The Influence of Early Strain on Later Strain, Stress Responses, and Aggression by Police Officers

• Date: 01 June 2015
• Author: Egbert Zavala,Don L. Kurtz,Lisa A. Melander
• DOI: 10.1177/0734016814564696
• Published date: 01 June 2015
• Subject Matter: Articles

Article

The Influence of Early Strain

on Later Strain, Stress

Responses, and Aggression

by Police Officers

Don L. Kurtz

1

, Egbert Zavala

2

, and Lisa A. Melander

1

Abstract

Research has established policing as one of the most stressful occupations and that work-induced

strain can lead to various criminal and negative outcomes. This study extends existing literature

in criminology and criminal justice by applying general strain theory to police stress. This study

examines the influence of prior strain—namely, child abuse and interparental violence—on officer

critical incident strain, psychological–physiological stress responses, and officer-on-officer aggres-

sion. Data analyzed the stress responses of 1,104 police officers from the Police Stress and Domestic

Violence in Police Families in Baltimore, Maryland, and results show that prior strain events influence

respondents in three key ways. First, those reporting exposure to childhood strain had higher work-

related strain scores. Second, youthful strain events and work-related critical incident strain are

associated with increased stress. Finally, child abuse exposure and critical incident strain increases

the odds of officer-on-officer violence among participants. The sample offers several important

implications for strain theory because it includes only adult respondents and offers some degree

of control for serious adolescent delinquency.

Keywords

police stress, strain, interparental violence

The American public generally considers policing as one of the most stressful professions due to the

risk of engaging with hostile suspects, working long hours, or investigating a violent crime scene,

and a significant body of research finds that work-related stress can produce negative outcomes for

law enforcement personnel and police agencies (Anderson, Litzenberger, & Plecas, 2002; Harpold &

Feenster, 2002; Howard, Donofrio, & Boles, 2004; Kurtz, 2008; Liberman et al., 2002; Lott, 1995;

Maguen et al., 2009). Most literature focuses on the psychological, physical, or psychiatric stress

1

Department of Sociology, Anthropology and Social Work, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS, USA

2

The University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, TX, USA

Corresponding Author:

Don L. Kurtz, Department of Sociology, Anthropology and Social Work, Kansas State University, 209 Waters Hall,

Manhattan, KS 66506, USA.

Email: dlk3535@ksu.edu

Criminal Justice Review

2015, Vol. 40(2) 190-208

ª2014 Georgia State University

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DOI: 10.1177/0734016814564696

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reactions to ‘‘critical incidents’’ generated by exposure to life-threatening events as part of the

policing environment (Anderson et al., 2002; Liberman et al., 2002; Loo, 2004; Mashburn, 1993).

Other research links police stress to numerous behavioral problems including excessive alcohol

consumption, inadequate performance at work, unstable intimate relationships, and even domestic

violence (Bartollas & Hahn, 1999; Haarr & Morash, 1999; Gibson, Swatt, & Joicoeur, 2001; Swatt,

Gibson, & Piquero, 2007).

Officer violence is a particular area of focus within the police deviance literature, and several

studies indicate that work-related stress contributes to domestic violence in police families

(Anderson & Lo, 2011; Erwin, Gershon, Tiburzi, & Lin, 2005; Gershon, Barocas, Canton,

Li, & Vlahov, 2009; Johnson, Todd, & Subramanian, 2005; Lonsway, 2006) or directed at the pub-

lic in the form of excessive force. However, because these studies only examine violence within

the family, it is unknown whether work-related stress contributes to physical aggression toward

other people in proximity to a strained officer. Officer-on-officer violence presents a unique exam-

ple when exploring the dynamics of police officer aggression because much of what we know

about officer’s aggression remains descriptive in nature (Stinson & Liederbach, 2013; Stinson,

Liederbach, & Freiburger, 2012). Few studies directly connect police misconduct to existing crim-

inological theories, notwithstanding the recent work examining police stress within the theoretical

framework of Agnew’s (2006) general strain theory (Anderson & Lo, 2011; Gibson et al., 20 01;

Swatt et al., 2007) and some research arguing critical incident stress as theoretically consistent

with various types of strain (Anderson & Lo, 2011).

As such, the purpose of this study is to investigate police officer stress and officer-on-officer

physical aggression, a subject that is vastly understudied. Using general strain theory as a theoretical

guide, we explore the influence of child abuse and interparental violence on later stress and officer

aggression. Research on police officers as perpetrators of violence (see Erwin et al., 2005; Lonsway,

2006) generally focus on family violence and the belief that negative relationships with criminals

and other harmful factors associated with police work contribute to officer aggression. These studies

commonly rely on various forms of Agnew’s (2006) general strain theory to explain officer miscon-

duct (Anderson & Lo, 2011; Gibson et al., 2001; Swatt et al., 2007). Exposure to violence during

childhood is one of the most commonly studied risk factors for physical aggression, and many exist-

ing studies fail to explore this as a conditioning factor for officer-on-officer violence (Anderson &

Lo, 2011). This study adds to the literature by exploring the potential influence of early strain in the

form of experiencing child maltreatment and witnessing interparental violence on later strain, officer

stress, and violent behavior. We hope that the results of this study can inform policies and practices

that could improve police officers’ stress reactions.

To accomplish this goal, we first review the literature on general strain theory and police stress.

This is followed by a literature review on the connection between prior strain and criminal/violent

offending and a review of studies on criminal/deviant behavior by police officers. Hypotheses estab-

lished by the literature review are provided and followed by detailed descriptions of the data, meth-

ods, and findings. The last section in this article provides a discussion of the findings and the study’s

implications and limitations.

Literature Review

General Strain Theory and Police Stress

According to Agnew (1992), negative relations and negative affect are important causal steps in the

pathway to crime. Stressors, such as parental rejection, harsh physical discipline, child maltreatment,

and criminal victimization (Agnew, 2006), lead individuals to experience negative emotions which,

in turn, may lead to crime, which is thought of as an adaptation to stress (Agnew, 2006). An

Kurtz et al. 191