The influence of Police officers’ decision-making style and anger control on responses to

work scenarios

BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

DEFINITION OF TERMS

Police Officer

A Police Officer serves to maintain law and order in local areas by protecting members of
the public and their property, preventing crime, reducing the fear of crime and improving the
quality of life for all citizens. There are a number of different roles within the police and a clearly
defined ranking system which can allow for career progression from police officer to chief
constable.

Decision Making

“Decision-making involves the selection of a course of action from among two or more
possible alternatives in order to arrive at a solution for a given problem”. as defines by Trewatha
& Newport .

As evidenced by the foregone definitions, decision making process is a consultative affair

done by a comity of professionals to drive better functioning of any organization. Thereby, it is a
continuous and dynamic activity that pervades all other activities pertaining to the organization.
Since it is an ongoing activity, decision making process plays vital importance in the functioning
of an organization. Since intellectual minds are involved in the process of decision making, it
requires solid scientific knowledge coupled with skills and experience in addition to mental
maturity.

Anger

Anger can be defined as a feeling of annoyance, displeasure or antagonism. Think of a

time you felt angry. It may have been because of personal circumstances - maybe someone
harmed you or you felt very frustrated because you had so much work to do. It may have even
been related to something that didn't happen to you directly. All of us experience the feeling of
anger from time to time, but how we express this emotion can vary widely from individual to
individual. Anger is a surprisingly complex emotion. It can happen in many different
circumstances for many different reasons

Anger Control

The control of anger, a form of emotional coping, requires the reappraisal of an otherwise
stressful emotional event to reduce experienced distress (Lazarus, 1993).Anger management is a
term used to describe the skills you need to recognise that you, or someone else, is becoming
angry, and then take appropriate action to deal with the situation in a positive way. It does not
mean internalising or suppressing anger, but recognising the triggers and signs of anger, and
finding other, more appropriate ways to express our feelings.