This book is designed to help law enforcement professionals overcome the internal assaults they experience both personally and organizationally over the course of their careers. These assaults can transform idealistic and committed officers into angry, cynical individuals, leading to significant problems in both their personal and professional lives.

Understanding and Supporting Law Enforcement Families, through a synthesis of the research literature, presents and explores some of the challenges faced by police families as well as developments that have taken place to support them in balancing family and work life. There are demands and requirements from the job over which family members have little control. Shift work, negative public perceptions of law enforcement, changes in the officer’s personality as well as living with the potential that their loved one may be injured or killed are among the unique challenges law enforcement families face. These extraordinary life events are discussed as well as the potential physical and psychological reactions to these stressors. In addition to an overview of support programs and services, specific resources from national organizations are provided on support for family members of an officer killed in the line of duty, and organizational policies for the funeral of an officer who commits suicide, and officer domestic violence. This book examines the existing research as a means to clarify issues faced by law enforcement families and discusses the availability of resources to provide the support these families need and deserve. A great deal of realizing that potential will be dependent upon actively including the law enforcement family in all aspects of the support process. It is not a conventional self-help book but intended for researchers, practitioners, students, and others with interest in the study and support of law enforcement families.

The police fight a different kind of war, and the enemy is the police officer's own civilian population: those who engage in crime, social indignity, and inhumane treatment of others. The result for the police officer is both physical and psychological battering, occasionally culminating in the officer sacrificing his or her life to protect others. This book focuses on the psychological impact of police civilian combat. During a police career, the men and women of police agencies are exposed to distressing events that go far beyond the experience of the ordinary citizen, and there is an increased need today to help police officers deal with these traumatic experiences. As police work becomes increasingly complex, this need will grow. Mental health and other professionals need to be made aware of the conditions and precipitants of trauma stress among the police. The goal of this book is to provide that important information. The book's perspective is based on the idea that trauma stress is a product of complex interaction of person, place, situation, support mechanisms, and interventions. To effectively communicate this to the reader, new conceptual and methodological considerations, essays on special groups in policing, and innovative ideas on recovery and treatment of trauma are presented. This information can be used to prevent or minimize trauma stress and to help in establishing improved support and therapeutic measures for police officers. Contributions in the book are from professionals who work with police officers, and in some cases those who are or have been police officers, to provide the reader with different perspectives. Chapters are grouped into three sections: conceptual and methodological issues, special police groups, and recovery and treatment. The book concludes with a discussion of issues and identifies future directions for conceptualization, assessment, intervention, and effective treatment of psychological trauma in policing.

Hope for Today Strength for Tomorrow When your husband is a police officer, you experience a unique set of challenges and fears that others may not understand. Rest assured that you can still find peace and joy every day with God by your side. Proud Police Wife is the perfect resource for any police wife or future wife in need of hope, encouragement, comfort, and strength. Each devotion includes · applicable Scriptures, · relatable stories, · empowering action steps, and · uplifting prayers. Strengthen your relationship with God and gain confidence in your role as the heart behind the badge. Wait patiently for the Lord. Be brave and courageous. Yes, wait patiently for the Lord. Psalm 27:14 NLT

Will police work change the person you love? Are police marriages destined to fail? What are the chances of your loved one being killed in the line of duty? Separating fact from myth, Dr. Ellen Kirschman answers these and other critical questions in the first comprehensive self-help book created specifically for today's police families. In information-filled chapters, readers will go behind the scenes with other police families as they discuss the benefits and pitfalls of police work; learn how to manage the effects of organizational stress and the pressures of unpredictable schedules, long hours and loneliness; gain awareness of the emotional, physical, and behavioral warning signs which can lead to such extreme situations as posttraumatic stress, alcoholism, suicide and domestic violence; find out where families can go for help and counseling; and get an inside look at cop couples and the special challenges facing women, minorities, and gays and lesbians on the force.

Police officers today face unprecedented challenges--anti-police sentiment, increased danger, massive public scrutiny, and the ever-present threat of terrorism. Now thoroughly updated, this trusted resource has already helped over 125,000 police families manage the stress of the job and create a supportive home environment where everyone can thrive. The third edition includes new stories from police families, new chapters on relationships and living through troubled times, and fully updated resources. Discussions of trauma and resilience, domestic abuse, and addictions have been expanded with the latest information and practical advice. Whether they read the book cover to cover or refer to it when problems arise, families will find no-nonsense guidance they can depend on. Mental health professionals, see also Counseling Cops: What Clinicians Need to Know, by Ellen Kirschman, Mark Kamena, and Joel Fay.

Policing is a consuming profession with incredibly high elements of stress. Research suggests that police divorce rates are more than double the national average of ordinary marriages. The spouse's fear of physical danger, adjusting to shift work, transfers and changes in the officers' personality are only a few of the contributing factors, but the most crucial problem is the breakdown of communication within the relationship. From the beginning of the officers' careers they are trained to control their emotions, and thus are accused of being cold-hearted. Spouses agree that law enforcement officers grapple with the real-life horrors on the job and that the bitter belief that 'cops don't cry' is sadly untrue.