Perceived Stress and Psychological Well-being Among Cadets of Police Academy, Wudil-Kano
Chapter One
Objectives of the study
The main objective of this study is to examine the perceived occupational stress on the psychological well-being of police cadets in Kano, Nigeria. Other specific objectives are to:
- Investigate the effect of work stress on the psychological well-being of police cadets.
- Examine the effect of frustration on the psychological well-being of police cadets.
- Ascertain the effect of depression on the psychological well-being of police cadets.
- Suggest ways of improving psychological well-being and reducing stress among police cadet in their stations or workplaces.
CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
Introduction
Stress is a complex phenomenon, whose underlying causes, manifestations and response strategies vary from person to person (Lazarus and Folkman 1984). Stress is as much as a psychological issue as it is a physical health problem (Nanandumur & Gowthami 2014; Keller 2012). Stress manifest itself in various ways including poor cognitive development, . A number of writers such as Keller (2012) and Rosenthal & Russell (2010) have in recent years attempted to explore the effects of stress on students’ academic performance. Some of their views, discussed below, have shaped the thrusts of this research.
Theories of Stress
Over the years, several theories have been developed by a number of authors to help students understand stress, its manifestations and impacts. According to Laurence, Williams & Eiland (2009) stress theories can be categorized into three: 1) response theories, 2) stimulus theories, and 3) transaction theories. Under response theories stress is understood as a response by people to external pressures or stressors, such as too many assignments within a short period of time. Stimulus theories seek to understand stress from the perspective of major events such as humanitarian disasters, chronic and other life threatening activities. In transactional or process theories, stress is studied as a complex set of interactions and adjustments between the person and the environment. Lazarus & Folkman (1984) is of the most popular transactional theorist. Through their transactional model, Lazarus & Folkman (1984) emphasize the ‘transactional’ nature of stress, by arguing that it is a two way process whereby the environment produces stressors and the individual finds ways to deal with these. Lazarus & Folkman (1984) understood stress as a condition or feeling experienced when a person perceives that the demands exceed the personal and social resources the individual is able to mobilize to manage the condition. Thus the effect that stress has on a person is based more on that person’s feeling of threat, vulnerability and ability to cope than on the stressful event itself.
Strategies for coping with stress
A key aspect of studies on stress is to understand how people cope with stress. Coping is defined by Lazarus & Folkman (1984) as a process by which an individual changes his or her cognitive and behavioral efforts to manage specific external and/or internal demands that are appraised as taxing or exceeding the resources of the person. Stress coping theories can be categorised into two: 1) trait vs state oriented and 2) micro-analytic vs macroanalytic (Krohne 2002:06). Trait oriented coping strategies aim to identify individuals with less capacity and resources to cope with specific stressors. The purpose of this assessment is early prevention. State oriented strategies, on the other hand, look at how a person actually copes with particular stressors. Micro-analytic strategies encompasses a wide range of approaches to respond to stress while macro-analytic strategies look at the abstracted or broader issues that may affect many people (Krohne 2002).
Lazarus & Folkman (1984) theory of coping with stress is popularly known as cognitive appraisal. Their model concentrated on emotion and the problem itself, as well as the functions related to them. As indicated above, cognitive appraisal falls within the framework of micro-analytical responses. To Lazarus & Folkman cognitive appraisal occurs when a person considers two major factors that majorly contribute to his or her response to stress, notably the threatening tendency of the stress to the individual, and the assessment of resources required to minimize, tolerate or eradicate the stressor and the stress it produces. Cognitive appraisal is divided into two types or stages: primary and secondary appraisal (Laurence, Williams & Eiland 2009). In primary appraisal an individual will first understand the meaning and potential effect of a particular stressor. Secondary stressors relate to particular feelings about a stressor. Secondary appraisal often happens simultaneously, though at a later stage, with primary appraisals (Wong, Reker & Peacock 2006).
At a practical level, Lazarus & Folkman (1984) various ways of managing or coping with stress. These include relaxation, accepting responsibility, positive re-appraisal and proactive problem solving techniques, social support, time management and physical exercises. According to Chai (2015) social support is crucial when one is going through difficult times. During these times friends, relatives, spouses and classmates in the case of students, may provide emotional, spiritual even professional support by way of helping their counterpart go over particular stressors (Wong, Reker & Peacock 2006). The idea of sharing one’s problems and challenges for the purposes of social support is a crucial part of the African culture (Mwakoghu 2011). In many African countries including Nigeria, acquaintances, co-workers, relatives, spouses and companions often provide a lifeenhancing social net to their counterparts when they are distressed. Folkman and Lazarus (1984) identified stress management as a dynamic process which is essentially in two categories which are problem – focused coping and emotion – focused these two coping styles. Emotion focused copying may include denial of existence of a particular problem (Versaeve (2015). Mature coping mechanisms may include problem solving and seeking professional and technical support to deal with particular stressors.
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Introduction
In this chapter, we would describe how the study was carried out.
Research design
An analysis of the social research methodologies suggests that survey is the handy tool for managers to collect primary data using questionnaire and interviews about the perceptions and attitudes of the respondents. “It is noted somewhere that questionnaire approach is the “most frequently used mode of observation in the social sciences because surveys are reportedly the excellent vehicles for measuring attitudes in large populations” (Sekaran, 2003:257).
Sources of Data
The data for this study were generated from two main sources; Primary sources and secondary sources. The primary sources include questionnaire, interviews and observation. The secondary sources include journals, bulletins, textbooks and the internet.
Population of the study
A study population is a group of elements or individuals as the case may be, who share similar characteristics. These similar features can include location, gender, age, sex or specific interest. The emphasis on study population is that it constitute of individuals or elements that are homogeneous in description (Prince Udoyen: 2019). In this study the study population constitute of all the police cadet purposely drawn from the Wudil police academy.
CHAPTER FOUR
PRESENTATION OF DATA AND ANALYSIS
Hypothesis 1
Work-stress will not have significant effect on psychological well-being of police cadet in police academy wudil, kano .
CHAPTER FIVE
CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATION
Conclusion
This study has been able to look at the percieved stress and its associated factors such as work-stress, frustration and depression on psychosocial well-being of police cadet in wudil police academy, kano Nigeria. The study also established that stress generally has been one of the bottlenecks for effective excursion of daily activities among Nigeria police; simply because of unsatisfactory working conditions they found themselves.
Recommendations
The implications of the findings inherent in the study evidently indicate the factors associated with occupational stress such as workstress, frustration and depression that have significant effect on psychological well-being of police officers in Ibadan, Nigeria. Another implication of the findings is that those associated factors with occupational stress exerted significantly influence on the organizational commitment of the Nigeria police. This implies that the gap between police and attainment of their constitutional objectives could be bridged by bringing about improvement in the occupational stress and psychological well-being of Nigeria police.
When stressful situations of these kinds are experienced by the police they become difficult to control. As such social workers, counselling psychologists, personnel psychologists and other health professionals should mount intervention strategies that could be relied upon for the improvement of the Nigeria police self-efficacy, active problemsolving coping and their social networks. The implications also present platform upon which the organizational commitment of the police personnel could be understand and managed.
Sequel to the findings of this study, the following recommendations were made:
It is recommended that, training programmes should be designed to enhance self-efficacy, coping strategies and social networks of the police in order that they can cope with work-stress or role strains. This is necessary because the police tend to work more hours in their daily activities; hence, there is a need to reduce the working hours for the police in an attempt to reduce daily hassles that often result to workstress.
This recommendation goes to government and police organization in that, they should endeavour to find means of managing psychological attributes such as police self-efficacy, work-motivation, emotional labour, psychological well-being, work-stress and social networks of their employees. This is based on the fact that management of these attributes will go a long way in enhancing their organizational commitment. This could be done by establishing behavioural clinics in all the police stations throughout the country. This is necessary in order to diagnose and treat the behavioural problems among the police personnel.
The conducive working environment should be created for the police personnel in order to reduce work-stress and enhance their productivity. Finally, there is the need to train the police personnel on the hazards of the jobs and ways of reducing the dangers of the jobs which are inevitable for safety in workplace.
References
- Adegoke, T. G. (2011). Effects of occupational stress, Hazard and Working Environment on psychological Well-Being of Industrial Workers in Ibadan Metropolis, Nigeria. Nigerian Journal of Clinical and Counselling Psychology. Vol. 17, Issues 1-2, 63-64.
- Akinnawo, E. O. (2010). The traumatic experiences and psychological health of women working in two male-dominated professions in Nigeria. Ife Psychologia, 20 (18).
- Buhrmaster, S. (2006). Suicide by Cop: 15 warning signs that you might be involved. Topics and tactics for Law Enforcement.
- Cohen, S. Kramarch, T., & Marmelstein, R. (1983). A global measure of perceived stress. Journal of Health and Social Behaviour, 24, 285 – 396.
- Collins, P. A. & Gibbs, A. C. C. (2004). Stress in Police: A study of the origins, prevalence and severity of stress-related symptoms within a country police force. Occup. Med. (London); 53: 256 – 264.
- Ebiai, A. (2010). Occupational stress and psycho-Physiologic disorders in Nigeria. Journal of Research in National Development. Vol. 8, 1 -12.
- European Agency for safety and Health at work (2002): Fact sheet on work related stress, facts (22) available on-line: http://www.European.Osha.ev.int.
