The purpose of this research proposal is to understand how police subculture and professional stressors impact the decision-making abilities of law enforcement officers in the field. Public perception often places the blame for the frequent murders of young minority males solely on racism and racial profiling. Research suggests that the profession of police officer is extremely stressful and it can be difficult to learn to deal with traumatic situations. Police subculture refers to the specific set of “beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors exhibited by those in law enforcement” (Malmin 2012). A specific understanding of the police subculture is the mentality that individual strength is preferable to expressing fears or psychological hurt and asking for help. Therefore, when faced with professional stressors, such as daily evaluations of new officers, without the ability to seek advice from veteran officers on how to deal with immense stress, officers are learning to mismanage it and make mistakes due to the increasing levels of anxiety in the workplace. We say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay This research will help both scholars and the broader community develop a better intellectual understanding of the stress that officers experience. Through a better intellectual understanding of how stress affects officers differently than other occupations, policymakers will be able to address the responsibility of each individual police department and police chief to take care of their officers, not just physically but also psychologically. Specifically, this research will build on the limited research on police officers and PTSD. According to Mark Malmin, a former San Francisco police officer, detective, hostage negotiator, narcotics investigator and bailiff, police officers are taught to act as if they can handle anything. There is an emphasis on individual strength and independence in police training, leading to the façade of invincibility throughout the department. Officers are constantly exposed to danger, but must continue to show compassion and kindness towards victims of crime. They must understand the complexity and legality behind someone's death and often have to make split-second decisions that result in someone's death or injury. According to Malmin, the stressors police officers face can be debilitating and devastating, but there are limited resources available to police officers to help them develop stress management techniques. The police subculture dismisses the inevitable need for assistance, focusing solely on survival, ignoring the importance of mental well-being in such a demanding occupation. American police departments arguably have the best training programs for tactical and operational skills globally. However, they fail to train officers on how to deal with traumatic events, perhaps because there is a lack of understanding of the impact of trauma and stress on an individual. The police subculture is indoctrinated early in a police officer's career. Veteran officers serve as field training teachers for police officers who recently graduated from the Police Academy. The teachers.
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