Date

5-22-2024

Department

Helms School of Government

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy in Criminal Justice (PhD)

Chair

Marlana Hancock

Keywords

jlinebach@liberty.edu

Disciplines

Social and Behavioral Sciences

Abstract

In a post-George Floyd world, police agencies are under unprecedented scrutiny. There is tremendous pressure to improve performance, reduce the use of force, and expand police-community relations. In addition, police agencies struggle to maintain officer wellness. Police officers have higher levels of physical and mental illness than the general population, which results in a significantly lower age expectancy and quality of life. There is a general trend to reduce police funding, spurred by dissatisfaction with police services and general fiscal constraints. In order to combat increasing problems with diminishing resources, police administrators need solutions that can work on several problems. One such solution is stress mitigation. Law enforcement is particularly stressful, correlating with numerous adverse outcomes for the officers, their families, the police department, and the community. Addressing stress-related issues calls for intervention by a mental health professional, but due to the stigma prevalent in the profession, most officers are reluctant to seek help. While this stigma is a barrier to help-seeking behavior, a recent study demonstrated that some officers seek help despite retaining high levels of stigma. Since previous work focused on reducing stigma, there is a lack of research on factors that attenuate the stigma against seeking help without actually reducing it. If these factors can be uncovered, law enforcement populations’ help-seeking behavior will increase. This study aimed to fill this gap through an exploratory, interpretative phenomenological analysis, which consisted of an extensive, open-ended interview with law enforcement officers who have voluntarily sought help for a mental health condition.

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