Level of Occupational Stress: Causes, Effects & Coping Strategies

Stress is a major global health challenge affecting the well-being of service providers especially those working in the human service sectors such as police officers. The study investigated the level of occupational stress, causes, effects and coping strategies among police constables in Kisumu County. The study adopted the Causal Comparative ex-post facto research design with a target population of 451 police constables & 12 Officers Commanding Stations in the four police divisions in Kisumu County. Stratified random sampling technique was used to sample 105 police constables and 4 Officers Commanding Station (OCS). Data was collected using a Police Constable Questionnaire and an Officer Commanding Station Interview Schedule. Instruments were validated by experts while reliability was estimated by use of Cronbach Alpha. Findings indicated that police constables in Kisumu County were experiencing occupational stress with their working environment, work overload and work schedule being causes of occupational stress.The study recommended the Police service commission develop a policy on stress management to guide the induction, operations and counselling of Police Constables.

Autorentext

Joyce Atieno Oweke is a holder of a Doctorate Degree in Counselling Psychology from Kabarak University.She holds a Masters & a Bachelors degree in Eduction. She is a seasoned secondary school teacher & is currently the District Education Officer in Muhoroni, Kenya.