In recent years, the impacts of human activity on Earth’s environment have gained global attention. After WW2, the western world entered a period of booming economic growth, with China, India and many other nations following soon after. At the same time, world population increased at an exponential rate. Quality of life in developed nations improved as resource consumption per capita increased dramatically. However, these economic gains came at a cost. Resources were funneled away from third world countries, ecosystems have been decimated, and a massive amount of carbon was pumped into the atmosphere. As a result, the concept of sustainability has become increasingly prominent in our public discourse. Despite becoming a commonly used buzzword, sustainability can be tricky to define, as definitions can vary based on usage.
Sustainable economic development can be defined as the application of practices and strategies aimed at meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability for future generations to do the same. By this definition, most modern economies fail to meet the criteria for sustainable development. The needs of the present are generally met in developed nations (though poverty remains rampant in third world countries). However, without major adaptations, future generations will suffer. The effects of unsustainable growth can already be seen, as the rising cost of living prevents many young adults from achieving independence.
In terms of ecology, sustainable practices include preserving existing ecosystems, restoring lost habitats and improving their long-term resilience. While we often consider human society as a separate entity from the natural world, we are reliant on ecosystems for survival. Human development requires space and resources, which means we have to take from ecosystems in order to meet our needs. To be sustainable, we must take great care in determining what to take, how much to take, and how we plan to offset our impact. A number of strategies have been employed over the years to promote ecosystem conservation, including the establishment of state and national parks, regulations preventing wetland destruction, restoration of previously disturbed ecosystems, hunting and fishing limits, and the protection of endangered species. When these measures are implemented, one major priority is to strengthen ecosystems’ resilience. For a system to be truly sustainable, it must possess the capacity to adapt to changing environmental conditions.
While the term is most commonly used in discussions of economics and the environment, the principles of sustainability can be applied to any number of fields. In psychology, the goal of a clinician is to provide their client with the tools they need to improve their lives in the short term, while also building their personal resilience to better cope with future problems. Thus, the work of a clinician can be considered a sustainable practice by meeting their client’s immediate needs and helping them adapt to changing environmental conditions in the future.
Inherent to the nature of police work are the traumatic incidents that officers must respond to. Throughout an officer’s career, they may respond to major car accidents, mass casualty events, suicides, grieving families, and homicides. In the face of such tragedies, an officer is expected to remain composed and in control. They must carry themselves with an aura of authority and confidence in order to reassure civilians at the scene that they are in good hands. Internally, responding officers may experience lasting symptoms of PTSD due to these incidents. Moreover, day-to-day stress caused by negative interactions with the public, lack of departmental support or family problems can lead to burnout. Dysfunction for the officer and depletion of department resources can be the result.
Many departments across the country have established networks of resources to assist officers in need of support. However, even today there still exists significant stigma attached to seeking mental health resources. This stigma can especially affect first responders, who are trained to suppress negative emotions and maintain a steady, confident demeanor. Some officers may feel that it is a sign of weakness to reach out for help. Therefore, officers may feel hesitant find support even when it has been made available. It is the responsibility of public safety entities to break down these barriers and ensure that officers are comfortable and willing to seek help.
In February 1999, a senior officer from Newark, NJ murdered a young female recruit before ending his own life. In the wake of this incident, Amaranto et al. (2003) received a grant to implement a support program and gather results about the effectiveness of the intervention strategies. This initiative provided the Newark Police Department with a 24 hour hotline which provided officers with outpatient resources, as well as an educational program that included discussions on stress management, PTSD, domestic violence, substance abuse, and available resources for officers in need of support. During and after the introduction of educational programming, calls to the hotline increased substantially. Based on these results, we can speculate on the potential causes for the increased hotline usage. First, the educational program helped officers identify signs of stress and motivated them to find solutions. Another possibility is that the educational program reduced the stigma felt by the officers about seeking help. The officers sat together in a room full of their peers while learning about topics in mental health. By going through this process alongside their peers, stigma was lessened and officers felt more comfortable reaching out for support.
Amaranto et al. (2003) indicated a positive impact on officers’ willingness to utilize mental health resources as a result of educational programming. So is this a sustainable solution to police stress? More specifically, how does educational programming affect an officer’s personal resilience long-term? Oliver and Meier (2009) sought to evaluate the effectiveness of this intervention strategy and determine whether the benefits tapered over time. An 8 hour stress management educational program was introduced to rural police departments in West Virginia. Officers completed a pre-programming questionnaire which gauged anxiety levels using the Adult Manifest Anxiety Scale (AMAS). The questionnaire also recorded self-reported stress levels and behavioral indicators of personal distress (number of sick days and civilian complaints filed within the past year). The educational programming included discussions focused on identifying stress, stress management techniques, diet and exercise, and critical incident debriefings.
Following the program’s completion, the participating officers were sent a follow-up questionnaire to test if the program resulted in an improvement in their stress levels. Officers who responded within the first 6 months were found to have significantly lower anxiety scores compared to pre-programming results. For individual who completed the questionnaire 7 – 12 months after the program, a diminishing effect was observed. While their AMAS scores still indicated these officers had lower levels of anxiety than before the educational initiative, the positive impacts of the program were dampened compared to those who responded within the first 6 months. This trend continued for those who were surveyed 13-18 months after the programming, with even higher anxiety levels being observed.
Results from these two studies tell us three important things about the effectiveness of stress management educational programs. Firstly, introducing officers to topics in mental health can reduce stigma and make them more willing to reach out for help. Second, stress management education can effectively equip officers with the tools they need to manage anxiety in the short term. Finally, in order for these programs to be truly sustainable, that is to provide positive impacts to an officer’s mental wellbeing long-term, continued support after the programming ends is essential. Stress management education can provide officers with the tools they need to address their current stressors. It may also break down the barrier of seeking outpatient resources, which would improve their personal resilience and adaptability when faced with future problems. When combined with other intervention strategies, stress management education can be part an effective and sustainable system for managing police stress, enhancing officer wellbeing and effectiveness, as well as limiting the depletion of a department’s resources.
Anthony Madonna, MS/Environmental Studies
Technical Writer
References
Amaranto, E., Steinberg, J., Castellano, C., & Mitchell, R. (2003). Police stress interventions. Brief
Treatment & Crisis Intervention, 3(1).
Oliver, W. M., & Meier, C. (2009). Considering the efficacy of stress management education on small-town and rural police.
Applied Psychology in Criminal Justice, 5(1).