| dc.description.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. | en_US |
