Exploration of Perceived Stressors, Communication, and Resilience in Law-Enforcement Couples

Abstract

This study explored how law-enforcement officers and their significant others perceive the resources that have helped them be resilient with stress and other identified challenges, and how couples communicate about these issues. Seven dyads of officers and their partners participated in semi-structured interviews. The resultant grounded theory model, identified as Negotiating Job Stress Through Adaptive Caring, incorporated participants' recognition of stressors, self-awareness, understanding of self in intimate relationships, and engagement of coping strategies. Findings fill a significant gap in prior research by exploring the relational experiences of couples' coping, resiliency, and communication in the law-enforcement community.

Keywords:

• communication
• coping
• resiliency
• work-related stress

Acknowledgments

Parts of this research were part of a doctoral dissertation by Pamela J. Brodie, Department of Professional Psychology and Family Therapy, Seton Hall University.