shift than for those remaining on rotation. Hypothesis 1E: The perceived pay inequity will be relatively less for police transferred from a rotating shift than for those remaining on rotation. Hypothesis 1F: The perceived participation will be relatively greater for police transferred from a rotating shift than for those remaining on rotation. Hypothesis 18: The perceived social support will be relatively greater for police transferred from a rotating shift than for those remaining on rotation. Proposition 2 states that job strain will be reduced for police changing from a rotating to a fixed shift schedule. This proposition will be tested by means of the following hypotheses: Hypothesis 2: A change from a rotating to a fixed shift schedfile will result in a relative reduction in job strain. The following variables are to be tested: 38 Hypothesis 2A: The perceived tension will be relatively less for police transferred from a rotating shift than for those remaining on rotation. Hypothesis 28: The perceived job dissatisfaction will be rela- tively less for police transferred from a rotating shift than for those remaining on rotation. Hypothesis 2C: The perceived somatic complaints will be rela- tively less for police transferred from a rotating shift than for those remaining on rotation. Hypothesis 20: The recorded blood pressure levels will be relatively less for police transferred from a rotating shift than for those remaining on rotation. Hypothesis 2E: The recorded heart rate will be relatively lower for police transferred from a rotating shift than for those remaining on rotation. Hypothesis 2F: The reported numbers of cigarettes smoked will be rélatively less for police transferred from a rotating shift than for those remaining on rotation. Hypothesis 2G: The reported numbers of cups of coffee consumed will be relatively less for police transferred from a rotating shift than for those remaining on rotation. Analysis The data is to be analyzed for effects using a one-way analysis of variance test of the difference scores for the experimental and control groups. The computer program, Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS), Version 7.0, will be used. Since the hypo- theses predict changes in specified directions, the one-tailed test of significance is implied and will give greater power to the test.8 But as SPSS shows two-tailed values for computed probability, it will 8William Hays, Statistics (New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1263), pp. 282, 285. 39 be necessary to divide by two to convert it to the appropriate one- tailed value.9 An additional precaution must be taken in interpreting results of a directional test of a hypothesis to ensure that the difference in means is in the predicted direction. A difference not in the direction of the hypothesis causes its rejection regard- less of the probability statistic. Summary This study uses the sworn officers of the Jackson, Michigan police department for the sample. A change being made from rotating to fixed shifts was utilized to measure the effects of rotating shifts on stress and on behavioral and physiological strains. A questionnaire developed by HEW for the study of police stress was adapted for this study. Reliability estimates for the stress and strain variables ranged from .71 to .85. Validity was checked by a measure of internal consistency, and by comparing item wordings with definitions of variables. Blood pressure and heart rate data for the group was obtained through the cooperation of American Heart Association personnel. Stress variables included were work load, role conflict, role ambiguity, job future ambiguity, pay inequity, participation and social support. Strain variables comprised ten- sion, job dissatisfaction, somatic complaints, blood pressure, heart rate, number of cigarettes smoked and number of cups of coffee con- sumed. Questionnaires were administered individually to 79 police gNorman Nie, Hadlai Hull, Jean Jenkins, Karin Steinbrenner, and Dale Bent, Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1975), p. 271. 40 personnel in 1977 and 74 in 1978. The experimental design provided for pre-test, treatment and post-test phases for the experimental and control groups, with analysis of variance and product-moment correlation used for data analysis. Chapter 4 ANALYSIS OF RESULTS The results of the data analysis made to test the hypotheses given in Chapter 3 are shown below. Each hypothesis is restated before pre- senting the mean differences in scores between the two years for the treatment and control groups, followed by the F ratio, degrees of freedom, and F probability for the one-way analysis of variance between the difference scores. Finally, the overall results of all the hypothesis tests will be summarized for comparative purposes. Next, the results of the correlation analyses of stress, strain, and demographic variables will be presented in tabular form followed by a summary of those correlations found to be significant. All discussion and interpretations of results will be reserved for Chapter 5. Hypothesis 1: A change from a rotating to a fixed shift will result in a relative reduction in job stress. The hypothesis is accepted in part - for participation and social support. The hypothesis is rejected in part - for work load, role conflict, role ambiguity, job future ambiguity, and pay inequity. See details below. Hypothesis 1A: The perceived work load will be relatively less for the police transferred to a fixed shift than for those remaining on rotation. 41 42 Increase or (Decrease) in Mean Scores from 1977 to 1978 Treatment Control F Total F Group Group Ratio d.f. Prob. Work Load .49 (.10) .19 44 .836 The hypothesis is rejected. There isrnireduction in work load for the treatment group. Hypothesis 18: The perceived role conflict will be relatively less for police transferred from a fixed shift than for those remaining on rotation. Increase or (Decrease) in Mean Scores from 1977 to 1978 Treatment Control F Total F Group Group Ratio d.f. Prob. Role Conflict .14 (.04) .80 44 .189 The hypothesis is rejected. There is no reduction in role con- flict for the treatment group. Hypothesis 1C: The perceived role ambiguity will be relatively less for police transferred from a rotating shift than for those remaining on rotation. Increase or (Decrease) in Mean Scores from 1977 to 1978 Treatment Control F Total F Group Group Ratio d.f. Prob. Role Ambiguity .005 .05 .10 44 .375 The hypothesis is rejected. There is no reduction in role ambiguity for the treatment group. Hypothesis 10: The perceived job future ambiguity will be relatively less for police transferred from a rotation shift than for those remaining on rotation. 43 Increase or (Decrease) in Mean Scores from 1977 to 1978 Treatment Control F Total F Group Group Ratio d.f. Prob. Job Future Ambiguity (.17) (.18) .0002 44 .495 The hypothesis is rejected. There is no reduction in job future ambiguity for the treatment group. Hypothesis 1E: The perceived pay inequity will be relatively less for police transferred from a rotating shift than for those remaining on rotation. Increase or (Decrease) in Mean Scores from 1977 to 1978 Treatment Control F Total F Group Group Ratio d.f. Prob. Pay Inequity .Ol .22 2.10 37 .078 The hypothesis is rejected. There is no reduction in pay inequity for the treatment group. Hypothesis 1F: The perceived participation will be relatively greater for police transferred from a rotating shift than for those remaining on rotation. Increase or (Decrease) in Mean Scores from 1977 to 1978 Treatment Control F Total F Group Group Ratio d.f. Prob. Participation .36 (.83) 15.51 44 .0002 The hypothesis is accepted. There is greater participation for the treatment group. Hypothesis 16: The perceived social support will be relatively greater for police transferred from a rotating shift than for those remaining on rotation. 44 Increase or (Decrease) in Mean Scores from 1977 to 1978 Treatment Control F Total F Group Group Ratio d.f. Prob. Social Support .01 (.22) 4.29 43 .023 The hypothesis is accepted. There is greater social support for the treatment group. Hypothesis 2: A change from a rotating to a fixed shift will result in a relative reduction in job strain. The hypothesis is accepted for job dissatisfaction but rejected for tension, somatic complaints, blood pressure, heart rate, smoking, and coffee drinking. See details below. Hypothesis 2A: The perceived tension will be relatively less for the police transferred from a rotating shift than for those remaining on rotation. Increase or (Decrease) in Mean Scores from 1977 to 1978 Treatment Control F Total F Group Group Ratio d.f. Prob. Tension .05 (.05) 1.02 39 .159 The hypothesis is rejected. There is no reduction in tension for the treatment group. Hypothesis 28: The perceived job dissatisfaction will be relatively less for the police transferred from a rotating shift than for those remaining on rotation. Increase or (Decrease) in Mean Scores from 1977 to 1978 Treatment Control F Total F Group Group Ratio d.f. Prob. Job Dissatisfaction .02 .25 7.51 43 .005 45 The hypothesis is accepted. There is a reduction in job dissat- isfaction for the treatment group. Hypothesis 2C: The perceived somatic complaints will be rela- tively less for police transferred from a rotating shift than for those remaining on rotation. Increase or (Decrease) in Mean Scores from 1977 to 1978 Treatment Control F Total F Group Group Ratio d.f. Prob. Somatic Complaints .OO (.20) .95 44 .167 The hypothesis is rejected. There is no reduction in somatic complaints for the treatment group. Hypothesis 20: The recorded blood pressure levels will be relatively less for police transferred from a rotating shift than for those remaining on rotation. Increase or (Decrease) in Mean Scores from 1977 to 1978 Treatment Control F Total F Group Group Ratio d.f. Prob. Blood Systolic (10.72) (2.57) 2.76 38 .052 Pressure Diastolic 2.38 .50 .10 39 .377 The hypothesis is rejected. There is no reduction in blood pressure for the treatment group. Hypothesis 2E: The recorded heart rate will be relatively lower for police transferred from a rotating shift than for those remaining on rotation. Increase or (Decrease) in Mean Scores from 1977 to 1978 Treatment Control F Total F Group Group Ratio d.f. Prob. Heart Rate (1.28) (3.50) .36 39 .275 46 The hypothesis is rejected. There is no reduction in heart rate for the treatment group. Hypothesis 2F: The reported numbers of cigarettes smoked will be relatively less for police transferred from a rotating shift than for those remaining on rotation. Increase or (Decrease) in Mean Scores from 1977 to 1978 Treatment Control F Total F Group Group Ratio d.f. Prob. Cigarettes Smoked (1.30) 2.75 .83 17 .185 The hypothesis is rejected. There is no reduction in cigarette smoking for the treatment group. Hypothesis 20: The reported numbers of cups of coffee consumed will be relatively less for police transferred from a rotating shift than for those remaining on rotation. Increase or (Decrease) in Mean Scores from 1977 to 1978 Treatment Control F Total F Group Group Ratio d.f. Prob. cups °f C°ffee .38 1.00 .86 38 .180 Consumed The hypothesis is rejected. There is no reduction in coffee con- sumption for the treatment group. The results of all the hypotheses tested are summarized for com- parative purposes in Table 4-1. Two of the testable hypotheses concerning stress were confirmed and five were not confirmed. 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Meo.w «F. gov—econ opom mp umpomhmm omw. ea mp. op. mu. vac; goo: <— mmocpm emuumnmm xuw_wnw .e.u owumm usage azocw mpnmpgm> mwmmzpon»: Lo umpamoo< -aoca Peach m Focucou newspmoeh Mempgpoa»: a wamp 55 Ram, sage mucoum cam: cw Ammmmcomov Lo ammocucu .mcwummp mmmmguoaA; we mupzmmc we xgmsssm .~-¢ mpnmk 48 Results of the Correlation Analyses The results of the correlation analyses made for the purpose of finding significant associations among the stress and strain variables and the demographic variables of age, years of service, and years of education are given in Tables 4-2 to 4-5. The number of corre- lations for each variable which were statistically significant at the .05 level or less are summarized in Table 4-6. The results of the summary indicate that among the stress variables, 24 correlations or 57% of the total, were significant in 1977 and 1978. Among the strain variables, 16 correlations, or 29%, were significant in the two years. (Blood pressure results are shown for both systolic and diastolic readings, which increase the total correlations among strain variables to 56.) Of the correlations between stress and strain variables, 28 out of the total of 112, or 25% were significant. For the three demographic variables, intercorrelations with the stress and strain variables were computed for 1977 data only. Of the 45 correlations in this analysis, the number of significant results was 9, or 20% of the total. Summar The analysis of results from stress and strain hypothesis testing shows that two out of seven of the stress hypotheses were accepted, and one out of seven of the strain hypotheses was accepted. The overall results of the correlation analysis were that out of a grand total of 255 correlations among stress and strain variables, —o. v a «« 49 mo. v a a .-m. mp.- .mN.- .-Pm.- op. 40.- mam, paoaasm pane. mo.i r¢N.i N~.i xrom.i arpm.i nmm— waoom anm.i —F.i «rmm.i up.i aaem.: wump copumq «NN.1 *QN.| «NN.1 #mw.i remN.i sump iwuwugma ep. FF. «em. «RN. hump hon *.<.mm. NOoI M—. o mNmF hpram P25 «mm. eapm. mp. Rump mgsuau now krpv. co. hump upom «mm. hump who mmm mmm mmm mu mum mm m mnmw snow cocoa ap_paaa Nuazmoea Nw_=m_ne< Npaamwae< Ana msapzd now mFom uuwpmcou opoa coo; xgoz .mmpnmwem> mmmgum acosm mcowumpmccou .Niv opnep 50 Po. v a e« mo. v a x. -mm. Po. . mo. mo. 4F. wo.- mp. mam. amazmcou 2. 2.- am. S. a. 8.- 8.- E: 8:8 mp. mo.- m_.- mo. -oe. -em. mea- emxoem mo. e_.- -m~.- mm. «mm. mo. New, mopme-u_u op. -mm. N..- a,.- -~.- mamp puma -mm. -m~. mo.- 3... -NN.- Ram, 5255: -aa. 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Num- Years of Years of tgp;_ ‘Agp Service Education r r r STRESS Work Load 78 .OO -.05 -.07 Role Conflict 79 .04 .05 -.16 Role Ambiguity 79 -.16 -.15 .07 Job Future Ambiguity 78 -.08 -.03 -.11 Pay Inequity 73 -.O4 .00 -.17 Participation 79 .04 .18 .23* Social Support 78 .09 .13 .03 STRAIN Tension 75 -.30** -.27* -.15 Job Dissatisfaction 76 -.O9 -.22 .05 Somatic Complaints 74 .08 .ll -.14 Blood Pressure Systolic 75 .20* .24* -.23* Diastolic 76 .17 .O9 -.11 Heart Rate 75 .OO .01 .00 Cigarettes Smoked 4O .16 .03 .03 Coffee Consumed 63 .27* .23* -.35** *p < .05 **p < .01 53 Table 4-6. Summary of significant correlations, 1977 and 1978. Number of Correlations with Stress Strain Demographic Variables Variables Variables Variables W 1977 1978 1977 Total STRESS Work Load 4 3 2 2 11 Role Conflict 6 l 2 2 11 Role Ambiguity 3 3 l 4 11 Job Future Ambiguity 4 2 l 1 8 Pay Inequity 3 2 4 l 10 Participation 6 4 2 2 1 15 Social Support 4 3 3 1 ll 30 18 15 13 1 77 STRAIN Tension 1 l l 2 2 7 Job Dissatisfaction 6 3 17 Somatic Complaints 3 2 l l 7 Blood Pressure Systolic 2 1 4 2 3 12 Diastolic 0 l 3 l 5 Heart Rate 0 l 3 2 6 Cigarettes Smoked 2 1 2 3 8 Coffee Consumed l 0 l 1 3 6 15 13 18 14 8 68 DEMOGRAPHICS Age 0 -- 3 -- 3 Years of Service 0 -- 3 -- 3 Years of Education 1 -- 2 -- 3 l 8 9 TOTAL 46 31 41 27 9 154 54 and between stress, strain and demographic variables, a total of 77, or 30%, were found to be significant. The interpretation and discussion of the foregoing results, to- gether with conclusions, recommendations, and implications for future research will be the subject of Chapter 5. Chapter 5 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS In this chapter, the stages which were reached in earlier sections of this research will be reviewed and the salient points of the journey recalled. The main findings will be summarized and the background of earlier research described briefly. The research methods employed will be presented again in condensed form. Attention will be given to how the findings might be put to use in coping with police stress and strain, and in improving the effectiveness of police organizations. The lessons which have been learned regarding field research in a police organization will be discussed and possible implications for future studies indicated. Finally, some of the more important research problems remaining in this area will be pointed out, together with suggestions as to how they might be tackled. The Research Problem The need for research into police job stress to identify and reduce psychological stressors and their resulting strain effects has been recognized in recent years. Although many ideas have been discussed, there have been few field studies designed to identify and measure stress and strain variables. It is recognized that police are often subject to heavy stress in patrol operations, but there is a lack of accurate knowledge of organizational stressors. 55 56 One factor, however, which is under the control of police manage- ment is shift work. Evidence from industrial studies and from the scant research involving police suggests that rotating shifts, which are in effect in most police departments, are responsible for more stress and strain than other shift arrangements. Several of these studies recommend longitudinal studies to identify the working condi- tions responsible for stress effects and to measure the way the work environment affects individual health and well-being. The main purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of rotating shifts by comparing measures of stress and strain made before and after discontinuance of rotating shift work with measures of the same variables for police who continued to work on rotating shifts. An additional aim was to find significant correlations among stress and strain variables which might throw light on the relation of stress and strain to demographic factors. The main propositions of this research were first that changing police schedules to eliminate rotating shifts would reduce job stress, and second that this change would result in a reduction of strain responses to job stress. The theory on which these propositions are based is a model which depicts job stress as arising from environmental stimuli perceived as threatening. Personality factors and the degree of person-job fit condition the effects of these stimuli in producing strain responses. Strains may include job dissatisfaction, increased blood pressure and increased stress coping behaviors such as cigarette smoking and coffee drinking. Prolonged strain may result in absentee- sim and lowered productivity and hasten the onset of stress illnesses such as peptic ulcer and cardio-vascular disease. 57 Review of Previous Research There are few research studies on police job stress, although the literature abounds with articles about adverse effects of the policeman's job on his health, family and social life. Most police stress literature has emphasized stress sources in dangerous or dis- agreeable police operations, but increasingly the stress arising from within the organization is being considered. Authoritarian control through a para-military type of organization may lead to role conflict, anxiety and even hostility on the part of subordinates. Strong peer pressures on the individual may lead to adverse effects on family and social relationships. An early field study of a large police department indicated that administration policies, including rotating shifts, were responsible for much stress; and the researchers concluded that the nature of the policeman's job made him more vulnerable than other workers to stressors from inside the organization. Research on effects of shift work has been confined almost entirely to industrial studies until recent years. It has been found that time-oriented body functions, such as sleep, appetite and elimination are affected by shift work, particularly by rotating shift work. Rota- ting shifts were found in several overseas studies to cause adverse effects on productivity, attendance, family and social life, and rates of illness. Recommended changes included periodic reappraisal of the need for rotating shifts, recognition of individual differences in planning shift arrangements, and encouragement of greater movement of workers off shift work when health or family requirements make this desirable. 58 A study of 500 shift workers in five U.S. plants also yielded findings that rotating shifts caused the most serious problems. Con- tinual adjustment of family and social roles as well as body functions had stressful consequences in fatigue and high rates of respiratory infections. The study recommended a special union-management agreement to move rotating shift workers with adjustment problems over to a fixed shift. The largest field study of job stress and worker health to date involved over 2000 men in 23 occupations, including police, and was based on the theoretical model of job stress and strain shown in Figure 1-1. The hypothesis that job stress leads to strain was supported by correlational measures, particularly of job satisfaction. The study offered support for the theory that job strains affect worker illness and that person-job fit affects job strain, but did not support any relationship between personality characteristics and job strain. The results for police compared with other occupations were somewhat mixed. Police were higher than average on feelings of pay inequity and social support, but lower on job future ambiguity, participation and job dissatisfaction. Except for the pay inequity measures, these results indicate lower levels of stress and strain for police than for other occupations generally. A sub-set of this police sample was used by NIOSH to survey several stress and strain variables for police on rotating versus fixed shifts. The rotaters reported higher levels of work load, role conflict, boredom, job dissatisfaction, and somatic complaints, and lower levels of social support from others at work. It was noted that much of the stress was interpersonal in 59 nature and perhaps caused by psychological reactions to the shift changes and from the way the rotation schedules are handled. Study Design The study uses the police force of Jackson, Michigan as a sample and measures 14 stress and strain variables before and after a change from a rotating to a fixed shift schedule. A self-report questionnaire developed and tested by HEW was administered in 1977 and 1978 and measurements were also made of heart rate and blood pressure before and after the change. The main hypotheses state that both job stress and job strain will be reduced by discontinuance of rotating shifts. The design uses analysis of variance to measure the significance of the differences in means for the treatment group who changed versus the control group who remained on rotation. Findings on Rotating Shift Effects Five of the stress variables were not supported - work load, role conflict, role ambiguity, job future ambiguity and pay inequity; while two were supported - participation and social support. Detailed com- ments on these results follow: Hypothesis 1A. The treatment group perceived a greater increase in work load than the control group, the opposite of the hypothesized result, although the difference was not significant. Analysis of the questionnaires indicates that the increase was perceived on all the fixed shifts. Comments about the new schedule are almost all positive and create the strong impression that the men like it despite the extra work involved. For example, one person on afternoon and 60 one on night shift said that the workload was heavier, but could be handled better in lighter traffic and with few of the higher ranks on duty. It would seem that the extra work may be more than offset by being able to choose the shift wanted and avoid conflict with superiors. See findings on role conflict and participation. Hypothesis 18. Not only was the hypothesis of less role conflict for the treatment group rejected, but a non-significant increase occurredin role conflict for this group. This result is opposite to the NIOSH survey finding that rotaters were significantly higher on role conflict than fixed shift personnel. An analysis of the question- naire responses disclosed that over 80% of the role conflict increase came from two questions about feelings of pressure and conflicting demands from too many bosses. It was also found that the increases on role conflict came from police on day shift, and, to a lesser extent, on afternoon shift, while role conflict decreased for those assigned to night shift. Comments about the afternoon and night shifts included "No captains working," and "Less brass around," while some on the day shift complained about being interfered with and made to run too many errands. Several others who perceived increased role conflict complained that they had not been assigned to the shift of their choice, or had been reassigned to another shift later. There were no complaints of this nature made by officers still on rotating shifts. It is apparent that the amount of role conflict "By'vary consider- ably between the different fixed shifts depending on the work volume and quality and degree of supervision. 61 Hypothesis 1C. The hypothesis of less role ambiguity was rejected. The reduction in role ambiguity for the treatment group was matched by the control group. The questionnaire responses show that rotaters who moved to a fixed night shift had a reduction in role ambiguity amounting to almost 25% of their scores in the previous year. Most of them felt they knew more about how their supervisor evaluated their perfor- mance, saw more of the results of their work, and had a better idea of how they had done at the end of the day. Those moving to a day shift perceived an increase in role ambiguity, spread over all items in the index. Those transferring to an afternoon shift had virtually no change in role ambiguity. As in the case of role conflict, it would seem that role ambiguity tends to decrease on the night shift where the patrolmen are more completely in charge of their jobs and may be better able to see the results of their work. Hypothesis 10. The hypothesis of reduced job future ambiguity for the treatment group was rejected. Future ambiguity seems less affected by the shift changes than any of the other variables tested. Variances in the treatment and control group were almost identical and there is no indication in the individual questionnaires that the choice of fixed shift has any perceived effect on job future. Police were found to have a relatively low score on this factor in the HEW survey, perhaps because they enjoy more job security than most of the other occoupations studied. Hypothesis 1E. The hypothesis was rejected, although there was a slight tendency toward a lower level of pay inequity in the treat- ment group. The HEW survey reported that police felt they earned 62 only 81% of the income they should earn but there is no indication from the present responses that this feeling is related to shift work. Most opinions voiced about pay rates during this study were to the effect that present rates were fair, although several senior officers stated that this had not been true until recent years. Hypothesis 1F. The hypothesis that participation will be greater among those who have transferred off rotation is confirmed. Analysis of the responses disclosed that the largest improvement occurred in perceptions of the way things are done on the respondents' jobs, with lesser gains in deciding what part of tasks they will do, and in parti- cipating with others in making decisions that will affect them. For those left on rotation there was a perceived reduction in participa- tive decision-making. The relative improvement in this stress variable was so strong compared to most of the others tested that it invited some further inquiry. As a comparative measure of a group whose jobs were not directly affected by the shift changes, the responses of the ten detec- tives who had completed questionnaires were examined for participation effects. It was found that their level of participation had also in- creased significantly on the 1978 questionnaire (p < .01). There had been some management changes in the detective division but no changes in shift schedules. This result suggested that perhaps the relative improvement in participation might owe more to feelings of lower parti- cipation by the control group than previously thought since the gains by the treatment group were matched by another group not directly affected by the shift change. Another feeling which was mentioned by several patrolmen in the treatment group during the administering 63 of the second questionnaire may have modified their positive feelings to some extent. They said they liked the new shift arrangements but were not sure they would be permanent because so many changes and reversals of changes had been occurring in the department recently. It seemed evident that the patrolmen liked being asked what fixed shift they preferred and appreciated being assigned to the one they had chosen. Hypothesis 1G. This hypothesis was confirmed. Comparative levels of social support increased significantly for the treatment group. Further analysis of responses disclosed that the support level for the treatment group increased only slightly, the relative increase being attributable to drops in the levels of support reported by the control group, both from immediate supervisors and others at work. It seemed somewhat surprising that the increase in social support at home reported by the treatment group was very small (less than 3%), because there were many comments on the second questionnaire about the advan- tages of having evenings at home, more time for the children, more weekends and holidays free for the family, etc. This result may be partly due to the maximum score having already been used for support from the spouse in nearly half of the first questionnaire, leaving no way to indicate further improvement in the scores. It must also be remembered that there may be other unmeasured influences affecting social support for both groups, and that it is only the relative increase which can be attributed to the shift change. 64 Hypothesis 2A. The hypothesis was rejected. There was no evidence of relaxation of tension in the treatment group data. This finding is similar to that reported in the NIOSH police survey results for anxiety, 3 variable which is thought to measure much the same factors. NIOSH did report, however, that there were nonsignificant tendencies for police on rotating shifts to have more anxiety, depression, and irritation than those on fixed shifts. Hypothesis 28. The hypothesis was confirmed. The relative decrease in job dissatisfaction shows up in several areas. The most important of these are overtime pay, relations with fellow officers and with top administration. Other important improvements are in equipment maintenance, and relations with the immediate supervisor. Examination of the comments by the treatment group about their new work schedule showed that all of them expressed satisfaction with it and dwelt on the increased time they had available in evenings, weekends and holidays to spend with their families. Hypothesis 20. The failure of this hypothesis seemed to be attri- butable to a lack of any reduction in somatic complaints for the treatment group. It was found, however, that officers on afternoon and night shifts tend to have increases in somatic complaints which are offset by reduc- tions among those on day shift. This is contrary to the shift effects reported for role conflict and role ambiguity, but is in line with the strain effects reported for night work in other shift work studies.1 The NIOSH survey found a significant increase in somatic 1Mott et al., Shift Work, 1955, p. 305. 65 complaints for police on rotation over those on fixed shifts, but their fixed shift sample was made up entirely of day workers, and the responses to the questionnaires in the present research show that a similar reduction took place in somatic complaints for persons trans- ferring to a day shift. Hypothesis 20. The hypothesis that blood pressure would be lower on fixed shifts was not confirmed. Because blood pressures were not measured for police in the NIOSH survey or the HEW study, a compari- son was made of diastolic blood pressure by rank and age group in 1977 with a group of seven occupations measured in the HEW study. The Jackson police diastolic blood pressure levels are only slightly higher by age groups than the HEW groups, except for 40-49 year olds where the level is 3.8 millimeters higher, owing to the average of 85.0 recorded by the patrolmen in that age group. That finding is interesting in the light of a study evaluating physical fitness pro- grams for police officers which found that middle-aged officers had an average diastolic blood pressure before exercise training about 10% higher than the average for middle-aged men in other occupations.2 Hypothesis 2E. A closer look at the heart rate data did not reveal any consistent pattern of changes by shift. It is worthy of note, however, that comparison with HEW figures shows that the average heart rate for Jackson police at 78.3 beats per minute is significantly 2Michael Pollack and Larry Gettman, "Coronary Risk Factors and Level of Physical Fitness in Police Officers," Proceedings of the 83rd Annual Conference of the International Association of Chiefs of Police, 976. 66 higher than the figure of 74.0 recorded for the seven occupations tested in that project. Hypothesis 2F; Hypothesis 2G. The predictions that cigarette smoking and coffee drinking would be lower on fixed shifts could not be confirmed. The large numbers of policemen who are non-smokers reduced the sample size for that variable considerably below that for the other variables tested. Careful examination of the reported details did not reveal any significant pattern or trend in either of these behavioral strain variables. Findings on Stress, Strain and Demographic Correlations The purpose of the correlation data analyses is to supplement the findings from the comparative analyses of fixed and rotating shifts. As mentioned earlier, very few field studies seem to have been made to date of police job stress and the review of prior research did not reveal any separate correlation data for police stress and strain variables. And yet, it is only by careful measurement of behavioral changes under field conditions that the important variables may be determined and possible patterns of cause and effect identified. By this means a sound foundation may be provided for the remedial measures to cope with and eventually reduce and eliminate much of the occupa- tional stress in the life of police personnel. A cautionary word is in order at this point. A correlation mea- sures the association between two variables, but it cannot determine whether A causes 8, or vice versa, or whether the variances of A and B may be caused by C. Correlations are usually most useful in 67 uncovering associations which indicate the need for more direct inves- tigation. The correlation results in Chapter 4 point to a number of inter- esting relationships: Participation is shown to be positively related to social support and negatively related to work load, role conflict, role ambiguity, job future ambiguity and pay inequity. In brief, it seems that those who have less share in making job related decisions tend to have higher levels of those five stressors. A field experiment found that parti- cipation did seem to influence other stresses, and in particular was associated with later improvement in person-environment fit.3 The HEW occupational study also found significant correlations between participation and work load, role ambiguity, and job future ambiguity, but no relationship between participation and role conflict or pay inequity. Participation was found to be negatively related to two strain variables - job dissatisfaction and somatic complaints, and positively related to years of education. Using the theoretical model as a guide one might predict: Objective Subjective Environment Environment Responses Lower Job Dis- . tisfaction More 3 Higher 9 so . Education Participation nggg1igfigg1c 3 Caplan et al., Job Demands, p. 67. 68 A relationship between low participation and job dissatisfaction has also been reported in a review of several studies which concluded as follows: "To summarize, the research above seems to indicate that greater participation leads to lower staff turnover, higher productivity, and that when parti- cipation is absent, lower job satisfaction and higher levels of physical and mental health risks may result." Social Support is also associated with lower levels of stress from work load, role conflict, role ambiguity, and job future ambiguity, but does not have a significant correlation with pay inequity. The HEW social support correlations are shown separately for support from supervisor, others at work, and support from home. As one might expect, role conflict, role ambiguity, and job future ambiguity corre- late more highly with low support from those at work but less with low support from those at home. Turning to the relationship with strain responses, social support is correlated with low levels of job dissatisfaction and somatic complaints, also with a low level of cigarette smoking, although the last relationship is not significant. The numbers of cigarette smokers in the sample are considerably fewer than the numbers avail- able for other questionnaire items. Of all the possible cause and effect relationships between stress and strain, social support may well be one of the most important, because it is one organizational variable that seems to be highly controllable: 4Cary Cooper and Roy Payne (Eds.), Stress at Work (New York: John Wiley)- 1978, p. 93. 69 "Social support appears to be another variable of major importance to the psychological well-being of the workers in our sample. Low support from supervisors and from others at work is associated not only with job dissatis- faction but also with depression.... Social support is a variable of especial significance because a program for primary prevention of job-related strains may often be able to increase the supportiveness of interpersonal relations in technologies where the job tasks themselves are not easily changed."5 In terms of the model, the prediction from these correlations would be: Objective Subjective Environment Environment -B§§EQE§§§ More training Lower job dissatis- of supervisors 5 Sgggg$r faction and others in support Lower somatic complaints supportiveness Lower cigarette smoking Job Dissatisfaction is correlated with the strain variables of somatic complaints and cigarettes smoked. By comparison, the corre- lation with somatic complaints in the HEW study is only half as great, and there is no correlation with cigarette smoking. Because job dissat- isfaction is a catch-all for negative job responses, one expects that many job stress factors may contribute to the responses obtained for this variable. This may explain what happens when job dissatisfaction is correlated with the stress variables. Virtually all of the corre- lations are significant, more than half of them at the 1% level. The results parallel those obtained from the HEW study with the exception that pay inequity for the HEW sample is not correlated with job dis- satisfaction. This deviation may have resulted from the differences 5Caplan et al., Job Demands, p. 84. 70 in the measures - the present study asks 21 questions about separate job elements, including pay, whereas the HEW study asks only four questions designed to measure overall feelings of satisfaction or dissatisfaction with the job. Somatic Complaints. With the exception of the association with job dissatisfaction referred to above, somatic complaints do not corre- late significantly with any of the other strain variables. They do, however, have significant positive correlations with the stress vari- ables of role conflict and job future ambiguity, and significant nega- tive correlations with participation and social support. In that way they tend to verify the basic assumption of the theoretical model that stress causes strain which may show up in the form of involuntary reactions of our bodies to job demands. Hans Selye listed more than 30 "immediately useful signs of stress which the average person can follow throughout his working day.“6 The leading somatic complaints marked among the dozen listed in the questionnaire, in order of impor- tance were insomnia, headache, feeling nervous or shaky, backache, and stomach ache. Selye states that each person tends to respond with an individual set of signs and suggests that when these signs appear, the individual should stop or change whatever he is doing and find a diversion. Blood Pressure. The correlations of blood pressure with other stress and strain variables are for the most part weak and inconsistent. It is thought that correlational data may have to be gathered over a longer period if job stress effects are to be reflected significantly 6Hans Selye, The Stress of Life (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1978), p. 173. 71 in blood pressure readings. This feeling was strengthened by an analysis of blood pressure changes over the years from each person's hiring date up to the 1977 questionnaire date. The average increase of 7.24 in diastolic blood pressure was found to be significant (p < .001), but the systolic changes were not. Heart Rate. The correlations for this variable are reasonably consistent between 1977 and 1978, but are low with other stress and strain variables. It would seem that stress, at least at the levels found in this research, may not be a good predictor of changes in heart rate. The HEW occupational study in effect confirms this by finding no significant differences whatever in heart rate among seven occupations and four age groups with a total sample of 361 persons. Cigarettes Smoked; Coffee Consumed. The results from correlating these two variables with other stress and strain variables tend to be inconsistent and weak for the two years with two exceptions. Cigar- ette smoking correlates moderately well with work load and with job dissatisfaction. Likewise in the HEW study, the highest correlation found for cigarette smoking is with a factor called work load dissatis- faction. Caplan refers to research findings that the nicotine level in cigarettes may increase the ability to withstand stress and suggests smoking may be rewarding for persons undergoing increased job stress.7 Demographic Correlations. With the sole exception of partici- pation, which has a weak correlation (r = .23) with years of education, none of the stress variables have significant correlations with age, 7Caplan, et al., Job Demands, p. 142. 72 years of service, or education. The findings for strain variables are somewhat better. Increases in age and seniority are associated with lower levels of tension. This may partly reflect better training and also experience with situations which are tension provoking for younger persons. It may also reflect the fact that older policemen are not as often thrust into dangerous and tense situations. Higher systolic blood pressure is associated with increased age and years of service as it is in other occupations. More years of education are correlated with lower blood pressure, perhaps because the younger police personnel have, on the average, more years of edu- cation than the older and more senior personnel. Finally, coffee consumption is associated with greater age and seniority and with lower education levels. This may result from the older and more senior personnel having more opportunity to drink coffee during working hours. Summary of Main Findings Rotating Shift Data 1. The propositions that job stress and job strain will be reduced for police changing from a rotating shift to a fixed shift schedule were not confirmed. The question of whether and to what extent rotating shifts cause police job stress remains to be answered by future studies. Physiological stress effects may be more evident when shifts are rotated more rapidly than over the 120 day interval studied in this case. Psy- chological effects of shift changes may vary with organiza- tional climate - the behavioral processes reflecting the 73 values, attitudes, and beliefs of organization members -- and climate in turn is affected by organization size and structure and the quality and nature of leadership. Beha- vioral effects should be tested using a larger group to obtain adequate samples of such behaviors as smoking and coffee drinking. Participation is higher for police transferred to fixed shifts than for those left on rotation. The largest gain by respondents was in determining the way things are done on their jobs. Those left on rotation felt they had less participation in decision-making. Social support levels are higher for police transferred to fixed shifts. Those left on rotation reported lower levels of support from supervisors and others at work. Job dissatisfaction is relatively lower for police trans- ferred from rotating shifts. Those left on rotation showed increased dissatisfaction with overtime pay, relations with fellow officers, top administration of the department, equip- ment maintenance and their immediate supervisor, in that order. There was a non-significant increase in role conflict for. police transferred to fixed day and afternoon shifts. This was reported as the result of increased pressure and con- flicting demands from too many bosses, interference in their work, and having to run too many errands. Role conflict decreased for those transferred to the night shift. They seemed to feel that they could do their jobs 74 better when there were fewer superiors around. Role ambiguity decreases for those transferred to the night shift when police report that they see more of the results of their work and know better how their supervisors evaluate their performance. It increases for those transferred to the day shift and is unchanged for those transferring to the afternoon shift. Police transferring off rotating shifts report that their major benefits are in the areas of more weekends, holidays and evenings to spend with their families. Police transferred from rotating shifts to fixed afternoon and night shifts tend to have increases in somatic complaints such as insomnia, headache, backache, and stomach ache, while those transferred to day shifts report reductions in somatic complaints. Stress and Strain Correlations 1. High participation by police is associated with high social support and years of education and with lower levels of work load, role conflict, role ambiguity, job future ambiguity and pay inequity. Low participation is associated with job dissatisfaction and somatic complaints. Increased social support is associated with lower job dissat- isfaction, lower somatic complaints, and less cigarette smoking. Job dissatisfaction is most strongly related to the stress variables of participation and role ambiguity, but also 75 has significant associations with pay inequity, work load, social support, role conflict, and job future ambiguity, in that order. 4. Blood pressure and heart rate do not seem to correlate well or consistently with most stress and strain variables. 5. Average diastolic blood pressure for the Jackson police force increased significantly for the periods from the indivi- dual hiring dates up to August, 1977. 6. Cigarette smoking and coffee drinking do not seem to corre- late well with most stress and strain variables. Implications for Further Research The study had two purposes: (1) to investigate job stress effects on rotating shifts in police work, and (2) to identify factors asso- ciated with stress and strain effects through examination of a corre- lation analysis of stress, strain and demographic variables. The discussion of implications which the findings might have will for the most part be directed to ways in which those purposes may be attained in the future. This study has had the advantage of experimental and control groups both being given pretest and posttest measures. It also has the disadvantage, inherent in a first small field study, of limited generalizability of results. For this reason it is necessary to speak of results as suggestive rather than definitive, to consider recommendations as tentative, provisional and interim rather than firm and permanent. Another limitation is that most of the data came from self-reports by police personnel whose jobs and working 76 conditions may be affected by the results and conclusions arrived at. It seemed evident from the reasons given for several refusals to complete the questionnaire that some respondents felt there was a possibility their names might become associated with their answers and could do them harm. Although this feeling did not seem to be widespread, it probably affects the frankness and, therefore, the usefulness of some of the responses. Finally, when only a modest proportion of the variables tested and relationships examined yielded significant data, it is fitting that any suggestions derived from this study should also be modest. The strongest implications of the research findings may lie in the meanings of the relationships confirmed among three major variables - participation, social support, and job dissatisfaction. In terms of the theoretical model, the relationships could be pictured as follows: Objective Subjective Environment Environment Responses (Organizational) (Individual) (Individual) Management Job Stress Job Strain Change Levels Levels ——'> Increased ”___? Discontinuance Participation Decreased of Rotating Job Shifts Increased Social Dissatisfaction Support The management change in work schedules from rotating to fixed shifts was found to produce significant improvement in participation, social support and job dissatisfaction in one police department with less than 100 sworn officers. There are many more police departments 77 which may be considering this change in the future. But better ways of using some of the variables employed in this research would be helpful, and some new variables should be considered to replace some that have not proved adequate. The following suggestions are made for consideration by future researchers in the area of rotating shift changes. Role Conflict - Role Ambiguity. There is evidence from question- naire analysis that improvement in these variables may only take place when individuals are transferred to an afternoon, or, preferably, an evening shift where there are fewer superiors to conflict with or cause role ambiguity. It is recommended that the next study exa- mine the differential effects when transfer are made to more than one fixed shift. Job Future Ambiguity. The shift change had no measurable effect here at all, and as job security does not seem to be a strong issue for policemen, this variable might well be dropped from future studies unless police layoffs are a factor in the department being studied. Pay Inequity. Analysis of responses indicate this is not an important stress factor in shift changes at this police department at this time. But overtime pay is the most important single item contributing to increased job dissatisfaction in the control group, so that it might be advisable to revise the question on pay inequity to include coverage of overtime pay. The number of hours worked versus how many each individual wants to work may also furnish useful information about pay needs and job fit, and should also be considered for inclusion. 78 Tension. The results from this study and the NIOSH police survey indicate that the relaxation in tension or anxiety from discontinuance of rotating shifts probably cannot be measured adequately by the self-report method. There is another method of measuring tension by use of the electromyograph (EMG) machine which is now used exten- sively in biofeedback procedures to record the electrical activity of muscles. The method is based on evidence that chronic muscle tension results from an acquired habit of blocking signals from muscle sensors, and that the degree of tension or relaxation is proportionate to the electrical activity of muscle groups.8 But most people are not aware of the extent of their own muscle tension: "If someone is apprehensive, say about meeting someone new, his heart rate and blood pressure may increase, and his muscles will tense. The physiologic changes can be recorded bio-medically although the person himself often may not be aware of the changes. Most people do respond to social pressurewith increased muscle tension. This kind of muscle set is called "bracing," the muscle is in the act of preparing to defend or freeze or to avoid unpleasantness by having the important action muscles ready to move or stand by." Police in many situations may do a lot of "bracing," and EMG is a possible way of measuring tension more sensitively and accurately than by self-reports. The equipment is now generally available and the technique should be considered for use in further study of the stress effects of shift changes. 8Barbara Brown, New Mind, New Body (New York: Bantam Books, 1974), p. 160. 9Barbara Brown, Stress and the Art of Biofeedback (New York: Harper and Row, 1977), pp. 28-29. 79 Somatic Complaints. There is little doubt from previous research that somatic complaints seem to be a good measure of strain. The HEW occupational study used similar questionnaire items and found good correlations with other strain measures such as anxiety (r = .47) and depression (r = .35), although correlations with stress measures were weaker. The NIOSH survey found significant differences (p = .019) between somatic complaints on fixed and rotating shifts. How- ever, in the present study, it seemed that reduction in somatic com- plaints for those transferred to day shifts was offset by increases in somatic complaints for evening and night shift transfers. It is probable that there are confounding effects here caused by differ- ent fixed shifts, and, as suggested above, future studies should arrange to separate them so that the main effects can be measured accurately for each shift. Blood Pressure - Heart Rate. The findings for these physical measures were disappointing. It seems evident from the comparisons of the 1977 readings with those made at hiring dates that changes in group means for these two variables take a number of years to~ become significant, if, indeed, they ever do so. In addition, varia- tions in instruments, measuring techniques and pulse and blood pressure fluctuations at different times of day tend to make accurate compari- sons very difficult to obtain. And yet blood pressure and pulse measures are valuable indicators of health status. They may furnish useful data for decisions about which individuals should be moved to which shifts when changes are being considered. Probably they should be retained for this purpose but not to measure short-term change effects. 80 gjgprettes Smoked - Coffee Consumed. Neither of these variables gave significant findings in this study or in the HEW and NIOSH studies. Only about half of the police in this study were cigarette smokers and this percentage is likely to decline further in line with trends in the population at large. Coffee drinking habits are also changing and present measures may be subject to error unless allowance is made for decaffeinated coffee and other beverages with caffeine content, such as tea and cola drinks. It may be advisable to discontinue this measure in subsequent studies unless it can be expanded to include a broader selection of beverage stimulants. There are several measures not used in this research which should be considered for future police job stress studies. They are listed and discussed briefly in order of importance. Person-Envir0nment Fit.10 This is a measure of the discrepancy between the rewards and demands in the environment and the motives and abilities of the person. The degree of discrepancy is measured by asking the person such questions as "How much are you paid?" and "How much do you want to be paid?", and using the differences to obtain scores on a number of stress indices such as responsibility for persons, work load, and job complexity.11 Caplan et a1. correlated six measures of goodness of job fit with three measures of job dis- satisfaction and obtained eight correlations averaging .45. They 10For an excellent description of job stress in terms of person- environment fit, see R. Van Harrison, "Person-Environment Fit and Job Stress" in Stress at Work, pp. 175-205. 11Caplan et al., Job Demands, pp. 220-231. 81 concluded that the effects of goodness of fit on these three strains were stronger than the effects of any other job stresses. Some goodness of fit items were included in the first question- naires, but the respondents had difficulty in answering them correctly and they were not included in the stress variables to be tested. It is recommended that the questions be reworded to overcome response difficulties and included in subsequent studies. Depression - Boredom. These are psychological states to which police may be subject, and which correlated well with job dissatis- faction in the HEW occupational study. However, they do not corre- late highly with one another, indicating that they tend to measure different constructs. They should be considered as possible additions to the psychological variables used in future police job stress research. Obesity. Overeating has become generally recognized as a behavior sometimes resorted to by individuals under stress. Selye feels that obesity may be a response to stress, especially in people who do not get enough satisfaction from work or from relations with others. He states that it increases the likelihood of contracting other dis- eases of adaptation, particularly hypertension and diabetes.12 Obesity is a more reliable variable than those obtained by self-report because it can be verified by independent measurement. 12Hans Selye, The Stress of Life, pp. 255-255. 82 Conclusion This research involved fewer than 80 sworn officers in one police department of modest size. The main findings do not support the propositions that job stress and strain will be reduced by changes from a rotating to a fixed shift. But the results do indicate two avenues for possible innovation by progressive police managements. One important issue in the field of organizational leadership concerns participation by subordinates in decision-making. Traditional leader- ships have been autocratic; the leader decides, issues orders, monitors compliance with his directives, penalizes non-compliance, and thus discourages subordinates from becomes involved or showing real initia- tive. Behavioral scientists have recommended more involvement and participation by lower echelons, pointing to restrictions in output and other inefficiencies under traditional leadership methods. They argue that on matters affecting his entire organization, the leader should not decide autocratically, but should meet with subordinates, share problems with them and encourage them to arrive at consensual solutions, or at least encourage their participation and give serious consideration to their suggestions and feelings about problems affecting them.13 The present research has confirmed a possible linkage between the involvement of police personnel in the shift changes, the increased feelings of participation, and the improvement in job satisfaction. By so doing, it suggests that participation may contribute to improved morale and better management. 13Victor Vroom. "Leadership," in Handbook of Industrial and Organiza- tional Psychology, (Chicago: Rand-»McNally, 1976), p. 1538. 83 The study results also tend to confirm another theory with poten- tially important applications for police management. Social support is the type of environmental change which can be encouraged in police organizations to promote psychological well-being. All ranks of management can encourage social support by supervisors and co-workers, and yet it is easier to convince a supervisor in a training program that supportive practices are worthwhile than to change his behavior back on the job. The supervisor may lose interest in this type of change when he finds his own 0055 does not share it. One solution would be to have several management levels undertake training at the same time so that they may work together to achieve lasting im- provements in support practices when they return to work. This approach may also provide impetus in difficult introductory periods or later lagging stages of equal employment and affirmative action programs. In conclusion, it seems apparent that police job stress is a complex subject and will require a great deal of field research follow- ed by careful, persistent training effort before enduring improvements in stress management can be achieved. BIBLIOGRAPHY BIBLIOGRAPHY Brown, Barbara. New Mind, New Body. New York: Bantam Books, 1974. Brown, Barbara. Stress and the Art of Biofeedback. New York: Harper and Row, 1977. Campbell, Donald, and Stanley, Julian. Experimental and Qpasi-experi- mental Designs for Research. Chicago: Rand-McNally, 1966. Caplan, Robert. "Social-Psychological Dynamics in Shift Work." In Shift Work and Health. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office,TT976. Caplan, Robert, Cobb, Sidney, French, John, Van Harrison, R., and Pinneau, S. R. Job Demands and Worker Health. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1975. Colligan, Michael, and Tasto, Donald. Frequency of Sickness, Absence and Work-Site Clinic Visits AmongNurses as aTFUnction of Shift. UnpubliShed Study, 1979. Cooper, Cary, and Payne, Roy (Eds.). Stress at Work. New York: John Wiley, 1978. Eisenberg, Terry. "Job Stress and the Police Officer." In Job Stress and the Police Officer: Identifyin Stress Reduction Technigues. William Kroes and Joseph HrréTTTTE s. , Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1975. French, John. "A Comparative Look at Stress and Strain in Policemen.“ In Job Stress and the Police Officer. Washington, D.C.: Govern- ment Printing Office, 1975. Hays,]William. Statistics. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 963. Jacobi, Jerome. "Reducing Police Stress: A Psychiatrist's Point of View." In Job Stress and the Police Officer. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1975. Kasl, Stanislav. "Epidemiological Contributions to the Study of Work Stress." In Stress at Work. New York: John Wiley, 1978. 84 85 Kroes, William, Margolis, Bruce, and Hurrell, Joseph. "Job Stress in Policemen." In Journal of Police Science and Administration 1974, 2_(2), pp. 145-155. Kroes, William, Hurrell, Joseph, and Margolis, Bruce. “Job Stress in Police Administrators." In Journal of Police Science and Administration, 1974, 2 (4). Malaviya, P. and Ganesh, K. "Shift Work and Individual Differences in the Productivity of Weavers in an Indian Textile Mill." In Journal of Applied Psychology, 1976, 61 (6). Mott, Paul, Munn, Floyd, McLaughlin, Owen, and Warwick, Donald. Shift Work. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1965. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare. Job Stress and the Police Officer: Identifying Stress Reduction Technjgues. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1975. . Shift Work and Health. A Symposium, Government Printing Office, 1976. Nie, Norman, Hull, Hadlai, Jenkins, Jean, Steinbrenner, Karin, and Bent, Dale. StatiStical Package for the Social Sciences. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1975. Nunnally, Jum. Psychometric Theory. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1967. Pocock, S., Sergean, R., and Taylor, P. "Absence of Continuous Three- Shift Workers." In Occupational Psychology, 1972, 46. Pollack, Michael, and Gettman, Larry. "Coronary Risk Factors and Level of Physical Fitness in Police Officers." Proceedipgs of the 83rd Annual Conference of the International Association of Chiefs of Police, 1976. Philipp. Eileen, and Griew, Stephen. One Hundred Shift Workers. Research Paper No. 15 of the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research, Inc., 1970. Reiser, Martin. "Some Organizational Stresses on Policemen. In Journal of Police Science and Administration, 1974, 2 (2), pp. 156-159. Richard, Wayne, and Fell, Ronald. “Health Factors in Police Job Stress." In Job Stress and the Police Officer. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1975. Selye, Hans. The Stress of Life. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1978. Sergean, R. ManagingShiftwork. London: Gowen Press, 1971. 86 Shri Ram Centre for Industrial Relations. Human Problems of Shift Work. New Delhi: 1970. Taylor, P. "The Problems of Shift Work." In Journal of the Royal College of Physicians, 1963- 3 (4). Vroom, Victor. "Leadership." In Handbook of Industrial and Organiza- tional Psychology. Chicago: Rand-McNally, 1976. APPENDICES APPENDIX A THE 1977 QUESTIONNAIRE APPENDIX A THE 1977 QUESTIONNAIRE TO ALL SWORN PERSONNEL JACKSON POLICE DEPARTMENT You are being requested to complete the accompanying questionnaire in order to furnish information for the following purposes: 1. To discover and measure the various sources of stress on sworn personnel of the department. 2. To isolate factors associated with stressful conditions so that remedial actions may be devised in order to eliminate or reduce such conditions wherever possible. 3. To yield data for use in criminal justice research into the effects of job stress on the police officer. With the above purposes in mind I have met with a number of you over the past several months and have listened to your expressions of your feelings and opinions about your jobs. The questionnaire is designed to allow you to express these feelings frankly and freely in a form which will permit them to be quantified and combined with data from other police departments. I give you my assurance that, as in the case of interview data, all individual information will be held in strict confidence and used for report findings only when grouped with like data from other ques- tionnaires. Syd White 87 88 1. How long have you worked for this department? years ___months 2. Have you ever worked in another police dept.? ___No ... Yes a. If yes, for how long? years months 3. What is your present rank? Patrol officer Captain Sergeant Detective Lieutenant Other (Name rank) a. How long have you served in each of the following ranks in your present department? Years Months Years Months Patrol officer Other (Name rank) Sergeant Lieutenant Captain Detective 4. In an average week, how many hours do you normally work on the following types of assignments? In a marked police car Hours In an unmarked police care Hours In a police station or office Hours Other (describe assignment) Hours Hours a. In an average week, how many hours do you usually work: Alone Hours With more than one other person Hours With one other person Hours 5. Does your work call for you to supervise other persons? No Yes If yes, how many persons? Persons 6. In your job, what percentage of the time do you get weekends off? ____Less than 25%; ___25-50%; ____ 50-75%; ___]5-100%. 7. In your job, do you usually: ___ Work the same hours each day. If so, what are those hours? a.m. a.m. p.m. to p.m. 10. 11. 89 I___ Work on a changing shift basis. If so, what are the shifts? . a.m. a.m. . a.m. a.m. Shift I -—-p.m. to -——p.m. Shift II .___ p.m. to ____ p.m. ° acme a.m. Shift III p.m. to p.m. During the past month, about how many hours of overtime did you average per week? Overtime hours per week a. How many hours of overtime would you like to work per week? Overtime hours desired per week In addition to your job with the police department do you now: 5. Attend school or university? No Yes If yes, how many hours per week? Hours per week b. Hold an off-duty job (including self-imployment)? If yes, how many hours per week? Hours per week How tense or relaxed do you feel in handling the following situa- tions? Answer using the following code: 1 = Very Tense 2 = Tense 3 = Relaxed 4 = Very Relaxed ____ Family quarrel ____ Robbery in progress .___ Person with gun .___ Burgler alarm ____ Auto accident ____ Fight in a bar .___ Prowler .___ Burglary in progress ____Shooting ____Animal complaint ___ Routine Patrol ____ Routine department paperwork ‘___ Car check ___ Another officer needs assistance ____ Building check ____ Call of unknown nature .___ Possible homicide '___ High speed auto chase ____Child beating ___ Mentally disturbed person ___ Staying alert to police radio In the next set of questions, assumepyou have the job you would most like to have. Answer using the following code: l = Not often; 2 = Fairly often; 3 = Very often How often would you like to: ___ Have a chance to develop new talents . Remain seated 12. 13. 90 ____ Experience a sharp increase in work load ____ Have the opportunity to be creative ____ Be certain about what your job responsibilities were ___ 00 different things each day ____ Work in the same location ___ Know how well you did at the end of each day ____ Be certain about what others expect of you on the job .___ Repeat the same activities over and over ____See the results of your work For the following questions, use this code: 1 = Very little 2 = Little 3 = A moderate amount 4 = Much 5 = Very much If you could have the job you would most like to have, how much: ____Would you like to decide with others what part of a task you will do -___ Responsibility would you like to have for the morale of other officers .___ Time would you like to have to do all your work ___ Time would you like to have to plan and schedule your work Time would you like to have to contemplate and consider the results of your work Would you like to participate with others in making decisions that affect you Free time between heavy work load periods would you like to have ____ Would you like to participate with others in determining the way things are done on your job ___ Freedom would you like to have in setting your own work hours and days off How satisfied or dissatisfied are you with the following elements of your job as a police officer? Using the following code: 1 = Very dissatisfied; 2 = Dissatisfied; 3 = Satisfied; 4 = Very satisfied _Job security _ System of arranging work schedules .___Fellow officers ___ Personal appearance code ____Promotion system ___ Method of determining days-off ____Academy training ____Performance evaluation system ____Overtime pay ____Disciplinary system 14. 15. 91 ___ Excitement ___ Middle management ____ Salary ___ Method of determining assignments ____ Equipment maintenance ___ Freedom to make decisions ____ Top administration ____ Recognition from supervisors .___ Immediate supervisor .___ In-service training ___ Amount of overtime Below are some questions about the future of your job as a police officer. Use the following code: 1 Very uncertain 3 2 Moderately uncertain 4 How certain are you about: ____What your future career picture looks like ___ The opportunities for advancement which will occur in the next few years ____ Whether your job skills will be of use five years from now ____What your responsibilities will be six months from now Moderately certain Very certain Please read the pairs of descriptions below. Then describe your present job and the job you would most like to have. JOB A JOB B In this job, you are required In this job, you are required to to work on many different work on one job at a time. When tasks which are all in dif- that task is completed, you ference stages of completion. start work on another. Two or Some things are just being more tasks are never worked on started while others are at the same time. You always halfway finished, and others finish one task before starting may be finished by someone another. else. Use the following code to describe your present jpb and the job you would most like to have: 1 = Very much like JOB A 4 = Very little like JOB B 2 = Somewhat like JOB A 5 = Somewhat like JOB 8 3 = Very little like JOB A 6 = Very much like JOB B Your present job is The job you would most like to have would be 16. 17. 18. 92 JOB C JOB D In this job, you have changes In this job, you go along evenly in work load. Every once in a from hour to hour and from day while you have to work to to day. The pace of the work your absolute maximum. When stays about the same. You that happens, you have to con- rarely if ever have to change centrate very hard, work very pace and work faster and fast and as carefully as you harder. can . Use the following code to describe your present job and the job you would most like to have: 1 = Very much like JOB C 4 = Very little like JOB D 2 = Somewhat like JOB C 5 = Somewhat like JOB D 3 = Very little like JOB C 6 = Very much like JOB 0 Your present job is The job you would most like to have would be JOB E JOB F In this job you work is de- In this job you have some idea fined and described in almost of the purpose of the job, but every detail. Nothing is left no exact instructions are given to chance. There is a proce- on how to do the work. There is dure for every type of task. often no set procedure. Use the following code to describe your present job and the job you would most like to have: 1 = Very much like JOB E 4 = Very little like JOB F 2 = Somewhat like JOB E 5 = Somewhat like JOB F 3 = Very little like JOB E 6 = Very much like JOB F Your present job is The job you would most like to have would be JOB G JOB H In this job things change In this job you work on the almost every day. Each task same tasks every day. You use is rarely the same as the the same procedures or equip- previous one. You are likely ment all of the time. Each task to use different procedures is like the one you just finished. from task to task. Use the following code to describe your present job and the job you would most like to have: 1 = Very much like JOB G 4 = Very little like JOB H 2 = Somewhat like JOB G 5 = Somewhat like JOB H 3 = Very little like JOB G 6 = Very much like JOB H Your present job is The job you would most like to have would be 93 19. Now think about your present job. Use the following code to describe your job: 1 = not often 2 = fairly often 3 = very often How often do you feel that you: ____Are certain about what others expect of you on the job ____Are certain about what your job responsibilities are ____Are able to fully employ your skills and knowledge ____Are given a chance to do the things you do best ____Get conflicting orders from superiors ____ See the results of your work ____ Have feelings of pressure from having to please too many bosses ‘___ Experience a sharp increase in work load ____Have a marked increase in how fast you have to think ____Lack enough authority to carry out the responsibilities assigned to you ‘___ Know what opportunities for advancement exist for you ____ Have too heavy a work load ____Cannot satisfy conflicting demands of various people over you ___ Are fully qualified to handle your job ____ Don't know how your supervisor evaluates your performance ___ Have the information necessary to do your job ____ Can influence decisions of your supervisor which affect you ____ Haze so much work you can't do as good a job as you would i e _ Have to do things on the job that are against your better judgment ____Repeat the same activities over and over ____Have a chance to develop new talents ___ Have the opportunity to be creative ___ 00 different things each day ____ Know how well you did at the end of the day 20. On the next items, use this code: 1 = Very little 2 = Little 3 = A moderate amount 4 = Much 5 = Very much 94 In your job as police officer, how much: ___ Responsibility do you have for the morale of other officers ___ Do you participate with others in determining the way things are done on your job ____Freedom do you have in setting your own work hours and days off .___ Time do you have to do all your work ____ Do you decide with others what part of a task you will do ____ Free time do you have between heavy work load periods I___ Do you participate with others in making decisions that affect you ____ Time do you have to contemplate and consider results of your work Please think now about the type of work you do. Use this code: 1 = Very unlikely; 2 = Unlikely; 3 = Likely; 4 = Very likely “___ Knowing what you know now, how likely is it that you would again take a job as a police officer? If a friend ofyours expressed an interest in becoming a police officer, how likely is it that you would advise against it? In answering each of the following questions, use this code: 1 = Much less than I ought to get 2 = Somewhat less than I ought to get 3 = Somewhat more than I ought to get 4 = Much more than I ought to get ____ Compared to other people where you work who do a job similar to yours, how fair is your pay? ____ Compared to other people where you work who do a job different from yours, how fair is your pay? ____ Compared to other people who do not work where you work, but who have skills similar to yours, how fair is your pay? Below are some phrases which indicate how you might see yourself in your work. For example, if you think that you are very 'successful' in your work, put a circle around the number right next to the word 'successful'. If you think you are not at all successful in your work, circle the number next to the words 'not successful.‘ If you think you are somewhere inbetween, circle the appropriate number. Successful l 2 3 4 6 7 Not successful Dissatisfied at work 1 2 6 7 Satisfied at work Unimportant at work 1 2 6 7 Important at work Doing my best 1 2 6 7 Not doing my best 01010101 3 3 3 b-b-h 24. 25. 95 The following questions concern your relationships with other people. Use this code: 1 = Not often 2 = Fairly often 3 = Very often a. How often do the following people go out of their way to make your job easier for you? ____Your immediate supervisor ____Other people at work ____ Your spouse, or if not ___ Other relatives married, your closest friend of opposite sex Please indicate the extent to which you agree or disagree with the following statements. Use this code: 1 = Strongly disagree; 2 = Disagree; 3 = Agree; 4 = Strongly agree .___ My work is interesting to do ____ I often have to 'bend' department policies and procedures in order to get my job done My supervisor is not overcritical or a 'nitpicker.‘ There's pretty good sharing of information among the officers on all shifts ___ I like the amount of work I'm expected to do ____ To be married to a police officer is often difficult ____ I feel bored with the work I have to do ___ I often get a chance to discuss common problems with the officers on my shift ___ Department policies are too strict to let me do my job properly ____ I am satisfied with the pace of my work ____ My supervisor backs me up when I'm right ____My children and I don't get along very well ____ The work on my job is dull .___ The department's promotion policies are basically fair ___ I am happy about my current work load ____ Some of the best qualified people can't get promoted under the current system .___ Many of the department's regulations are unrealistic ____ Families of police officers are expected by the community to behave better than other families ___ Overall, my job has a negative effect on my home life .___ This department is a good one to work for ____ I don't receive enough praise for the work I do ____ My department is too much like a military organization 96 ____Nobody seems to notice when I do my job well ___ My supervisor tends to 'go by the book' too much ____ My job requires me to do too much paperwork ____ I feel I am getting ahead in the department ____Most sergeants are well trained and competent ____ My department does a poor job in maintaining communications equipment ____There is too much punishment and too little reward around this department ____The public is generally eager to cooperate with the police ___ Police vehicles are kept in good mechanical condition ___ There isn't enough time to learn all the rules and still get your job done ____ The relationship between citizens and police in this city is a good one .___ Many citizens believe that police officers are people who like power and tend to abuse it ___ I sometimes try to get even, rather than forgive and forget ___ There have been occasions when I felt like smashing things ____Everybody has ample opportunity for input into department policies ___ In comparison to most people I know, I'mvery involved in my work .___ The way internal investigations are handled makes me anxious ____ I have to spend too many hours in court .___ The courts are often too lenient with accused offenders ____Court cases are usually scheduled at convenient times for me ___ I don't get enough compensation for my court appearances ____ My supervisor really pays attention to complaints and suggestions ____I resent the penalties for violation of petty rules and regu- lations ___ A good manager always has to consider the feelings of his people if he expects to get top performance from them ___ Most of the command staff are fair and understanding ____ I never hesitate to go out of my way to help someone in trouble ____ I seldom feel tense or anxious talking to my supervisor ____ Sergeants should be given more responsibility by their superiors ____The military model is out of date for police departments 26. 27. 28. 29. 97 ____ I am always courteous, even to people who are disagreeable ___ My immediate supervisor keeps me well informed ____ My immediate supervisor is willing to listen to suggestions I don't feel there is enough communication between the officers on different shifts ____ Sometimes I don't think command staff know or even care what the officers think about a new procedure ___ My immediate supervisor will back me up when I need it ____Too many changes are made without consulting the men who have to carry them out ____ I don't feel totally comfortable talking to my immediate supervisor New policies are communicated clearly to all members of the department ____ No matter who is talking to me, I am always a good listener In the past year, have you had any vehicle accidents while on police duty? 1. No 2. Yes If yes, a. How many accidents have you had on duty? b. In how many accidents were you found to be at fault by the department? c. How many accidents involved emergency situations or high speed chases? d. In how many accidents was disciplinary action taken against you? In the past year, have you had any vehicle accidents while off- duty? 1. No 2. Yes If yes, a. How many accidents have you had off-duty? b. In how many accidents were you found to be legally at fault? The following questions concern your appearances in court as a police officer. a. On the average, how many regular duty hours per week do you spend in court? Hours per week b. On the average, how many yours per week do you spend in court during which you are not normally on duty? Hours per week How much effect do your work hours have on each of the following aspects of your life? Use this code: 1 = Very little; 2 = Little; 3 = Much; 4 = Very much 30. 31. 32. 33. .___Family life ____Eating habits _Sl eep _Sex life ____Digestion _Hol i days ____Social life ____Recreation 98 ____Friendships with other police officers ___Friendships with persons who are not police officers “__Ability to perform personal errands ___Ability to deal with household chores .___Ability to hold a second job ___Ability to go to school ___Ability to stay alert ___;General energy level How much effect do the days of the week that you normally work have on each of the following aspects of your life: Use this code: 1 = Very little; 2 = Little; 3 = Much; 4 = Very much ____ Family life ____ Eating habits ___ Sleep ____Sex life ____Digestion ____Holidays ____ Social life ____Recreation ____ Friendships with other police officers ____ Friendships with persons who are not police officers .___ Ability to perform personal errands .___ Ability to deal with household chores ____Ability to hold a second job ____ Ability to go to school ____ Ability to stay alert ____ General energy level How good a job does the union or association which represents you do in the following areas? Use this code? 1 = Very poor job; 2 = Poor job; 3 = Good job; 4 = Very good job .___ Getting better benefits for members I___ Improving relations between members and the departments ____ Making members' jobs more satisfying and interesting ____ Improving members' working conditions ____Representing the interests of its members Are you a member of a police union or association? 1. No _ 2. Yes The following questions concern your health. a. In an average week, how many hours do you spend in physical con- ditioning (jogging, weight-lifting, exercises, etc.)? Hours per week 33. 34. 35. 36. How 99 In an average week, how many hours do you spend activel engaged in sports activities (playing softball, golf, Bowling, etc.)? Hours per week often have you experienced each of the following during the past month while on duty? Use this code: 0 = Never 1 = Once 2 = TWo or more times ____ Fainting or blacking out .___ Being nervous or shaky inside _ Spells of dizziness _ Hands trembling enough to bother ____ Headaches you -___ Being tense ____Stomachaches Being bothered by your heart ____Nausea ____ Backaches __— beating faster than usual ____ Shortness of breath when you were not working hard or exercising In addition, have you experienced any of the following while off duty during the past month? Use this code: 0 = Never 1 = Once 2 = Two or more times .___ Nightmares .___ Trouble falling asleep or staying asleep ____ Headaches ____ Being tense ____Nausea Being nervous or shaky inside .___ Hands trembling enough to bother you Spells 0f dizziness .___ Being bothered by your heart .___ Stomachaches beating faster than usual How are Backaches ____Shortness of breath when you were Fainting or blacking not working hard or exerc1s1ng out much of the time do you have the following feelings while you at work? Use this code: 0: Never; 1 = A little of the time; 2 = Most of the time; 3 = All of the time Irritated or annoyed ____Jittery ____ Good Nervous ____ Calm ____ Depressed Sad ___ Unhappy ___ Angry ____Cheerful 37. 38. 39. 100 Below is a list of illnesses you may or may not have had. For every illness you have had in the past six months, please check in the space provided. ___ Heart disease or any heart trouble ___ Hypertension or high blood pressure .___ Trouble in the urinary tract ____ Trouble in the gastro-intestinal tract ____ Migraine (or severe headaches) ____ Mental illness or nervous breakdown ___ Arthritis or rheumatism (trouble with joints) ____Asthma .___ Bronchitis ____ Repeated skin trouble ____ Diabetes (sugar) ___ Ulcers (stomach) ____A cold or the flu ____ A stroke ___ Kidney trouble ___ Other (PLEASE SPECIFY) Think now about your health in general. a. During the past six months would you say your health has been: ___ 1) Very bad ____3) Good (CHECK ONE) ____2) Bad ____4) Very good b. How does your health ppy_compare with your health when you became a police officer? .___ 1) Much worse .___ 3) The same ___ 2) Worse ____ 4) Better .___ 5) Much better (CHECK ONE) During the past month how often have you used each of the following? Use7this code: O = Never 1 = Once 2 = Two or more times ____ Antacids ____ Aspirin or headache .___ Cough or cold ____Tranquilizers medicine medicine ‘___ Laxatives ‘___ Medication to give ____ Sleeping pills you pep ___ Other medicines 40. 41. 42. 43. 44. 101 On an average day, how many of each of the following do you usually drink? a. Bottles of beer ____bottles c. Shots of 1iquor____ shots b. Glasses of wine ___ glasses d. Cups of coffee ___ cups On an average day, how many of each of the following do you smoke? a. Cigarettes ____cigarettes c. Pipefuls of tobacco b. Cigars ____cigars ___ pipefuls Of the five people in the department you work with most often, how many have serious problems with the following: (IN THE SPACE NEXT TO EACH PROBLEM, PLEASE WRITE IN A NUMBER FROM 0 TO 5 T0 INDICATE HOW MANY OF THESE PEOPLE HAVE A SERIOUS PROBLEM) ____ Alcohol ____Chi1dren ____Finances ____Neighbors ____Marriage ____Health ____Drugs How many officers in this department have you known who have attempted or successfully committed suicide? ___ Officers How many officers in this department have you known who have had one or more heart attacks? ____Officers The last set of questions in included to provide further information about the backgrounds of police officers. 45. 46. 47. 48. 49. 50. What is your age? Years What is your sex? (CHECK ONE) ‘____ 1) Male ___ 2) Female What is your ethnic background? (CHECK ONE) ____ 1) White ____2) Black ____ 3) Chicano ____ 4) Other SPECIFY What is your weight? Pounds 00 you consider yourself to be: (CHECK ONE) ____ 1) Very underweight ____ 4) Overweight ____ 2) Underweight ___ 5) Very overweight ___ 3) About the right weight What is your height? Feet Inches 51. 52. 53. 54. 55. 102 When you joined the department, what was your marital status? (CHECK ONE) ___ 1) Never married ____ 5) Separated ____ 2) Married, never divorced I___ 6) Divorced or widowed ____ 7) Widowed ____3) Remarried after divorce ___ 4) Remarried after being widowed Has your marital status changed since joining the department? (CHECK ONE) .___ 1) No change ____ 4) Married after being -___ 2) Married for the first widowed time ___ 5) Separated (but not divorced) ___ 6) Been divorced ____7) Been widowed ____3) Married after a divorce If you have ever been divorced, are you now paying: 1. Alimony 2. Child support ____1. No '___ 1. No ____ 2. Yes ____ 2. Yes If you are now married, does your spouse currently hold a job? (CHECK ONE) ___ 1) No ____2) Yes, part time ____ 3) Yes, full time If yes, how important is your spouse's income for the maintenance of your household? (CHECK ONE) ____ 1) Very unimportant ____3) Important ____2) Unimportant ___ 4) Very important Before you joined the department, what was the highest level of formal education you had completed? That is, when you became a police officer, was your education: (CHECK ONE) ___ (01) Some high school, but ____ (04) Graduate from college "0t a graduate ____ (05) Some graduate courses ___ (02) Graduate from high school in college ____(O3) Some college courses, but ____(O6) Graduate degree did "01‘ graduate __ (07) Other (SPECIFY) 56. 57. 58. 59. 103 Since joining the department, how much additional formal education have you had? That is, after you became a police officer, have you: (CHECK ONE) ___ (01) Had no additional formal education ___ (02) Graduated from high school ____(O3) Taken some college courses, but have not graduated ____ (O4) Graduated from college ____(05) Taken some graduate college courses, but have not received a graduate degree ____ (06) Obtained a graduate degree .___ (07) Other (SPECIFY) How important do you think your department considers it that an officer go to school in order to be promoted? (CHECK ONE) ___ 1) Very unimportant . ___ 3) Important ____ 2) Unimportant ____ 4) Very important How many children do you now support? Children Other than your spouse and children, how many people depend upon you as their primary source of support? Persons This completes the questionnaire. Thank you for your cooperation. If you have any comments about the questionnaire or related subjects, please note them in the space below. APPENDIX 8 DEFINITIONS OF STRESS AND STRAIN VARIABLES AND CONTENT OF RELATED QUESTIONNAIRE ITEMS APPENDIX 8 DEFINITIONS OF STRESS AND STRAIN VARIABLES AND CONTENT OF RELATED QUESTIONNAIRE ITEMS STRESS VARIABLES Work Load Definition: Perception by the person of the amount of work he is given to do. Introduction: Now think about your present job. Use the following code to describe your job: 1 = not often 2 = fairly often 3 = very often] How often do you feel that you: 19:12 Have too heavy a work load? 19:18 Have so much work you can't do as good a job as you would like? Introduction: On the next items use this code: l = very little 4 = much 2 = little 5 = very much 3 = a moderate amount In your job as a police officer, how much: 20:42 Time do you have to do all your work? 20:6 Free time do you have between heavy work load periods? 20:8 Time do you have to contemplate and consider results of your work? 1Scoring converted to l, 3 and 5 on a five-point scale. 2The underlined items were reverse scored. 104 Definition: Introduction: 19:5 19:7 19:10 19:13 19:19 Definition: Introduction: n—l _a ‘0 N —-1 £0 03 0.: to _a 01 105 Role Conflict Perception by the person of conflicting demands from supervisors or others, or arising from the nature of the person's responsibilities. Now think about your present job. Use the following code to describe your job: 1 = not often 2 = fairly often 3 = very often How often do you feel that you: Get conflicting orders from superiors? Have feelings of pressure from having to please too many bosses? Lack enough authority to carry out the responsibilities assigned to you? Cannot satisfy conflicting demands of various people over you? Have to do things on the job that are against your better judgment? Role Ambiguity Perception by the person of uncertainty about the require- ments or outcome of his work. Now think about your present job. Use the following code to describe your job: 1 = not often 2 = fairly often 3 = very often How often do you feel that you? Are certain about what others expect of you on the job? Are certain about what your job responsibilities are? See the results of your work? Don't know how your supervisor evaluates your perform- ance? 1 The underlined items were reverse scored. 106 1 19:16 Have the information necessary to do your job? 19:24 Know how well you did at the end of the day? Job Future Ambiguity Definition: Perception by the person of uncertainty about his future career or job security. Introduction: Below are some questions about the future of your job as a police officer. Use the following code: = very uncertain 3 = moderately certain = moderately uncertain 4 = very certain How certain are you about: 14:1 What your future career picture looks like? 14:2 The opportunities for advancement which will occur in the next few years? 14:3 Whether your job skills will be of use five years from now? 14:4 What your responsibilities will be six months from now? Pay Inequity Definition: Perception by the person of the fairness of his pay com- pared to the pay of significant others. Introduction: In answering each of the following questions, use this code: 1 = much less than I ought to get 2 = Somewhat less than I ought to get 3 = Somewhat more than I ought to get 4 = Much more than I ought to get 22:1 Compared to other people where you work who do a job similar to yours, how fair is your pay? 22:2 Compared to other people where you work who do a job different from yours, how fair is your pay? 22:3 Compared to other people who do not work where you work, but who have skills similar to yours, how fair is your pay? 1The underlined items were reverse scored. 107 Participation Definition: Perception by the person of the influence he has on shared decisions which affect him, and his opportunity to contribute to the decision-making process. Introduction: On the next items use this code: l = very little 4 = much 2 = little 5 = very much 3 = a moderate amount In your job as police officer, how much, 20:2 00 you participate with others in determining the way things are done on your job? 20:5 00 you decide with others what parts of a task you will do? 20:7 00 you participate with others in making decisions that affect you? Social Support Definition: Perception by the person of the help obtained by him from his immediate supervisor and others which makes his job easier for him. Introduction: The following questions concern your relationship with other people. Use this code: 1 = not often 2 = fairly often 3 = very often How often do the following people go out of their way to make your job easier for you? 24 Your immediate supervisor Your spouse, or if not married, your closest friend of the opposite sex Other people at work Other relatives STRAIN VARIABLES Tension Definition: Perception by the person of mental or emotional strain while performing his work. 108 Introduction: How tense or relaxed do you feel in handling the following situations. Answer using the following code: 1 = very tense 2 = tense 3 = relaxed 4 = very relaxed 19] Family quarrel Robbery in progress Person with gun Burglar alarm Auto accident Fight in a bar Prowler Burglary in progress Shooting Animal complaint Route Patrol Routine department paperwork Car check Another officer needs assistance Building check Call of unknown nature Possible homicide High speed auto chase Child beating Mentally disturbed person Staying alert to police radio Job Dissatisfaction Definition: Perception by the person of feelings of satisfaction or dissatisfaction with his job. Introduction: How satisfied or dissatisfied are you with the following elements of your job as a police officer? Use the following code: 1 = very dissatisfied 2 = dissatisfied 3 = satisfied 4 = very satisfied 1§_ Job security System of arranging work Fellow officers schedules Promotion system Personal appearance code Academy training Method of determining days-off Overtime pay Performance evaluation system Excitement Disciplinary system Salary Middle management Equipment maintenance Method of determining assign- Top administration ments Immediate supervisor Freedom to make decision in-service training Recognition from supervisors Amount of overtime Somatic Complaints Definition: Perceptions by the person of symptoms of physical and/or behavioral disorders caused or influence by the emo- tional state of the person. 1 The underlined items are reverse scored. Introduction: 34 Introduction: 35 109 How often have you experienced each of the following during the past month while on duty? Use this code: O = never 1 = once 2 = two or more times Fainting or blacking out Being nervous or shaky inside Spells of dizziness Hands trembling enough to Headaches bother you Being tense Stomachaches Nausea Being bothered by your heart Backaches beating faster than usual Shortness of breath when you were not working hard or exercising In addition, have you experienced any of the following while off duty during the past month? Use this code: 0 = never 1 = once 2 = two or more times Nightmares Trouble falling asleep or Headaches staying asleep Being tense Being nervous or shaky inside Nausea Hands trembling enough to Spells of dizziness bother you Stomachaches Being bothered by your heart Backaches beating faster than usual Fainting or blocking Shortness of breath when you out were not working hard or exercising APPENDIX C THE 1978 QUESTIONNAIRE APPENDIX C THE 1978 QUESTIONNAIRE M E M 0 R A N D U M 10: All Sworn Personnel/Jackson Police Department FROM: Syd White SUBJECT: Questionnaire DATE: June 19, 1978 You will be requested to complete another questionnaire as a follow- up to the one which you completed during 1977. You will recall that the purposes of the research at that time were to discover sources of job stress, to isolate stress factors in order to eliminate or reduce them, and to obtain data for further research into the effects of stress on police personnel. This follow-up is primarily for the purpose of studying your adapta- tion to your work schedule. The information will be used in conjunc- tion with that obtained last year to identify advantages and dis- advantages of each shift in relation to individual characteristics. As you were assured last year, your replies will be kept in confi- dence; no one in the department will ever know how you answer any of the questions. Responses will be summarized and published in a final report, but your individual responses will not be disclosed. 5., .1’ (1794.2: SW:mj 110 111 FOLLOW-UP QUESTIONNAIRE POLICE JOB STRESS The main object of this follow-up questionnaire is to find out the effects of work schedule changes on various aspects of your job, life style, and health. Try to think about the whole year when you answer and to see both the good things and the bad. This will bring out both advantages and disadvantages of different shift arrangements and, hopefully, will lead to establishing work schedules that minimize stress caused by shift work on police personnel and their families. 3. What is your present rank? .___ Patrol officer ____Captain .___ Sergeant .___ Detective Lieutenant ‘____Other (Name rank) 4. In an average week, how many hours do you normally work on the following types of assignments? In a marked police car ____ Hours In an unmarked police car _____Hours In a police station or office ____ Hours Other (Describe assignment) _____ Hours _____Hours 7. In your job, do you usually: .___ Work the same hours each day. If so, what are those hours? a.m. to a.m. '__— p.m. '___ p.m. ___ Work on a changing shift basis. If so, what are the shifts? Shift I __ M“ to _a°"'° SHIFT 11 __ M“ to _ a'"'° p.m. p.m. p.m. p.m. Shift III _ 3"“ to M" p.m. p.m. 10. 13. 14. How tense or relaxed tions? Answer using 1 = Very tense; 2 ____Family quarrel ____Person with gun ___ Auto accident ____ Prowler ____ Shooting ____ Routine patrol ____ Car check ____Building check 112 do you feel in handling the following situa- the following code: = Tense; 3 = Relaxed; 4 = Very relaxed ____Robbery in progress ____Burgler alarm ___ Fight in a bar ____ Burglary in progress ____Animal complaint ___ Routine department paperwork ____Another officer needs assistance ___ Call of unknown nature ___ Possible homicide ____High speed auto chase ___ Child beating How satisfied or diss .___ Mentally disturbed person ____Staying alert to police radio atisfied are you with the following elements of your job as a poli ce officer? Use the following code: 1 = Very dissatisfied 2 = Dissatisfied 3 = Satisfied 4 = Very satisfied ____ Job security ____System of arranging work schedules ___ Fellow officers ___ Personal appearance code ___ Promotion system ___ Method of determining days off ____ Academy training ___ Performance evaluation system ____0vertime pay ___ Disciplinary system .___ Excitement ____ Middle management ___ Salary .___ Method of determining assignments ____ Equipment main- ____ Freedom to make decisions tenance ____ Top adminis- ____ Recognition from supervisors tration .___ In-service training -——— Impggiate super- ____Amount of overtime Below are some questi officer. Use the fol l = Very uncertain 2 = Moderately uncertain 4 ons about the future of your job as a police lowing code: 3 Moderately certain Very certain How certain are you about: ____ What your future career picture looks like 19. ____ The 113 opportunities for advancement which will occur in the next few years ___ Whether your job skills will be of use five years from now ____ What your responsibilities will be six months from now Now think about your present job. Use the following code to describe your job: 1: Not often 2 = Fairly often 3 = Very often How often do you feel that you: Are Are ____ Are Are Get See certain about what others expect of you on the job certain about what your job responsibilities are able to fully employ your skills and knowledge given a chance to do the things you do best conflicting orders from superiors the results of your work ____ Have feelings of pressure from having to please too many bosses ___ Experience a sharp increase in work load ____Have a marked increase in how fast you have to think ____ Lack enough authority to carry out the responsibilities assigned to you ____ Know what opportunities for advancement exist for you ____Have too heavy a work load ____Cannot satisfy conflicting demands of various people over you ___.Are ____Don' fully qualified to handle your job t know how your supervisor evaluates your performance ____ Have the information necessary to do your job ____ Can influence decisions of your supervisor which affect you ____Have so much work you can't do as good a job as you would like ____ Have to do things on the job that are against your better judgment .___ Repeat the same activities over and over ____ Have a chance to develop new talents ____Have the opportunity to be creative ____ 00 different things each day ____Know how well you did at the end of the day 20. 22. 24. 114 On the next items, use this code: 1 = Very little 2 = Little 3 = A moderate amount 4 = Much 5 = Very much In your job as police officer, how much: ____Responsibility do you have for the morale of other officers ____ Do you participate with others in determining the way things are done on your job Freedom do you have in setting your own work hours and days off ____ Time do you have to do all your work ____ Do you decide with others what part of a task you will do .___ Free time do you have between heavy work load periods __ Do you participate with others in making decisions that affect you ___ Time do you have to contemplate and consider results of your work In answering each of the following questions, use this code: 1 = Much less than I ought to get 2 = Somewhat less than I ought to get 3 = Somewhat more than I ought to get 4 = Much more than I ought to get .___ Compared to other people where you work who do a job similar to yours, how fair is your pay? Compared to other people where you work who do a job different from yours, how fair is your pay? [___ Compared to other people who do not work where you work, but who have skills similar to yours, how fair is your pay? The following questions concern your relationships with other people. Use this code: 1 = Not often 2 = Fairly often 3 = Very often How often do the following people go out of their way to make your job easier for you? ____Your immediate supervisor ___ Other people at work ____ Your spouse, or if not ____ Other relatives married, your closest friend of opposite sex 115 29. How much effect do your work hours have on each of the following aspects of your life? Use this code: 1 = Very little; 2 = Little; 3 = Much; 4 = Very much ____ Family life I___ Eating habits ____Sleep ___ Sex life -——— ____ Digestion -—- ____ Holidays -——- ____Social life -——- ____ Recreation -——— Friendships with other police officers Friendships with persons who are not police officers Ability to perform personal errands Ability to deal with household chores Ability to hold a second job Ability to go to school Ability to stay alert ___ General energy level 30. How much effect do the days of the week that you normally work have on each of the following aspects of your life? Use this code: 1 = Very little; 2 = Little; 3 = Much; 4 = Very much ____ Family life ____ Eating habits _ Sleep ____ Sex life -——— ____ Digestion -——— ___ Holidays -——— ___ Social life -——— ____ Recreation -——— Friendships with other police officers Friendships with persons who are not police officers Ability to perform personal errands Ability to deal with household chores Ability to go to school Ability to stay alert Ability to hold a second job General energy level 34. How often have you experienced each of the following during the past month while on duty? Use this code: O = Never 1 = Once 2 = Two or more times ___ Fainting or blacking out ____Being nervous or shaky inside ____ Spells of dizziness ___ Hands trembling enough to ____ Headaches bother you ___ Being tense ____Stomachaches __-..... —E:;::.:°:::::S 11.1152?" ____ Backaches ____ Shortness of breath when you were not working hard or exercising 35. 36. 37. 116 In addition, have you experienced any of the following while off duty during the past month? Use this code: 0 = Never 1 = Once 2 = Two or more times ___ Nightmares ____Trouble falling asleep or staying ___ Headaches asleep .___ Being nervous or shaky inside ___ Hands trembling enough to bother you ____Being bothered by your heart beating faster than usual .___ Being tense .___ Nausea ____ Spells of dizziness —-— Stomachaches ___ Shortness of breath when you were ___ Backaches not working hard or exercising _ Fainting or blacking out How much of the time do you have the following feelings while you are at work? Use this code: 0 = Never 2 = Most of the time 1 = A little of the time 3 = All of the time I feel: ____ Irritated or annoyed ____ Jittery ____ Good ____ Nervous ____ Calm ____ Depressed ____Sad ____Unhappy .___ Angry ____ Cheerful Below is a list of illnesses you may or may not have had. For every illness you have had in the past six months, please check in the space provided: ____ Heart disease or any heart trouble ___ Hypertension or high blood pressure ____ Trouble in the urinary tract ____ Trouble in the gastro-intestinal tract .___ Migraine (or severe headaches) ____ Mental illness or nervous breakdown ___ Arthritis or rheumatism (trouble with joints) ____Asthma _ Bronchitis ____ Repeated skin trouble ____ Diabetes (sugar) ___ Ulcers (stomach) ___ A cold or the flu 38. 39. 40. 41. 60. 61. 117 ___ A stroke .___ Kidney trouble .___ Other (PLEASE SPECIFY Think now about your health in general. During the past six months would you say your health has been: (CHECK ONE) ___ 1) Very bad ___ 3) Good ____ 2) Bad ____ 4) Very good During the past month how often have you used each of the following? Use this code: 0 = Never 1 = Once 2 = Two or more times Antacids Aspirin or headache Cough or cold Tranquilizers medicine medicine . Medication to give Sleeping pills Laxatives TTT'you pep -——- ___ Other medicines On an average day, how many of each of the following do you usually drink? a. Bottles of beer ____bottles c. Shots of liquor ___ shots b. Glasses of wine ___ wine d. Cups of coffee I___ cups On an average day, how many of each of the following do you smoke? a. Cigarettes ___ cigarettes Pipefuls of tobacco b. Cigars .___ cigars ____ pipefuls Did you change from a rotating shift schedule to a fixed shift schedule during the last twelve months? _____ No ____Yes If Yes, was the fixed shift Your first choice Your second choice Other (Please explain) In general, how do you feel about your work schedule? (Circle the appropriate number) Very dissatisfied 2 = Satisfied Dissatisfied 4 = Very satisfied 09—: ll 118 62. In general, how does your family (or the people you live with) feel about your work schedule? (Circle the appropriate number) Satisfied Very satisfied 1 2 Very dissatisfied 3 Dissatisfied 4 63. What do you like best about your work schedule? 64. What do you like least about your work schedule? This completes the follow-up questionnaire. Thank you for your cooperation. When this research is completed, the results will be made available to all members of the Jackson Police Department. APPENDIX D THE JACKSON POLICE DEPARTMENT APPENDIX D THE JACKSON POLICE DEPARTMENT General The Jackson Police Department (JPD) is responsible for all policing in the city of Jackson, Michigan, 5 city of approximately 50,000 population in south-central Michigan. The department is an integral unit of the city government, reporting through the city manager to the mayor and council of the city. As of July 1, 1977, the organization and strength of the JPD was as follows: Sworn Other Officers Cadets Personnel Iptpl Office of the Chief l l 2 Staff Operations 1 15 16 Police Operations 1 1 2 Patrol Unit 1 15 2 l7 Patrol Unit 2 18 2 20 Patrol Unit 3 16 2 18 Investigative Operations 15 1 16 Youth Service Bureau 7 1 8 Selective Enforcement 4 4 Unit Crime Scene Search Unit 1 l 2 Subpoena Officer 1 l Transcription Room 2 2 Emergency Dispatch _j_ __ ___ _j_ 81 7 21 1 9 120 Operations Patrol operations are conducted mainly by one-man auto patrols, supplemented by several motorcycle patrol units. The patrol group is supervised by a sergeant, who in turn reports to a lieutenant in charge of the shift at headquarters. Each individual patrol covers a separate section of the city, but back-up units are available when required to assist the officer answering the original call. Calls are recorded by the officer and may require to be written up on one or more forms which are turned in to the supervisor at the end of the shift. Incidents which require further investigation are usually assigned to a detective in the investigative operations unit for follow-up and closure during the day shift. When cases are taken to court the patrol officer must be available to attend court and give evidence if required. Often this must be done on the officer's day off, and as it may involve Sitting in court for hours waiting for evidence to be taken, this type of assignment is not popular with patrol officers. Complaints involving juveniles are usually handled by the youth service bureau which operates on the day shift out of an office at headquarters. Members of this unit also visit schools and other insti- tutions as part of their continuing effort to reduce and prevent juvenile offenses. A selective enforcement unit of plain clothes officers works on special assignments which often have to be conducted with great secrecy and involve working irregular hours on continuous surveillance and other demanding duties. 121 Patrol activities are linked to headquarters by a radio communi- cations system operated by a dispatcher who reports to the supervisor in charge of each shift at headquarters. An emergency dispatch unit linking the city police with township, county and state police is operated at a separate location in Jackson, staffed partly with JPD personnel. Police cadets serving with JPD are hired under provisions of the Comprehensive Employment Training Act. They are rotated through a number of training assignments including assisting on patrol work. Many of them are hired as officers following completion of their training. With the exception of the crime scene search unit and the subpoena officer, the remaining headquarters positions, including administrators, secretaries, clerk-typists, and parking checkers, are filled by civilian employees. Shift Arrangements During 1977, approximately half of the department's employees worked a fixed day shift (8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Monday through Friday). Police patrol and emergency dispatch operations were on a rotating shift, round the clock basis, including weekends and holidays. Each shift unit, including supervisors, was responsible for staffing one eight hour shift for four months at a stretch. The day shift ran from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., the afternoon shift from 4 p.m. to 12 p.m., and the night shift from 12 p.m. to 8 a.m. Work schedules, including days off, holidays, and vacation time, were planned several weeks ahead and posted on a bulletin board. Usually each officer worked 122 for five days and then had two days off, but this pattern was often disturbed by holidays and unforeseen happenings such as court appear- ances, personal or sick leaves or rapidly changing operational needs. At the end of a four month stint on a particular shift, each unit, including supervision, was rotated to a different time period in the day - afternoon - night shift sequence. Before discontinuance of most rotating shift operations took place, each person on rotation was asked to elect first and second choices of fixed shift assignments and enter the choices on lists posted in the department. ‘Most officers discussed the forthcoming changes with their supervisors before deciding. The lists then formed the basis for the shift schedules under the new system which became effective January 1, l978. Approximately 75% of those transferring to fixed shifts were assigned to the first shift they had chosen, and all but one officer of the remainder were assigned to their second choices. As a rule, when officers could not all be given their first choices, seniority was used to decide which persons were given first preference. The only exceptions to this rule were made in order to ensure that sufficient experienced personnel were present on each shift. Nine officers and two supervisors were continued on rotation, mainly in order to give new officers experience on all shifts. "‘liliiiiiimm