A Systems Application to Stree Management Training in the RCMP

by Cst. Matt Logan,
RCMP HQ, Ottawa, Ontario
Research on police stress has focused primarily on its existence and origins being inherently occupational. This study verifies the existence of occupational stress, but takes a further look into the stress that exists working within an organiza­tion and being part of a family system.

From a systems perspec­tive, this study takes the "big picture" of a police officer's life and assesses the need for training in stress management. This sys­tems' perspective asserts itself in the needs' assessment being di­rected toward both RCMP member and spouse.

A sample of 101 Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers, both male and female, ranging in rank from constable to superintendent, and 72 of their spouses returned question­naires. The questionnaires, using an adaptation of the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) were designed to answer the following questions:


· Is there a need in the RCMP for Stress Management training?
· Is there a need for a Family Sys­tems application to this training?
· Is there an interest in police officer and spouse joint training?
· At what stage of a police offic­er's career would this training be most valuable?
· In order to design a relevant curriculum, what are the specific areas of stress for the police family?

Results of this study show a need for stress management training as expressed by both RCMP member and spouse, and as evidenced by the data. The need, interest, and per­ceived value of joint training was evidenced in the data, as well as the accompanying written comments.

Specific areas and items of stress were determined and compared in light of gender, rank, duty type, and years of experience. In comparing members and spouses in ratings of stress, the following results were obtained:


· Organizational, occupational, and family stress were ranked in that order by member and spouse.
· Spouses reported higher stress ratings than members in every area.
· The six spouses who reported the highest stress were all living with members who were rated in the top 10% of the high stress cat­egory.
· All factors considered, the RCMP member experiencing the most stress is a male, uniformed con­stable with between nine and twelve years of experience.
· Female members reported lower stress levels.
· The RCMP spouse experiencing the most stress is one that is living with such a member.
· Stressors ranked highest by member and spouse (although in different orders), were: raising children; finances; workload; promotional opportunities; emo­tionally-draining work; and, the feeling of being "always on duty".

RCMP members were asked to respond to more items than the spousal group; for members, occu­pational stress was ranked as the highest, followed by organizational and family stress. The stressor ranked highest by RCMP members by a considerable margin was the frustration of working within the judicial system.

This article is a sample of a longer article written for the RCMP GAZETTE, Vol. 57, No. 11 & 12.1995