Abstract
This chapter introduces the research question: “How resilient are South Australian Police Officers” and summarises the themes that arose from the 50 interviews as well as the research design and method. The themes included power, organisational executive culture, the feminisation of policing since the 1970s and the impact on police culture, death and bodies, the constant companion of operational police, keeping well, coping in the operational context, asking for help when traumatised, a risky action for operational police, sleep, its critical importance to well-being and resilience, resilience, its meaning and importance to policing, PTSD and policing, the media, and the contemporary expectation that trauma exposure will inevitably cause injury and post-traumatic growth theory. How it applies to policing and resilience. This chapter also examines traditional and more contemporary theories of policing and the impact, if any, they have on the way police organisations see their role in the “good order” of society. A brief history of South Australia Police, a summary of the research methodology and a description of the cohort of police officers interviewed conclude the chapter.
They call it ‘The job’ because it’s not a job. That’s the joke.
SAPOL Senior Sergeant, 28 years’ service
What disturbs men’s minds is not events, but their judgements on events
Epictetus 55–135 AD
Any abnormal reaction to an abnormal situation is normal behaviour
Victor Frankl
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
A “tasking” is a direction to a police patrol to attend an incident that warrants police attention. They are “tasked” to attend.
- 2.
Interviews were conducted in public places such as coffee shops, at Flinders University, police stations, Police Association offices and in the officer’s homes. Only two officers were interviewed in public where there was no problem with confidentiality as we were able to find quiet corners to talk.
- 3.
Special Task and Rescue group are elite officers carefully selected and trained as first responders to critical incidents involving armed offenders. They also conduct underwater body recovery taskings and rescues.
- 4.
See more detail in Chap. 5 “Coping, keeping well.”.
- 5.
See full text of the letter in Appendix C.
- 6.
See Appendix A.
- 7.
See “Coping”, Chap. 5.
- 8.
See Chap. 2 “Power, organisational and police culture, ‘the job”.
References
Apitzsch, U., & Siouti, I. (2007). Biographical analysis as an interdisciplinary research perspective in the field of migration studies. Research Integration.
Bruggeman, W. (2016). Pearls in policing: Exploring the boundaries of policing. Pearls in Policing. Hong-Kong.
Berkley, G. E., & Berkley, G. E. (1969). The democratic policeman. Beacon Press.
Chae, M. H., & Boyle, D. J. (2013). Police suicide: Prevalence, risk, and protective factors. Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies & Management, 36(1), 91–118.
Cotton, P. (2016). Victoria Police Mental Health Review. An independent review into the mental health and well-being of Victoria Police employees. Australia.
Carroll, M. (2015). Support letter. A. Paterson. Adelaide, South Australia: Police Association of South Australia.
Cresswell, J. W. (1998). Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five traditions. Sage Publications.
A Faull 2017 Police work and identity: A South African ethnography Routledge
J Fereday E Muir-Cochrane 2006 Demonstrating rigor using thematic analysis: A hybrid approach of inductive and deductive coding and theme development International Journal of Qualitative Methods 5 1 80 92
G Gardner 2001 Unreliable memories and other contingencies: Problems with biographical knowledge Qualitative Research 1 2 185 204
KM Gilmartin 2002 Emotional survival for law enforcement ES Press, PMB 233 2968
Guest, G., et al. (2011). Applied thematic analysis. Sage.
Harcourt, B. E. (1998). Reflecting on the subject: A critique of the social influence conception of deterrence, the broken windows theory, and order-maintenance policing New York style. Mich. L. Rev, 291(293), 309–329.
VE Henry 2004 Death work: Police, trauma, and the psychology of survival Oxford University Press
Hopkins, C. (2003). South Australia Police 1838–2003 A history of the development and operations of the force from its establishment. South Australian Police Historical Society Inc.
Horner, P. (2011). Jack knife: The crashing of a policeman—NSW police and PTSD. New South.
E Jones S Wessely 2005 Shell shock to PTSD: Military psychiatry from 1900 to the Gulf War Psychology Press
Loftus, B. (2009). Police Culture in a changing world. Clarendon Studies in Criminology.
Lewin, K. (1951). Field theory in social science. Selected theoretical papers edited by Dorian Cartwright.
Raphael, B. (2014). Telephone conversation. A. Paterson. Adelaide, South Australia.
PK Manning 2005 The study of policing Police Quarterly 8 1 23 43
McFarlane, A. C. (2011). Many paths, one purpose. Expert forum. Australian Centre for posttraumatic mental health.
Peters, R. F. (2009). Police under pressure (A donkey on the edge). HEAS Publications.
Roberts, B. (2002). Biographical research. Open University Press.
LK Rogers 1999 Posttraumatic stress disorder: A police officer's report Proctor Publications
D Saleebey 1996 The strengths perspective in social work practice: Extensions and cautions Social Work 41 3 296 305
SAPOL. (2016). SAPOL Annual Report. S. A. Police. Adelaide South Australia, Government of South Australia.
Scraton, P., & Chadwick, K. (1987). Law, order and the authoritarian state: readings in critical criminology, Open University Press.
Sparkes, A. (2013). The cost of bravery. Australia: Penguin Group, Australia.
Sparrow, M. (2016). Handcuffed: What holds policing back, and the keys to reform, Brookings Institution Press.
JB Stinchcomb 2004 Searching for stress in all the wrong places: Combating chronic organizational stressors in policing Police Practice and Research 5 3 259 277
RG Tedeschi LG Calhoun 1996 The posttraumatic growth inventory: Measuring the positive legacy of trauma Journal of Traumatic Stress 9 3 455 471
Toch, H. (2002). Stress in policing. American Psychological Association Journal.
Violanti, J. M. (2014). Dying for the job: Police work exposure and health. Charles C Thomas Publisher.
Weathers, F., et al. (2013). The PTSD checklist for DSM 5 (PCL-5). National Centre for PTSD.
Zinn, J. O. (2004). Social contexts and responses to risk network (SCARR).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2021 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Paterson, A. (2021). Introduction. In: Trauma and Resilience in Contemporary Australian Policing. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-4416-0_1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-4416-0_1
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore
Print ISBN: 978-981-16-4415-3
Online ISBN: 978-981-16-4416-0
eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)