Date of Conferral

9-4-2025

Degree

Ph.D.

School

Psychology

Advisor

Dr. Wayne Wallace

Abstract

Operational demands and training of policing professionals may be a source of conflict leading to a potential increase in risk for both the officer and the general public. Training in a law enforcement academy does not adequately prepare officers for the impacts the career may have on mental health, changes to the biological system, or societal criticism of modern-day policing. The purpose of this qualitative study was to understand how policing professionals experience changes in the autonomic nervous system with exposure to trauma in the field, and how self-reported alterations are further impacted due to operational expectations of their department. The theory of social constructivism was used to explore the ways human perception and individual experience are reported; additionally, the theory of constructed emotion was used as a means to discuss and interpret the impact of the biological response the body has to incidents in the field with consideration of training expectations. This study focused on the lived experience of policing professionals and their self-reported alterations to their “fight-or-flight” responses in the field alongside fieldwork and department training procedures. This study was structured as qualitative with 10 semi-structured interviews; used self-selection sampling; and used an interpretive phenomenological analysis alongside methodological hermeneutic interpretations of reported experience. This study may provide understanding of the policing professional experience, and how this experience may be changed through prospective modifications in training through the academy and operational demands, or possible shifts in the cultural aspects of policing that may lead to healthier mindsets and working environments.

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