April - June 2010 - Bureau of Police Research and Development

IntroductionA Study of Burnout and MaritalAdjustment of Police PersonnelThe modern world, which is said to be a world ofachievement, is also a world of stress. One findsstress everywhere whether it is within the family,business organization or any other social oreconomic activity. In recent years, increasingattention has been paid to the phenomenon of burnoutin human service professions. Burnout appears tobe a response to interpersonal stressors on the jobin which an overload of contact with people result inchanges in attitudes, behaviour and family life. Both,the society as a whole and the individual as a citizen,set very high standards for the job of the police officerand expect that by combating criminal offence, apolice officer would be able to ensure security forcitizens on the best customer service level, ensuringtheir legal rights and at the same time ensuringserved social life sphere. The nature of police jobcauses high risk of burnout viz. high expectations bythe individual himself, which are unrealistic in natureand the non-fulfillment of these expectations,diminishes work motivation until its totaldisappearance. Hence, police officers lose interesttowards work, communication and successfulcoping with the job stress and experiences burntout(Liivia Anion 2006).BurnoutBurnout can be defined as "a syndrome of reducedpersonal accomplishment, increased emotionalexhaustion, and increased depersonalizationexperienced by individuals that work closely withpeople". The most well–studied measurement ofburnout in the management literature is the MaslachBurnout Inventory. Maslach and Jackson (1986) whoidentified the construct "burnout" in the 1970s, anddeveloped a measure that weighs the effect ofRekha Rani* and Dr. Pooja Garg**emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, andreduced sense of personal accomplishment.Burnout is the gradual process by which a person,in response to prolonged stress and physical, mentaland emotional strain, detaches from work and othermeaningful relationship. The result is loweredproductivity, cynicism, confusion and a feeling ofbeing drained for having nothing more to give.Maslach and Jackson (l990) refined the meaningand measurement of burnout construct in the 1980swhich included three dimensions of burnout as:Emotional Exhaustion (EE): Emotional exhaustionis characterized by a lack of energy and a feelingthat one's emotional resources are used up. Thismay coexist with feelings of frustration andtension.Depersonalization (DP): Depersonalization ordehumanization component typically occurs afteremotional exhaustion which represents theinterpersonal context dimension of burnout andrefers to a negative, callous, or excessivelydetached response to various aspects of the job(Maslach, Schaufeli, & Leiter 2001).Diminished Personal Accomplishment (PA) Thiscomponent can be defined as the diminishedpersonal accomplishment or reduced efficacywhich represents the self-evaluation dimensionof burnout and refers to feelings of incompetenceand lack of achievement and productivity atwork.Marital AdjustmentThe concept of marital adjustment differs from personto person, culture and community. Marital adjustmentKey WordsBurnout,Marital Adjustment,Gender and Rank.*Research Scholar,Department of Humanities andSocial Sciences,Indian Institute of TechnologyRoorkee, India**Assistant ProfessorDepartment of Humanitiesand Social Sciences,Indian Institute of TechnologyRoorkee, Roorkee, IndiaThe Indian Police Journal Vol. LVII-No. 2, April-June, 2010 51➢