Workplace spirituality in law enforcement: a content analysis of the literature

Community protests alleging police officers excessive use of force in places like Ferguson, Missouri, the place of Michael Brown's controversial death from a policeman's bullet, has raised public awareness of the need to reform law enforcement culture. Identifiable challenges to policing i...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Moran, Ramon (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: International Association of Management, Spirituality & Religion [2017]
In: Journal of management, spirituality & religion
Year: 2017, Volume: 14, Issue: 4, Pages: 343-364
RelBib Classification:AG Religious life; material religion
CB Christian life; spirituality
KBQ North America
XA Law
ZD Psychology
Further subjects:B militaristic
B police wellness
B Workplace Spirituality
B Virtuous leadership
B guardian culture
B Community Policing
Online Access: Volltext (Resolving-System)
Volltext (doi)
Description
Summary:Community protests alleging police officers excessive use of force in places like Ferguson, Missouri, the place of Michael Brown's controversial death from a policeman's bullet, has raised public awareness of the need to reform law enforcement culture. Identifiable challenges to policing include burnout, higher rates of depression and anxiety, a militaristic sub-culture, and the need for community policing. Workplace spirituality's holistic model in the context of law enforcement may contribute to police officer wellness and safety, but law enforcement lacks consensus on the definition, conceptualization, and operationalization of spirituality in its workplace. A content analysis of law enforcement literature was conducted to (1) explore and distil how workplace spirituality is viewed in law enforcement and training and (2) to propose new directions in the integration of workplace spirituality in policing. Workplace spirituality was associated with meaning making, policing values and ethics, spirituality, one's religious beliefs, and the construct of self-transcendence. Implications of the findings suggest workplace spirituality is operational as a process of coping with stressors aiming at police officer wellness, and/or as virtuous leadership for community policing. A paradigmatic model for police training was inferred from the convergence of stress management, leadership, community policing, police wellness and safety, policing effectiveness, and policing culture with workplace spirituality.
ISSN:1942-258X
Contains:Enthalten in: Journal of management, spirituality & religion
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1080/14766086.2017.1376287