Job satisfaction, stress and burnout of members of the police in the North West Province : Zeerust

Abstract

Relative little time is spent on attending to the problems experienced by small rural police units, because the perception exists that these units are not really subjected to crime, and that they do not carry such a great workload. The purpose of the study was thus to determine how satisfied the members of these stations were with their jobs, whether they experienced stress and burnout and whether they were enthusiastic engaged in their jobs. Because of the fact that women in the police service are always appointed in administrative positions, and men always appointed in the more "rough aspects", the purpose was to determine whether males and females experienced the same levels of stress and burnout. Questionnaires were set consisting of the following measuring instruments: the Minnesota Job Satisfaction Survey, for the estimation of the job satisfaction of members of the police force, to the Police Stress Survey, for the measuring of the frequency and intensity of stress amongst members, the Maslach Burnout Inventory-General Survey, to determine burnout of police force members and the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale, to determine whether members of the force experienced engagement in their jobs. Stratified random samples were taken of permanent employed police force members (N=76) in the Zeerust District of the North West Province. The findings of the study indicate that although these police units are seen as small and rural, they do not escape the daily stressors and are just like members of the larger units, subjected to work dissatisfaction with certain aspects of their jobs for instance poor and inadequate equipment, work circumstances and shortage of staff. The members of this district however experience few problems with the legal system, handling of extreme crime cases, e.g., where a colleague is killed whilst performing his duties or racism. These members also experience burnout in the job situation, but are however engaged in their work. No significant differences were found regarding the burnout of males in comparison to females and no significant differences were found regarding the stress levels of males in comparison with females.