question archive 1) Because of the pressures and stress of police work, sometimes, police officers may develop psychological problems and or problems with alcohol or drug addiction
1) Because of the pressures and stress of police work, sometimes, police officers may develop psychological problems and or problems with alcohol or drug addiction
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1) Because of the pressures and stress of police work, sometimes, police officers may develop psychological problems and or problems with alcohol or drug addiction. If another officer in a police department suspects or knows a comrade has developed psychological and or alcohol or drug addiction problems, what ethical obligation does that officer have to report those perceived problems to supervisors within the department? How does your personal ethics guide this decision? How can one judge when these obligations may be triggered?
The DQ response must be at least 200 words and should have at least one reference in APA format
2) Write a 100-word response to each student in first person as if you were writing it to the students. Talk about how you agree with their ideas and add your own thoughts. Make sure it's respectful.
1 student) Police work can be rewarding in many ways; however, it is also accompanied by many stresses and pressures. Being a police officer means that each call for assistance could potentially be dangerous to include violence, injury, and some cases even death (Banks, 2020). This is just one of many situations that can create stress for an officer. These stresses also may contribute to officers developing psychological problems and or problems with alcohol and drug addictions. Unfortunately, the police officers who do find methods such as these to cope with their stress are reluctant to seek professional help as police culture often disapproves of this (Banks, 2020). If an officer were to suspect or know that another has developed either psychological or addiction issues, there is an ethical responsibility to report these issues. The effects that these issues can have on an officer may affect not only their personal lives, but their performance as well. This leaves too much room for error, especially if you must rely on that officer to work with you in a potentially dangerous call for service. Personally, I would feel ethically responsible if a major incident were to happen and I was aware of the surrounding issues and never spoke up. Being part of a police unit also means looking out for the best interest of your coworkers. Helping them get the assistance they need in confidentiality will not only help them to effectively manage the stresses that they hold, but it can also improve work performance and help to keep them and others safe. Deciding when to report is the more difficult part of the situation. There are many people who go home and have a drink to deal with their problems after work. For me, I would feel that looking for signs of their issues getting increasingly worse would be the time to report.
Savannah
Reference:
Banks, C. (2020). Criminal justice ethics (5th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publishing. ISBN-13: 9781544353593
2 student) There are federal statutes that clearly bans drugs on a workplace, especially if it is in a government agency, because of the responsibilities it withholds towards the public. The Drug-Free Workplace Act of 1988 clearly requires federal agents to be drug free, where employee sanctions and remedies are part of its regulations. The requirements for individuals states that no federal agency shall enter into a contract with an individual unless such individual will not engage in the unlawful manufacture, distribution, dispensation, possession, or use of controlled substance in the performance of the contract, (Title 41, n.d). Most private employers are not required to have a drug-free workplace policy of any kind; however, federal contractors are expected to maintain their requirements of having a drug-free workplace policy because their positions involves sensitive security responsibilities (SAMSAH, 2020).
Fitch, (2011), affirms that law enforcement officers must safeguard the public’s trust to perform their jobs effectively, since ethical conducts greatly impacts public trust, law enforcement agencies must closely examine their policies, reward systems, and training to ensure that their agency promote a culture of firm ethical values. Therefore, the ethical obligations the officer has in this situation is to report it to his chief officer before the situation gets completely out of hand where in addition can endanger the lives of innocent people on their surroundings if an officer is under the influence of drugs or alcohol in the performance of a sensitive responsibility in which requires the person to have all their senses working full speed.
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The dangerous nature of work of the police force may affect different aspects of their lives. It may affect their physical, social, emotional, and mental health. The everyday risk of their work may greatly affect their psychological well-being. Stress from superiors and the work environment can also be factors that may affect the workers’ health. These may lead to health- imposing activities like drug and alcohol addiction. According to Dillon (2004), these addictions are considered serious barriers to work and employment together with criminal histories and literacy inadequacy. It is expected that the duty and responsibility of the police force is to ensure safety of the public and the constituents. However, drug and alcohol addiction severely affect their health which would lead to compromised performance.
If one is known to abuse drug and alcohol, it is right to immediately report this to the superior and concerned agencies. This would prevent consequences at work that may pose hazards and harm to the people around him. Also, co-workers are affected with these incidents because they may have been put into dangerous situations, been injured, or need to work harder to cover their colleagues’ work. It is for the greater good and benefit of everyone to report a colleague that is proven of drug and alcohol abuse.
Reference:
Dillon, E. (2004). Addressing Persistent and Intractable Employment Problems in Individuals with Histories of Drug Addiction. Marcel Dekker, Inc. DOI: 10.1081/LSUM-200034623
Student 1 response:
I agree with you that the stresses on their dangerous everyday work life may lead to psychological problems or health-threatening coping mechanisms like alcohol and drug addiction. You have mentioned too that not only their health is affected, but also their performance. This is a great point since alcohol and drug activities have effect on our mental, physical, and emotional health and may eventually affect our day-to-day activities. I think helping a colleague in confidentiality is not the right way to address the issue. I think knowing when to report is subjective and we have an established rule and regulations for this.
Student 2 response:
It is factual that drug usage in workplace is prohibited however varied in different states. You also stated that government agencies strictly prohibit drug usage on their employees. This provided a strong support to your argument that we should immediately report such incidents to the superior or concerned party. I agree with you that an immediate action would halt dangerous consequences that might compromise the safety of the people around him. This could also be applied to alcohol addiction problems since alcohol can severely affect one’s functioning and decision making if ingested in intolerable amount and can lead to actions that may cause harm to others.
