Police Stress and Domestic Violence in Police Families in Baltimore, Maryland, 1997-1999

This study was designed to address deficiencies in the
existing literature on police work stress and especially on police
stress-related domestic violence. The study sought to answer the
following questions: (1) What is the relationship between police
stress and domestic violence in police families? (2) What is the
extent of domestic violence in police families? (3) What are the
current stressors that contribute to police stress? (4) What are some
of the tools available to measure or evaluate domestic violence in
police families? (5) Can potentially effective interventions be
identified to address the risk factors for stress-related domestic
violence in police families? The study was a collaboration among the
Baltimore City Fraternal Order of Police, the Baltimore Police
Department, and a research team from the Johns Hopkins School of
Public Health. Self-administered questionnaires were distributed to
approximately 1,100 law enforcement officers who volunteered to
participate in the study. Major variables focus on stressors,
workplace/stress environment, coworker environment, unfair treatment,
work satisfaction, administrative support, health problems, behavior
problems, and psychological problems. Demographic variables include
gender, age, ethnicity, education, current rank, military service,
marital status, and if spouse/partner was a police officer.