216Author’s Note I would like to thank the Division of Wo.docx

216
Author’s Note: I would like to thank the Division of Women
and Crime graduate student paper review-
ers and committee for awarding an earlier version of this article
honorable mention in 2005. I would also
like to acknowledge the theoretical and practical guidance of
Dr. L. Susan Williams and Dr. Dana Britton
for the foundations of this article. Finally, I want to thank the
editor and anonymous reviewers of Feminist
Criminology for suggestions and criticisms that greatly
improved the final version of this article. Please
address correspondence to Don L. Kurtz, PhD, Department of
Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work,
Kansas State University, 204 Waters Hall, Manhattan, KS
66506-4003; e-mail: [email protected]
Feminist Criminology
Volume 3 Number 3
July 2008 216-238
© 2008 Sage Publications
10.1177/1557085108321672
http://fc.sagepub.com
hosted at
http://online.sagepub.com
Controlled Burn
The Gendering of Stress and Burnout in
Modern Policing
Don L. Kurtz

Kansas State University
Despite the interest in the interplay between subcultural
attitudes, organizational
structure, and high stress events, most research on police stress
fails to address a
fundamental concern—that of gender. In fact, the majority of
research addressing officer
stress fails to mention gender or concentrates on gender as a
simple control variable. Data
from the Police Stress and Domestic Violence in Police
Families in Baltimore, Maryland,
1997-1999 study were analyzed to examine how gender affects
stress and burnout in law
enforcement. Findings indicate that stress and burnout by
officers is embedded in the
gender structure and process of policing and not simply a
response to high stress events.
Keywords: policing; stress; burnout; masculinity; gender and
policing; social construc-
tion of gender; gendered organization theory
Asignificant body of research contends that policing is one of
the most stressfulprofessions in American society (Anderson,
Litzenberger, & Plecas, 2002;
Harpold & Feenster, 2002; Howard, Howard Donofrio, & Boles,
2004; Liberman
et al., 2002; Lott, 1995). Officer stress is associated with a
number of negative
behaviors and psychological outcomes, including high rates of
substance abuse,
divorce, suicide, and violence (Harpold & Feenster, 2002; Lott,
1995; Violanti,
1996). Attempts to deal with officer stress and burnout
generally focus on psycho-

logical, physical, or psychiatric responses to critical incidents
or high stress work
environments (Anderson et al., 2002; Brooks & Piquero, 1998;
Liberman et al.,
2002; Loo, 2004; Mashburn, 1993; Purpura, 2001). Some
scholars identify a sub-
culture of policing through which selected behaviors and
attitudes influence officers’
reactions to organizational and job related stress (Harpold &
Feenster, 2002; Purpura,
2001). Despite interest in the interplay among subcultural
attitudes, organizational
Kurtz / The Gendering of Stress and Burnout in Modern
Policing 217
structure and high stress events, most research addressing
officer stress fails to incor-
porate gender issues. This research extends the current literature
by addressing a fun-
damental question: How does gender shape police stress and
burnout?
Literature Review
Officer Stress and Burnout
A number of factors directly associated with law enforcement
are identified as
sources of stress and burnout, including the nature of the job
requirements, police
organizational structure, and interactions with the public
(Anderson et al., 2002;
Harpold & Feenster, 2002; He, Zhao, & Archbold, 2002;

Liberman et al., 2002).
These areas are not mutually exclusive factors, and stress in one
area likely aggra-
vates anxiety in another (He et al., 2002).
Police Stress and Burnout
Research supports the idea that stress leads to a number of
problems for both the
individual employed in law enforcement and the policing
agency as a whole
(Anderson et al., 2002). A number of social scientists have
drawn connections
between stress and problems with health related issues
including increased anxiety
and alcohol use, hypertension, insomnia, migraine headaches,
and heart disease
(Harpold & Feenster, 2002; He et al., 2002; Liberman et al.,
2002). Stress also
results in bio-physical responses such as elevated heart rate,
increased blood pres-
sure, increased muscle tension, increased acid secretion
(Anderson et al., 2002), and
psychological concerns like burnout and fatigue (Harpold &
Feenster, 2002). These
responses may vary according to the officer’s assessment of the
situational demands
and his or her ability to deal with the circumstances (Anderson
et al., 2002).
Some research asserts that acute responses to stressful events,
generally, are asso-
ciated with critical incidents (Anderson et al., 2002; Liberman
et al., 2002), which
are situations when an officer witnesses or is confronted with
the potential for seri-

ous injury or death (Liberman et. al., 2002). Several work
environment stressors are
identified in the literature as critical incidents including
shooting somebody in the
line of duty, making a violent arrest, responding to a gruesome
crime scene, or deal-
ing with fatal accidents (He et al., 2002). Although police
officers frequently face
hostile citizens, life-threatening events rarely occur in policing
(Hart, Wearing, &
Headey, 1993). In fact, some research finds that danger is not a
significant cause of
daily stress among police officers (Hart et al., 1993); however,
critical incident stress
also may occur when officers perceive stress-inducing events as
situations that are
beyond their immediate control (Anderson et al., 2002).
Whereas critical incidents can result in acute psychosocial
stress that may cause
any number of short-term behavioral or psychological
difficulties, chronic stress
builds over time and frequently is related to the work
environment, the nature of
interpersonal relationships, issues associated with
organizational structures, and
stressors inherent to the job requirements of policing (Anderson
et al., 2002; He
et al., 2002; Liberman et al., 2002; Weber & Leeper, 1998).
Nonviolent work-related
stressors include, shift work, overtime, negative time
management, paperwork, and
physical requirements such as walking patrols and carrying

heavy equipment.
Problems of this type are more likely to compound and create
chronic stress.
Chronic stress may not immediately overwhelm the officer’s
coping ability, but over
time it can result in negative consequences or overpower stress
management skills
(Anderson et al., 2002).
One consequence of chronic stress is the psychological concept
known as
burnout. Although burnout and stress represent connected
psychological concepts,
some important distinctions are noted. Currently in the police
stress literature, no
universal term exists to describe stress or burnout (Liberman et
al., 2002; Loo,
2004). Frequently, researchers conceive of stress as the reaction
or response to neg-
ative or emotionally challenging stimuli (Liberman et al., 2002).
On the other hand,
burnout can represent the cumulative influence of long-term
stress and includes
aspects of emotional exhaustion and depersonalization (Loo,
2004).
Several aspects of police organizations are identified as sources
of elevated stress
and burnout. These factors include frustration with the criminal
justice system,
departmental politics and lack of departmental support,
concerns with the promo-
tional process, poor training (Anderson et al., 2002), and the
bureaucratic nature of
law enforcement (He et al., 2002). The size of the law
enforcement agency may also

influence the potential for stress and burnout. Most research on
stress and burnout
focuses on larger departments located in urban centers (Brooks
& Piquero, 1998).
Patrol officers from large departments generally have greater
stress across a number
of variables including organizational structure, administrative
arenas, public demands,
fear of danger, and interactions with other areas of the criminal
justice system
(Brooks & Piquero, 1998).
Interpersonal relationships also have a significant influence on
the development
of stress and burnout. Interpersonal relationships refer to both
personal relationships,
like friends and family, and job-related relationships, such as
patrol partners or shift
supervisors. Family responsibilities may both enhance and
mediate stress for officers
depending on the nature of the interpersonal relationships. For
example, some
research shows that family support reduces stress for
men/husbands (He et al.,
2002). Work requirements, however, may directly conflict with
obligations at home
creating stress in both environments (Howard et al., 2004).
Stress generated from
conflicts between work and home also may exacerbate work-
related pressures.
Work–family conflicts can reduce job satisfaction and increase
emotional exhaustion
and burnout. This relationship may be more pronounced for
female officers who are
expected to maintain domestic roles as mothers, wives, and
caregivers; however, this

issue has not been the target of much empirical evaluation (He
et al., 2002).
218 Feminist Criminology
Peers also are an important source of interpersonal support for
police officers and
provide context for understanding police behaviors (Brooks &
Piquero, 1998;
Violanti, 1997). Shared work experiences allow officers to
develop a mutual under-
standing of work stressors that can serve as a protective factor
in terms of stress and
burnout, although a significant amount of research has
established that police peer
relations also may become a source of hostility, stress,
discrimination, and cynicism
(Brown, 1998; Harpold & Feenster, 2002; S. Martin, 1994;
Miller, Forest, & Jurik,
2003). As such, these relationships may indirectly increase
rather than decrease
levels of stress and burnout.
Finally, the research suggests that a number of demographic
variables are related
to stress and burnout among police officers. These factors
include age, officer rank,
and length of service (Lennings, 1997). Some research finds a
positive relationship
between an officer’s age and increased stress levels (Brooks &
Piquero, 1998;
Lennings, 1997). Many police managers with higher rank also
struggle with burnout
and stress (Loo, 2004). Another demographic variable linked to

stress is years of ser-
vice which appears to demonstrate a curvilinear effect. Officers
in their first few
years of service and those close to retirement have the lowest
levels of stress,
whereas officers in the middle years of employment appear to
have elevated stress
(Brooks & Piquero, 1998; Lennings, 1997). There is also a
limited body of research
indicating that men and women in law enforcement may
experience and manage
stress differently (He et al., 2002). For example, Loo (2004)
found stress on male
officers generates only moderate levels of burnout, whereas
female officers show
higher levels. Garcia (2003) found that perception of gender
roles attached to differ-
ent job task also influences the level of stress for women
officers.
The current study will examine several distinct conceptual
sources of officer
stress and burnout including stressors related to work
requirements, organizational
structures, and interpersonal relationships. It also extends the
current literature by
addressing a fundamental question: How does gender influence
reactions to stress
and burnout? Gendered organization theory, the concept of
hegemonic masculinity,
the social construction of gender, and ideas about the
intersectionality of race and
gender are used to explore this question.
Gendered Organization

The gendered organization framework provides a theory that
extends beyond
some of the limitations in the current police stress literature.
Acker (1990) argues
that the gendering of organizations occurs along five interactive
and interconnected
processes. The first component is a division of labor by gender.
Quite simply, this
means that men and women perform different tasks within an
organization. The sec-
ond factor is the creation of images that account for, oppose, or
reinforce cultural
ideas about gender. The third process explores how gender
guides social interactions
Policing 219
among people within an organization. The fourth component
examines how gen-
dered activities shape individual identities in an organization.
The last factor deals
with the ways in which gender frames social and organizational
structures and
becomes a vital aspect of how individuals understand the
practices and perceptions
that dominate organizational culture (Acker, 1990; Britton,
2003). Because of data
limitations, the current research will focus on two areas of
gendered organizations—
gendered images and interactions. A detailed explanation of the
proxy variables is
available in the Method section.

Hegemonic Masculinity
Connell’s concept of hegemonic masculinity and emphasized
femininity also is
important to the current research. Hegemonic masculinity refers
to the idea that men
dominate women on a global level, and this notion explains
differentiation between
men and women. In fact, hegemonic masculinity not only
establishes the gender
relations between men and women but also among men because
hegemonic mas-
culinity establishes a dominant idea of what it means to be a
man and all other con-
ceptions are constructed as something other than masculine.
Hegemonic masculinity
generally is not maintained by force, although both physical and
economic force can
be used to bolster the masculine dominance of society
(Connell,1987).
The relevancy of hegemonic masculinity to policing is evident
in several ways.
Policing is clearly a profession with an organizational structure
that supports
hegemonic masculinity; women, homosexuals, and
nonmasculine traits are often
shunned in law enforcement. Characteristics that have been
traditionally associated
with a good police officer—fearlessness, heroic demeanor,
physical and emotional
strength, assertiveness, and intelligence (Darien, 2002; Moore,
1999)—are features
of hegemonic masculinity. Policing also directly involves the
use of violence and
force as a means to maintain social order; consequently,

policing helps reinforce
hegemonic masculinity, for example, by enforcing laws that
limit other forms of
masculinity, such as laws that target the gay community or
make certain sexual prac-
tices illegal (i.e. homosexuality, sodomy).
Recent work on hegemonic masculinity by Connell and
Messerschmidt (2005)
describes the complexity associated with masculinity and notes
that different con-
structions of masculinity may operate on different levels. In
particular, the authors
formulate research oriented hierarchies of hegemonic
masculinity that include local,
regional, and global arenas. Locally constructed masculinity
may develop in direct
interactions found in face-to-face contact, organizational
contexts, and community
relations. Regionally constructed masculinity operates more
prevalently on the level
of culture and nation. Finally, globally constructed hegemonic
masculinity is assem-
bled within world politics and media.
Localized differences in hegemonic masculinity among police
officers may reflect
the nature of police organizational practices, interactions in
local police agencies, and
the nature of crime and stress attributed to local communities
whereas regional and

global influences of hegemonic masculinity in policing may
vary. For example, the
same masculine perception of police officers in Texas may not
be present in officers
in New York. Similarly, the ways in which masculinity are
demonstrated in policing
in the United States may not be present in officers in other parts
of the world; how-
ever, some consistent conceptions of hegemonic masculinity
related to law enforce-
ment permeate all three of Connell and Messerschmidt’s levels
of analysis. For
example, law enforcement officers throughout the world have a
relationship to state
sponsored use of violence that could reinforce conceptions of
hegemonic masculinity.
Community-level aspects of hegemonic masculinity provide a
rich context for
understanding the problem of stress and burnout. Community
differences influence
law enforcement agencies in a number of ways. First, police
organizations primarily
recruit new officers from their local community; therefore,
localized aspects of the
community extend directly into organizational culture. Second,
the size of the com-
munity likely influences organizational structure, size, and
specialization of depart-
ments. Third, communities influence the daily behavior of
officers through local
standards of behavior (Liederbach & Frank, 2006).
Although local context influences the conception of police
masculinity, some sim-
ilar traits also should be observed at the regional level. For

example, research demon-
strates that police officers, as a rule, reject alternative forms of
masculinity, specifically
gay masculinity (Miller et al., 2003), which is associated with
(or assumed to repre-
sent) femininity. Power and physical aggression are associated
with hegemonic mas-
culinity and therefore incompatible with emphasized femininity
(Connell, 1987). The
association between hegemonic masculinity and policing leaves
little room for femi-
nine traits in the daily activity of law enforcement officers and
limits the possible
response patterns officers can select when faced with stress and
burnout.
Social Construction of Gender
The final concept relevant to this article is the idea of doing
gender as developed
by West and Zimmerman (1987). Doing gender involves
creating perceived differ-
ences between what is considered masculine and feminine and
then using these dif-
ferences to justify gender as essential or biologically linked.
This process is not
necessarily a conscious decision by the actors. Doing gender
involves organizing
activities in a way that conveys gender and perceiving the
actions of others as related
to gender (West & Zimmerman, 1987). In this theoretical
framework, gender is no
longer a static social category, but a process used to reinforce
the concept of mascu-
line and feminine traits. Gender becomes an accomplishment
and not an inherent

property of an individual. Through the doing gender process,
particular behaviors,
pursuits, social interactions, and social–psychological
perceptions become associated
with a natural understanding of what is masculine or feminine
(West & Zimmerman,
1987). This creates situations in which behaviors are deemed as
part of gender.
Policing 221
This situational practice of doing of gender also extends to
work related stress and
definitions of responses as masculine or feminine. In law
enforcement, this situated
doing involves expectations of how officers respond to the daily
hassles and/or the
unique situations of policing. Officers are required by both the
public and other offi-
cers to react in ways consistent with the image of policing. In
policing, a profession
highly associated with masculine ideals, doing police
masculinity may involve
expressing a number of behaviors that enhance gender specific
displays. Violence,
the use of force, controlling conduct, assertiveness, self-
reliance, and other behav-
iors associated with a good police officer are also associated
with accomplishing
masculinity. Doing police masculinity and performing police
activities are intercon-
nected and mutually reinforcing behaviors that enhance common
sense assumptions

about police officers and the occupation’s connection to
masculinity.
Intersections of Race and Gender
Although this research primarily focuses on aspects of gender in
police work
environments, race remains a theoretical and methodological
consideration as well.
Some research indicates that both gender and race affect officer
assignments, gen-
eral behavior patterns in police organizations, and perceptions
of treatment by peers
(Dodge & Pogrebin, 2001; S. Martin, 1994). Currently, some
scholars are attending
to the interactive nature of race, class, gender, and sexual
orientation (Burgess-
Proctor, 2006; Barak, Flavin, & Leighton, 2007). For example,
S. Martin’s compre-
hensive research of five police agencies found that race, class,
and gender guide
organizational behavior, gender interactions, and officer
conduct. The interactions
between men and women, between women, and between Black
and White individu-
als aligned with the historical context of policing as both White
and male. Race also
played a significant role in the gendering process. Men either
reified White women
as objects of sexual desire or glorified secretaries. White male
officers viewed Black
women as a source of labor (S. Martin, 1994). Similarly, Dodge
and Pogrebin (2001)
used the intersection approach to their qualitative study of
police professional rela-
tionships, finding that the intersections of race and gender

shaped perceptions of the
officers. The researchers found that masculine norms in police
organizations height-
ened the marginalization of both women and other minorities.
The authors state,
“The exclusion of black women is apparent in their
relationships with fellow offi-
cers; black and white, male and female” (p. 559).
The current research explores the relationship between gender,
stress, and
burnout. Building from theories that focus on gender, this
research examines the
relationship between gender and police psychological and
behavioral outcomes to
determine some of the ways that hegemonic masculinity and the
process of doing
gender contributes to police stress and burnout. It also explores
the intersections of
race and gender to evaluate their impact on stress and burnout.
Method
The data from this study come from an existing data source: The
Police Stress and
Domestic Violence in Police Families in Baltimore, Maryland
1997-19991 (Gershon,
2000). This study contained a 5-page questionnaire that
assessed officer stressors,
negative health outcomes, current stress levels, level of support,
and use of violence
by police officers.

Sample
The survey was distributed to officers of the Baltimore Police
Department during
roll calls for all shifts in all nine of Baltimore’s precincts and
their headquarters. At
the time of the survey, the Baltimore Police Department had
slightly more than 2,500
sworn officers; approximately 1,200 surveys were distributed
and 1,104 officers
(92%) completed the questionnaire.
Measure
For the purposes of this project, several sets of variables from
the survey were
used including demographic characteristics, nature of
interpersonal relationships,
work related events, psychological and physiological responses
to stress, level of
burnout, and perceptions related to gender dynamics.
Comparative cross tabulations
and quantitative analysis are employed with these variable
groupings. All missing
data for each variable were coded as missing and the case was
excluded in regres-
sion analysis. The data set had very few missing cases and the
valid numbers are
included as a note in each regression table.
The specific demographic variables included in these analyses
are sex, race, edu-
cational level, and marital status. For quantitative analysis,
dummy variables repre-
sent each demographic category. To explore differences along

the intersections of
race and gender in nongender spilt models, race and sex
categories were combined
to create four groups: African American females, African
American males, White
females, and White males. Dummy variables were also created
to assess marital sta-
tus and college education. Officer reporting that they are
currently married are coded
as one with all other responses coded as zero. Similarly, officer
with at least a col-
lege degree are coded as one (1) with all other groups coded as
zero (0). The descrip-
tion of the sample reported in Table 1 also includes simple
frequency distribution
information on the rank of officers within this sample.
Several dummy variables measured support by family and
administrative offi-
cials. A measure of family support was coded as one (1) for
officers who agree or
strongly agree with the following statement: “I feel that I can
rely on support from
my family.” Officers who remained neutral or disagreed were
coded as zero (0).
Support of administration was coded as one (1) for officers who
agree or strongly
Policing 223
agree that “The administration supports officer who are in

trouble.” Officers dis-
agreeing with this statement were coded as zero (0).
Dummy variables also measured officer responses to critical
events. Respondents
were asked if they were “emotionally” affected or fearful of
work-related stressful
events. The events included making a violent arrest, shooting
someone in the line of
duty, knowing the victim or perpetrator of a crime, and being
the subject of an inter-
nal affairs investigation. The variable was coded as one (1) for
participants who
answered “Very much,” and zero (0) for those answering “a
little” or “not at all.”
The acceptability of women in law enforcement was measured
by creating
dummy variables from responses to two statements: (a) Gender-
related jokes are
often made and (b) The department is lenient in enforcing rules
for female officers.
Variables were coded as one (1) for those respondents who
agreed or strongly agreed
and zero (0) for respondents who were neutral, disagreed, or
strongly disagreed with
these statements.2 The first variable served as a proxy variable
for aspects of gender
interaction in the workplace and the second provided a proxy
for the image of
women in law enforcement agencies.
The questionnaire used several Likert scales that address
elements of stress.
Respondents were asked if they experienced the following 7
signs of psychological

Table 1
Characteristics of Survey Respondents
n Percentage
Race/gender
African American women 102 9.2
White women 51 4.6
African American men 253 22.9
White men 643 58.2
Martial status
Married 658 59.6
Live-in partner 88 8.0
Divorced/separated 135 12.2
Single 213 19.3
Rank
Officer/trainee 692 62.6
Detective 144 13.0
Sergeant 143 13.0
Agent 62 5.6
Lieutenant or above 59 5.3
Level of education
High school 165 14.9
Some college 603 54.6
College degree 285 25.8
Graduate school 41 3.7
stress in the past 6 months: restlessness, feeling hopeless, panic
attacks, irritability,
withdrawal, depression, and emotional depletion. The

physiological portion of this
index used five questions assessing whether respondents had
experienced nausea,
trouble getting their breath, a lump in the throat, pains or
pounding in the chest, and
faintness or dizziness in the 6 months prior to the survey. A 4-
point Likert scale with
possible answers ranging from never to always was used. Many
of these items mea-
sured the same latent traits, and for the purposes of quantitative
analysis, they were
combined into a single item measuring both physical and
psychological stress. The
index scores ranged from 12 to 48 (α = .82).
The burnout index was constructed by combining responses to
the following three
questions: I feel like I am on automatic pilot most times, I feel
burned out from my job,
and I feel like I’m at the end of the rope. The possible responses
ranged from strongly
disagree to strongly agree. The range on this index was from 3
to 15 (α = .78).
Findings
Table 1 displays general characteristics of the survey
respondents. The vast
majority of respondents in the sample were White male (n =
643), constituting 58%
of the sample. The next largest group was African American
males (n = 253) who
represented about 23% of the sample population. Not
surprisingly, women repre-
sented the lowest proportion of survey participants. About 14%
of the sample were

women; 9% (n = 102) were African American and 5% were
White (n = 51). The sam-
ple also included a small number of Hispanic males (n = 14) and
24 individuals
selected other as a race category. Unknown participants (n = 10)
were coded as 9 and
excluded in all regression analysis.
Patrol officers and patrol officers trainees represented the
majority of respondents
(n = 692) and made up 62% of the sample, whereas 5% of the
participants were high-
ranking officers holding the rank of lieutenant or higher (n =
59). Officers also help
various other positions within the department including
detective (n = 144), sergeant
(n = 143), and agent (n = 62). The sample had only 4 missing
cases. Nearly 60% of
the sample was married with an additional 8% having a live-in
partner. Roughly 12%
of those sampled were divorced or separated and slightly more
than 19% were sin-
gle. In keeping with the movement to professionalize law
enforcement, the vast
majority of officers in this study had some college education
(85%) and more than a
quarter of respondents held a college degree. In this sample,
education level was
similar for both genders; roughly, 28% of female officers held a
college degree com-
pared with 26% of the males.
The rank and job distribution of officers in the Baltimore Police
Department at the
time of the survey reflects the fact that few women advance
beyond simple patrol

duties in modern law enforcement (Schulz, 1995). Only 4 of the
59 survey respondents
who held the office of lieutenant or above are women, and 14
female respondents held
Policing 225
226 …

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