Dr Jacqueline Drew is an Associate Professor with the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice and Griffith Criminology Institute, Griffith University and the Deputy Director of the Academy of Excellence in Financial Crime Investigation and Compliance, Griffith University. She holds a PhD inorganisational psychology and has over 25 years of experience in law enforcement as a police psychologist. She began her career with the Queensland Police Service (QPS). She provides expert advice to police agencies on organisational systems and personnel practices in the areas of police mental health, suicide, police leadership, career paths of women police and recruitment, selection and retention of police. Jacqueline currently leads two large federally funded grants on police mental health and gender equity in policing. Jacqueline works internationally with law enforcement in the United States as a research collaborator with the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP). Her work with the FOP includes a national (US) biennial survey research program focused on police mental health.
Presentations
The EMPOWER Wellbeing Program for police: Addressing the connection between organisational and operational job demands and psychological harm
Dr Jacqueline Drew1, Dr Jacob Keech1
1Griffith University, Mt Gravatt, Australia
Many contemporary police agencies have begun to develop organisational initiatives to address high rates of poor wellbeing in police cohorts. Unfortunately, despite these efforts there has been no substantive signs of overall improvement in their psychological health. Drawing from extensive research undertaken with law enforcement in Australia and the United States, it is argued this lack of progress is partly attributable to a focus on trauma and critical incidents. Rather, organisational and operational job demands have significant and pervasive impacts on police wellbeing. Research conducted with a large Australian police agency demonstrated that these demands, compared with traumatic and critical incidents, are two to three times more strongly related to psychological distress. Given this, the EMPOWER Wellbeing Program was developed and piloted with a group of police detectives working in specialist areas. The program seeks to develop the skills of police personnel and their leaders in eliminating or reducing demands from organisational systems, policies (organisational stressors), and the work environment itself (operational stressors). During the EMPOWER Wellbeing Program, participants identify job demands, consider workplace and job resources that might counteract workplace stress, and develop proactive wellbeing plans. The presentation provides preliminary data collected as part of a comprehensive program evaluation protocol. We discuss how knowledge and skills developed through the program are connected to better identification of causes of workplace stress, and proactive detection of warning signs of reduced wellbeing. We discuss what participants gain from creating wellbeing action plans at the individual, team and, organisation level.
Beyond the experience of trauma in explaining the psychological health of police cohorts: The role of occupational stressors, embitterment and psychological contract breach.
High rates of burnout, psychological distress and mental health diagnoses are prevalent in serving police populations. Drawing on a research collaboration formed between Queensland Police Commissioner Carroll (former) and Associate Professor Jacqueline Drew, Griffith University we look beyond the psychological harms caused by trauma and critical incidents. We
quantify the proportional harms caused by other occupational stressors that occur “within” rather than “outside” the police station or command office. The presentation focuses on the role of embitterment and psychological contract breach in explaining how and why occupational experiences are causing psychological distress and burnout in police cohorts.