POLS 4900 Lecture Notes - Lecture 21: Job Performance
5 May 2018
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Kim 1
Because police officer usually required to work in the evenings, it can be easy to away from their
family in the evening which includes intimate events such as dinner and tucking children into
bed. This can lead to a feeling of isolation for the police officer seeing that they are missing parts
of family life that they want to be a part of.
The amount of time couples spend together is an important factor when considering
martial satisfaction (Matthews, 2011, p. 11). However, because of the hectic lifestyle of a police
officer, the changing work shifts can limit the time couples can spend with each other which can
lead to lack of communication. The busy day of a police officer results in the spouse forced to
make important decisions alone, which can lead the couple to think that they do not need to work
together (Matthews, 2011, p. 13). In a study of over 400 spouses of police officers, 50 percent of
the participants felt that their relationship and family had been impaired by the work scheduling
of their spouses’ job (Shu-Yu, 2014, p. 4). The aspect of changing work schedules can lead to
stress on the family, which can eventually lead to an unhappy family.
Another factor that is a potential effect of stress on families is the police officer
overprotecting the spouse and family. The police profession is full of dangerous situations which
can lead police officers to be cautious and suspicious of every situation. While these norms
contribute to effective job performance, they can detract from healthy family life (Gaines, 2012,
p. 257). Many officers unconsciously adopt these norms into their everyday behavior and
personality. This can create an overbearingly protective stance of their family, producing stress
to the family. When this happens, an officer may not realize that their protective stance by
wanting to know exact locations of family members is stressful to the family members. However,
to the family members, they can feel restricted and controlled.
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Document Summary
Because police officer usually required to work in the evenings, it can be easy to away from their family in the evening which includes intimate events such as dinner and tucking children into bed. This can lead to a feeling of isolation for the police officer seeing that they are missing parts of family life that they want to be a part of. The amount of time couples spend together is an important factor when considering martial satisfaction (matthews, 2011, p. 11). However, because of the hectic lifestyle of a police officer, the changing work shifts can limit the time couples can spend with each other which can lead to lack of communication. The busy day of a police officer results in the spouse forced to make important decisions alone, which can lead the couple to think that they do not need to work together (matthews, 2011, p. 13).
