in this issue . . . Assessing Attitudes: The Victim Mentality   Metabolic Syndrome Among Police Officers Influenced by Sleep Patterns, Duration   Police Training for the Whole Person

 By John E Reid & Associates

A suspect guilty of a crime often displays attitudes during an interview which are typically quite different from those attitudes exhibited by an innocent person. During an investigation, an investigator may note that one subject appeared spontaneous, open and confident, while a second subject may be described as being unconcerned, guarded and unhelpful. Each of these general characteristics represent the subject's attitude. One of the attitudes commonly associated with the deceptive suspect is referred to as assuming a "victim mentality." Under this circumstance, the guilty suspect, either overtly or subtly, alleges that he is a victim within the investigation.

Assuming the role of being a victim is a very natural position to take when a person is questioned about an act of wrong-doing for which he is responsible. In various circumstances, my children have tried to reverse their role from being the perpetrator to that of the victim. Examples include, "I was minding my own business when Ben, for no reason, hit me"; "Ryan, or someone else spilled that soda in my room. I shouldn't have to clean it up"; or, "Dad, you always believe Collin just because he's younger than me." Each of these statements are designed to convince me, the parent/investigator, of my child's innocence. In truth, however, each statement provides a symptom of the child's probable involvement in the act of wrong-doing -- in each instance, the child is portraying a victim mentality.

One common example of the victim mentality is for a guilty suspect to argue that he is being set up or framed. The suggested perpetrator of this alleged frame may be the a fictitious guilty suspect, the victim of the crime or the police. When a suspect states, "I'm being framed for this thing. Someone planted that cocaine in my apartment" the probability is high that the suspect knew that the cocaine was there all along. We have interviewed a number of verified innocent suspects who, in fact, were implicated through evidence planted by the guilty party. It is of interest to note that none of those innocent subjects claimed that they were being set up or framed. Rather, they simply maintained their innocence and cast no blame on anyone else for making them appear guilty.

Another example of the victim mentality is the guilty suspect who makes an unwarranted attack against the investigator claiming some form of prejudice. The allegation may involve race, gender, religion or other affiliation, e.g., "The only reason you think I did this is because I'm a Latin King!" Especially when this type of allegation is made spontaneously, seemingly out of no where, it is likely emanating from a guilty suspect. Our experience indicates that an innocent suspect who represents a minority group will state their innocence without any reference whatsoever to their affiliation. It is the guilty suspect who desperately wants to believe that the investigator is prejudiced (so as to reduce the suspect's own guilt feelings) who makes these types of unwarranted accusations.

Finally, consider the suspect who spontaneously mentions during an interview that he was victimized in the past. The child molester may explain that he was molested as a youth; the thief may relate that someone once stole money from him; or a suspect who was correctly identified by the victim may bring up the fact that years ago he was wrongly accused for something he did not do. In the first two examples perhaps the implied message is that because the suspect was himself a victim he would never victimize someone else. In the latter case, the suspect may bring up his past victimization in an effort to impeach the victim's identification. Regardless of the cause, suspects who appear anxious to interject information that they have been victimized at some time in the past are often guilty. An important key to evaluating this behavior, of course, is that the suspect volunteers this information. On the other hand, if the information is developed in response to the investigator's specific question addressing past similar incidents, little meaning should be attached to it.

From a psychological perspective, it makes perfect sense that a guilty suspect would try to portray himself as a victim during the course of an interview. A suspect who believes that his crime was morally justified feels that it is wrong that he be harshly punished for his act. In his mind, he truly believes that he is a victim (of the criminal justice system or society in general). This distorted thought process naturally invites such claims that the suspect was set up or framed, that the investigator is prejudiced or may be revealed by the suspect's compelling need to tell the investigator of a past incident where the suspect was victimized. As with all behavioral observations, it is important that the investigator consider any statement suggesting a victim mentality in the context of the conversation and that all of the subject's attitudes must be taken into consideration when formulating an opinion of the person's truthfulness. 

  

A new study published in the Archives of Environmental & Occupational Health shows that the combination of night work, overtime, and shortened sleep can contribute to the development of metabolic syndrome among police officers. Metabolic syndrome is defined as abnormalities in any three of five important clinical measures: abdominal obesity, triglycerides, high-density lipoproteins (HDL), blood pressure, and fasting glucose level.

"These findings reinforce the scientific value of studying the effects of occupation on cardiovascular risk factors," said author John M. Violanti, PhD, research associate professor in the University at Buffalo’s Department of Social and Preventive Medicine in the School of Public Health and Health Professions. "This is especially important in first responders, who are selected on initial good overall physical and mental health. Exploring specific job-related associations, such as shift work, adds to the benefit of such investigations."

The baseline study involved 98 police officers who were selected randomly from a total of 934 officers. Clinic personnel in UB's Center for Preventive Medicine obtained a fasting blood sample, and measured systolic and diastolic blood pressure and waist circumference. Participants also completed an extensive questionnaire on demographics and lifestyle choices. Researchers obtained day-by-day data on shift-work and overtime hours from payroll records.

Overall, 30% of officers working the night shift had metabolic syndrome, compared to 21% in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III), which is based on data collected from the overall general population.

"One potential explanation for this unusual finding is that midnight-shift officers were most likely to be sleep deprived because of difficulties associated with day sleeping. Sleep debt has been shown to have a harmful impact on carbohydrate metabolism and endocrine function, which could contribute to metabolic disorders," said Violanti.

However, officers working the night shift were younger on average than those working the day shift—36.5 years versus 42.6 years—but despite their younger age, the percentage with metabolic syndrome (30%) was higher than the 24% average for the 30 to 39 years age group in the general population.

"This slightly higher prevalence at a younger age coincides with police mortality cohort studies, which found a higher risk of CVD [cardiovascular disease] among younger officers," said Violanti. "This finding is in contrast to that in the general population, in which CVD risk increases with age.”

Officers who worked midnight shifts and had less than 6 hours of sleep had a significantly higher average of metabolic syndrome components than those who worked day shifts.

"Information from this study could help guide further investigation into health of first responders," Violanti said. "Not only of police officers, but firefighters, emergency medical technicians, nurses, physicians, air traffic controllers, and the military.”

 An Exploration of the Spiritual Dimension
By Jonathan A. Smith, Ph.D.

With ever-higher expectations, a rapidly expanding global arena, and an environment where change appears as the only constant, many organizations, including the police, are emphasizing the importance of their employees. Such phrases as “Our people are our most important asset”¹ and “Policing is a people business—of people, by people”² are common. But, do these statements refer to people as whole beings?

Perhaps an odd question—after all, considering people as anything else seems absurd—but, actually, why do the police want whole people working for them? Why not just focus on the part useful to them—perhaps only cognitive or physical abilities, for example? What about police training? Can a person’s empty mind be loaded with the requisite information and sent on its way? What would be missing if the police concentrated solely on the portion of their officers that proved vital to getting the job done?

First of all, employees do not come like that. They cannot simply be sliced up and remain alive, enthusiastic, and engaged. People come to work as whole human beings, and an increasing body of evidence shows that nurturing all of their aspects can result in significant benefits for their organizations.³

A particularly arduous and varied job, policing, at times, draws on every element officers have in their personal armory and makeup. High levels of absence, long-term sickness, abuse of alcohol and other drugs, and high divorce and suicide rates for officers testify to the demanding nature of policing. These difficulties present clear evidence that the law enforcement profession cannot focus only on specific segments of officers, and, at the same time, they raise the question of whether every factor—mind, body, and spirit—are nurtured, trained, and supported to the extent necessary for officers to be fully fit for the role they must perform.

The author and a fellow researcher developed the Global Fitness Framework (GFF) to identify all of the aspects that the law enforcement community needs to consider for officers to be fully fit.⁴ The GFF looks at the physical, mental, and spiritual fitness of individuals, groups, and society. Although all of these elements and their interaction are important, the spiritual dimension undoubtedly represents the most difficult, contentious, and often-avoided aspect in this whole framework. So, what is this spiritual dimension? Does it have any relevance to police training? In 2005, the author explored these questions as they related to the training of police trainers for the 43 Home Office forces in England and Wales.⁵

THE RESEARCH

The majority of training in U.K. police forces is carried out by officers. At the time the author conducted his research, most agencies had a policy wherein tenures into training often lasted for three years. This meant that the initial instruction of trainers had to quickly and effectively equip officers with the skills to deliver the required instruction. The principle method for training these officers, the Trainers’ Development Program (TDP), became the focus of the author’s research.

A 10-week, full-time residential program, the TDP consisted of a distance-learning component, a six-week training course, and a four-week assessment phase. Two directors of study (DSs) facilitated each course, which had 12 students attending. Although most DSs were officers, some, like the author, were civilians. The TDP course took a student-centered, humanistic psychological approach derived from the work of Maslow and Rogers.⁶ It used Kolb’s experiential learning and included a focus on diversity and attitudinal development.⁷

Data Collection

The author investigated from a constructivist paradigm whether an exploration of the spiritual dimension should be included in the TDP’s six-week training course. His work had a phenomenological basis wherein he made the effort to understand respondents’ perceptions and collect a wide variety of views to provide a rich and broad understanding. Because of the nature of the research, generalizing the findings must be treated with caution, although the author contends that the variety and depth of perceptions gathered provide a database that allows others to make judgments about the possible transferability of findings to their own situations.⁸

The author collected data using semistructured interviews, a reflective journal, and a questionnaire. In total, over 100 respondents took part in the study, and the author’s reflective journal covered over 1,000 hours of TDP experience.

Term Definition

After an extensive literature review concerning the meaning of spirituality, the author chose a broad definition so that the exploration embraced as many aspects of a diverse society as possible. “Spirituality is a state or experience that can provide individuals with direction or meaning or provide feelings of understanding, support, inner wholeness, or connectedness. Connectedness can be to themselves, other people, nature, the universe, a god, or some other supernatural power. Spirituality in the workplace is about individuals and organizations seeing work as a spiritual path, as an opportunity to grow and to contribute to society in a meaningful way. It is about care, compassion, and support of others; about integrity and people being true to themselves and others. It means individuals and organizations attempting to live their values more fully in the work they do.”⁹

Operational Experience

Prior to joining the TDP, officers typically worked in operational environments for anywhere from five to 25 years. The author’s research revealed that these operational experiences impacted significantly on how officers approached the TDP.

Although operational policing is a difficult, challenging, and sometimes threatening task, the author found that despite these pressures, the vast majority of officers are committed, loyal, and hardworking and perform their role professionally and effectively.¹⁰ Of course, the influences, reactions, and ways of coping described here do not in any way represent all police officers or even the majority. But, they are typical of those who took part in the research and are significant enough to have a major impact on officers and the way the police service operates.

The research showed that many had joined the police service because they wanted to do something meaningful and saw police work as an opportunity to make a positive contribution to their community and the wider society. When working on the streets as an operational officer, however, some experienced a sharp contrast between this desire and the realities of operational policing where they often were ostracized, taunted, and mentally or physically abused.

New recruits quickly experienced the strong police culture, particularly the negative aspects that many studies have highlighted.¹¹ Of course, talk of a police culture undoubtedly made this appear more monolithic than it actually was, but some common elements were frequently observed in the research. The negative aspects of the culture, often referred to as the canteen culture, included peer pressure, cynicism, and resistance to change. The author investigated the numerous reasons for this canteen culture and discovered that part of it could have resulted from peer pressure or because of the nature of operational policing. Interestingly, if the canteen culture is related to the nature of policing, then the author argues that this could be a manifestation of the collective coping strategies used by officers to deal with the demanding and sometimes threatening nature of some operational police work.

The research revealed a number of common strategies that officers used to cope with the toxic nature of their role. Humor was one. Some officers said that they undertook a “performance” in their role.¹² These respondents felt that the public, police service, or officers themselves often expected the police to behave in ways that implicitly demanded this performance. Others reported that they mentally distanced themselves from their feelings and emotions. Often, they spoke of using their police uniform as a source of protection, like putting on a metaphorical suit of armor to shield themselves and their feelings from the demands of the role. Some officers went further and said that they had to adopt a whole thought process and demeanor of immortality; otherwise, they were unable to do the job they did. The author envisaged that if this suit of armor was worn every day for many years, then, perhaps, it began to be removed less and less at the end of the shift until it remained on permanently and the individual changed.

The concept of spirituality in the workplace is a strategic issue that encompasses a whole way of operation for an organization. The author asserts that the roots of policing always have been about working with people and communities and caring and supporting all members of those communities in the fight for a well-ordered, law-abiding society. Spirituality, its sense of community and its focus on people as whole people, clearly fits with what the police service primarily is there to do. The author suggests that many of the issues faced by operational officers are fundamentally of a spiritual nature, particularly where these officers feel that they cannot be whole people; they are not recognized and valued by the organization and wider community as whole people; their lives have no rewarding and fulfilling purpose; and they cannot make a valuable and worthwhile contribution to the community.

Training Role

After 20 or 25 years working in the operational environment, an officer may decide to move into a training role. In training groups, Heron points out that organizational cultures can influence a negative form of group dynamic, which he calls cultural oppression. “Group behavior is restricted by oppressive norms, values, and beliefs that flow into it and permeate it from the surrounding culture.”¹³

The cultural oppression in this context relates to the canteen culture found in the operational police environment and shows why it is important to understand this pattern of behavior in the training arena. It can influence the viewpoint of officers undertaking training and is likely to impact significantly on the success of that training.

The author contends that for trainers to be effective in the police service, they must know themselves; have high levels of emotional intelligence; and show empathy, care, and compassion for their students. Some defense mechanisms are required in the training role, but these differ from those developed for operational policing. If operational duties generate a number of anxieties and result in officers distancing themselves from their feelings and emotions, then a conflict exists between the way they have to work in an operational role and the requirements in a training one. This discord has to be managed if training in the police service is to be effective. The essential transition needed involves the process of officers escaping their operational-policing defenses, gaining a greater knowledge of themselves, reconnecting with their feelings and emotions, and then managing these effectively to facilitate training for others.

This research identified, however, that the TDP course dealt only superficially with issues of anxiety, defense mechanisms, and the required transition to a training environment. The author stresses that the needs and significance of this managed transition were not fully acknowledged in the TDP and may be one reason why consecutive HMIC (Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary) reports indicated that training did not effectively address the attitudinal development of officers.¹⁴

Spiritual Exploration

Respondents gave a wide variety of answers to the question of whether the spiritual dimension should be explored in the TDP. Many comments highlighted a required transition from the fact-based orientation of some operational policing to the less certain areas of attitudinal development found in the training environment.

The author investigated many aspects to the spiritual dimension and how these could assist the development of trainers for the police service. Some of the most fruitful areas came from a psychological perspective of spirituality. Twigg, Wyld, and Brown identify the psychological perspective as one of three forms of spirituality and highlight that Maslow’s work is a fundamental part to this.¹⁵ It was appropriate to use Maslow here as his hierarchy formed an important and accepted part of the TDP course (although explorations on the TDP focused almost exclusively on the lower levels in Maslow’s hierarchy). The author extensively investigated the work of Maslow and its relevance to police training, including self-actualization, peak experiences, and both cognition and values of being.¹⁶

THE FINDINGS

The author identified many significant issues with respect to the relevance of an exploration of the spiritual dimension on the TDP. While it is beyond the scope of this article for him to describe these in detail, he summarizes some of the main benefits and difficulties associated with undertaking an exploration of the spiritual dimension.

Possible Benefits

Exploring the spiritual dimension could encourage students to operate more at the self-actualized level in Maslow’s hierarchy and to increase their spiritual intelligence. Both represent the types of qualities sought in U.K. police trainers. Another benefit involves helping TDP students gain a greater awareness of themselves and increase their effectiveness in managing their feelings and emotions. This would enable them to facilitate more learning for their students, particularly in the areas of attitudinal development and diversity.

In addition, such an exploration could provide a greater understanding of the dynamics present in a group and help in comprehending how these limit people’s expressions of their sense of identity. Finally, it could demonstrate that police organizations value the whole person, which may result in more engaged and motivated trainers, and it may assist in reducing the negative aspects of police culture, thereby helping trainers understand some of the issues that impact this culture. This would provide a greater understanding of the issues and anxieties that the operational role can generate for officers and the possible results. This, in turn, may enable trainers to become more motivated and fulfilled.

Potential Difficulties

Because the concepts under consideration often are subtle, usually elusive and challenging, and almost inevitably vague and tenuous, the potential exists that given the limited time available, explorations could simply confuse TDP students. Operational experiences, defense mechanisms, and coping strategies developed by students impact significantly on explorations of the spiritual dimension, and these would take time to work through, both in building a sufficiently safe environment for students to discuss issues that may be central to their sense of identity and in dealing with defenses and resistance. Additional spiritual support and counseling mechanisms outside the classroom could be required, possibly involving extra expense. Overall, given the workload required in a TDP course, the additional exploration of a spiritual dimension may be too much for some students.

From an administrative standpoint, exploring this area in a course that aims to develop training skills may pose some ethical considerations. After all, it would be problematic for DSs who do not recognize the spiritual dimension in their own lives to assist students in their explorations of spirituality. On the other hand, DSs who embrace spirituality still would need a sufficiently high skill level to facilitate this depth of exploration. Because all DSs would need to attain this level, all would require further instruction, which would increase the cost of training TDP students. Finally, explorations of this nature may not be supported and reinforced when students progress to training environments within police forces.

RECOMMENDATIONS

The author’s research indicates that operational policing impacts so significantly on students joining the TDP course that although he recommends that an exploration of the spiritual dimension be included, it must be preceded by an organization wide, strategic-level commitment and initiative. This approach can provide a unified policy throughout the organization, which ensures that training is aligned with operational policing and offers a strategy to address the root cause of many of the difficulties that police training can experience. This is not a process to be embarked on lightly. A substantial commitment from the organization is required as this is a major cultural change, which will be a difficult and lengthy process. However, it has the potential to significantly benefit the organization, its way of operation, and the level of service it provides.

The research suggests that some of the negative aspects of the operational police culture may stem from officers not being recognized and valued as whole people. Adopting a holistic approach to leadership and training, including explorations of the spiritual dimension, may assist in addressing some of these factors and help increase the effectiveness of the police organization because people will feel more motivated, fulfilled, and valued. It also may develop parts of the care aspect of the policing role and improve the level of service provided to the public. Further study must be undertaken in this area, however, as the author’s research focused primarily on trainers’ development in the United Kingdom.

Once a strategic-level initiative has commenced, the method of training trainers can be designed so that it supports and is in tune with the ethos and approach of the organization. An exploration of the spiritual dimension should use an experiential approach that provides the space for students to focus on their own development and also examines the issues they will need to consider as a trainer in this area. The exploration should focus only on the initial stages in a person’s spiritual development and include Maslow’s theories of self-actualization, B-values, and peak experiences, as well as spiritual intelligence. These topics fit the context of police training and raise many of the important issues in it. These first steps on the spiritual journey are likely to be as far as it is possible to go with TDP students because they are new to this training, which has the development of basic training skills as a priority.

The author’s exploration of the DSs’ role revealed that the induction course for new DSs may not provide sufficient opportunity for them to explore their own use of defense mechanisms. As such, operational defenses and the negative aspects of police culture can impact a new DS’s approach that could affect the training delivered, particularly in relation to the attitudinal development of TDP students. Consequently, the author recommends a review of the induction process for DSs.

CONCLUSION

The author’s research focused on the relevance of an exploration of the spiritual dimension on the Trainers’ Development Program in the United Kingdom. However, he found that spirituality has the potential to benefit the wider service, as well as the TDP. This research, therefore, has broader and more far-reaching implications and has the potential to impact significantly on the police service as a whole.

Endnotes

¹ J. Simms, “Way Out West,” People Management, March 11, 2004, 42.
² HMIC (Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary), Diversity Matters (London, UK: Home Office Communication, 2003), 13.
³ R.A. Giacalone and C. Jurkiewicz, eds. The Handbook of Workplace Spirituality and Organizational Performance (New York, NY: M.E. Sharpe, Inc., 2003); and S. Howard and D. Welbourn, The Spirit at Work Phenomenon (London, UK: Azure, 2004).
⁴J.J. Rayment and J.A. Smith, “The Global Fitness Framework,” Practitioner Paper Series, Anglia Ruskin University, (Chelmsford, UK: Earlybrave, 2007).
⁵ J.A. Smith, “Training for the Whole Person: An Exploration of Possibilities for Enhancing the Spiritual Dimension of Police Training,” PhD diss., University of Hull, 2005. The author presented this research at the first annual Beyond Survival: Wellness Practices for Wounded Warriors conference hosted by the FBI Academy’s Behavioral Science Unit. For additional information, see the May 2009 issue of the FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin.
⁶ A.H. Maslow, “A Theory of Human Motivation,” Psychological Review 50 (1943); and C. Rogers, Freedom to Learn for the 80s (Columbus, OH: Charles Merrill, 1983).
⁷ D.A. Kolb, Experiential Learning. Experience as the Source of Learning and Development (London, UK: Prentice Hall, 1984).
⁸A. Bryman, Social Research Methods, 3rd ed. (Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2008), 378.
⁹ J.A. Smith and J.J. Rayment, “Spirituality in the Workplace: Defining the Territory,” Practitioner Paper Series, Anglia Ruskin University (Chelmsford, UK EarlyBrave, 2008).
¹⁰The author’s findings are similar to those in HMIC, Diversity Matters, 51.
¹¹S. Holdaway, “Discovering Structure: Studies of the British Police Occupational Culture,” in Police Research: Some Future Prospects, ed. M. Weatheritt (Aldershot, UK: Gower, 1989).
¹²E. Goffman, The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life (Middlesex, UK: Penguin, 1987), 26.
¹³ J. Heron, The Facilitators’ Handbook (London, UK: Kogan Page, 1989), 29.
¹⁴ HMIC, Diversity Matters, 59; and HMIC (Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary), “Training Matters” (2002), 44, retrieved on May 29, 2008, from http:// inspectorates.homeoffice.gov.uk/hmic/inspections/ ptd/thematic/training-matters/.
¹⁵N. Twigg, D. Wyld, and G. Brown, “Quest for Fire: A Redefinition and Reconceptualization of Spirituality at Work,” Insights to a Changing World Journal, March 15, 2001, 2.
¹⁶A.H. Maslow, Toward a Psychology of Being (New York, NY: Van Nostrand Reinhold Company, 1968); The Farther Reaches of Human Nature (New York, NY: Penguin, 1993); and Religions, Values, and Peak-Experiences (Middlesex, UK: Arkana, 1994).

< < jump to the policetraining.net home page