Chapter 10 The Value Struggle Between the Families of Law Enforcement: The Family at Home and the Family at Work

• Published date: 25 July 2011
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/S1479-3660(2011)0000012013
• Date: 25 July 2011
• Pages: 185-208
• Author: Katarina A. Thomas

CHAPTER 10

THE VALUE STRUGGLE

BETWEEN THE FAMILIES OF LAW

ENFORCEMENT: THE FAMILY

AT HOME AND THE FAMILY

AT WORK

Katarina A. Thomas

ABSTRACT

This study investigates the relationship between stressors that are part of

law enforcement job responsibilities or associated with police work and

the relationships of law enforcement officers. This study uses a

standardized testing instrument for relationships, the Marital Satisfaction

Inventory-Revised (MSI-R) (Snyder, 1997) and a qualitative tool

developed by the researcher, the Law Enforcement-Based Family Survey

(LEBFS). The MSI-R is a self-report measure that identifies for each

partner the nature and the extent of the distress along key dimensions of

the relationship. The LEBFS examines themes among law enforcement

officers and is used as an exploratory measure. Participants for the study

were chosen based on their active duty status and personal relationships,

utilizing a sampling procedure. The Los Angeles Police Department,

Leadership in Education, Corrections and Law Enforcement: A Commitment to Ethics,

Equity and Excellence

Advances in Educational Administration, Volume 12, 185–208

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ISSN: 1479-3660/doi:10.1108/S1479-3660(2011)0000012013

185

Los Angeles, California, employed the law enforcement officers for this

study, and participation was voluntary and confidential.

Historically, the relationship between police officers and psychologists has

been mistrustful, adversarial, and antagonistic (Bradstreet, 1994). This

tenuous relationship is due to the two basic functions that psychologists

serve for law enforcement: psychological testing, used by most law

enforcement agencies to evaluate the psychological fitness of candidate

officers, and psychological evaluations, used to assess sworn officers whose

capacity to perform their jobs may be in question (Blau, 1994).

One obstacle to improving the relationship between psychologists and

police officers is to overcome the secrecy that is part of law enforcement

professionals’ belief system. Police officers believe that police matters are no

one else’s business (Blau, 1994). Often, police officers fear that a mental health

professional will learn things about an officer that should not be discovered,

such as problems with one’s family. Some officers have endured internal

affairs procedures with the belief that investigations and departmental

intrusions are fine, but that their families should be left alone. This belief that

the family should be separate from the workplace occurs because the

department or agency does not employ a police officer’s relatives (Skultety &

Singer, 1994). The clear demarcation that police officers make between their

professional arena and their personal domain, separating family life from

professional life problems, inspired the present study’s goals.

This study is intended to assist with proactive identification of officers at

risk for developing serious marital problems related to their personal and

professional lives. As the researcher of this study is a licensed marriage and

family therapist, my belief is that identification is imperative for early

treatment and successful intervention. Earlier research into the role of stress

in police work indicated that a variety of stressors impinge on the peace

officer, making this a high-stress occupation (Kroes, Margolis, & Hurrell,

1974;Reiser, 1974;Stratton, Parker, & Snibbe, 1984), including shift work,

public scrutiny, and management that are based on autocratic, quasi-

military models. With the divorce rate estimated to be approaching 50% in

the general population (Schreiber, 2004), the range of family problems

leading to divorce also occurs among married police officers; however, there

may be a greater degree of marital strife and discord associated with law

enforcement families. The divorce rate for police officers has been estimated

to be between 60 and 75% (Schreiber, 2004).

KATARINA A. THOMAS186