Abstract:

Police work places a special kind of psychophysical strain on officers. The threat of loss of health or life and other cherished values becomes real. Difficult situations occurring on duty cause the feeling of being overloaded, the necessity of great involvement, they are also a source of emotional tensions, deprivation of various needs, especially the sense of security, social acceptance, sometimes resulting in a conflict of values. Long-term stress can be a source of permanent fatigue, and in consequence lead to a decrease in the quality of performance and professional burnout, and in the long run professional maladaptation and quitting the police force. Hence the need for continuous monitoring of this issue. This article is based on the author’s empirical research and is devoted to determining the relationship between police officers’ perceived stress and their ways of coping with difficult situations. A significant relationship between these variables was found. It turns out that officers show high resistance to stress and when faced with difficult situations, they usually use avoidance style or focus on solving the problems.

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