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Prevention: Resilience Building, Training, Education Programs, and Crisis Lines

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Practical Considerations for Preventing Police Suicide

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Abstract

In every law enforcement agency, candidates applying to the job are required to complete an exhaustive recruitment process. Part of the selection procedure includes a psychological evaluation, the intent of which is to identify several positive psychological skills. These perishable skills are a direct representation of the behavioral expectations that citizens have of their law enforcement officers, yet police administrators rarely—if ever—reinforce these skills as wellness priorities. Research into resilience reveals two primary truths: that resilience is only obtained as the result of adversity and that the promotion of it should be approached intentionally. As a professional development opportunity, intentionally building resilience is a necessary component of self-care for law enforcement officers which should begin day one at the academy and continue throughout the life cycle of the profession. Police administrators have an opportunity to approach officer wellness early on from a positive perspective, by sharing with each academy graduate the psychological skills they brought into the job when they first joined the force. Continuous reinforcement of these skills acknowledges their perishability, overcoming the tendency to ignore the job’s variety of challenges. Ultimately, treating resilience as a studied skill allows for a learning organization that seeks out opportunities to coach and mentor officers to better navigate adversity. The resources highlighted in this chapter provide officers and administrators options for pursuing resilience—both individually and organizationally.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Pathfinder Resilience, Granger, IN, USA

    A. Renee Thornton

  2. Department of Law, Police Science & Criminal Justice, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, New York, USA

    Heath Grant

  3. Pace University, New York City, NY, USA

    Cathryn Lavery

  4. Department of Criminal Justice and Sociology, Iona College, New Rochelle, NY, USA

    Kimberly Spanjol

  5. Blue Wall Institute, Belleville, IL, USA

    Jorey Krawczyn

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  1. A. Renee Thornton
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  2. Heath Grant
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  3. Cathryn Lavery
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  4. Kimberly Spanjol
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  5. Jorey Krawczyn
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Correspondence to A. Renee Thornton .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Blue Wall Institute, Belleville, IL, USA

    Olivia Johnson

  2. The POWER Project San Diego San Diego, CA, USA, ProWellness Inc., Toronto, ON, Canada

    Konstantinos Papazoglou

  3. School of Public Health & Health Professions, University at Buffalo State University of New York, Buffalo, NY, USA

    John Violanti

  4. Saint Joseph’s College, Brooklyn, NY, USA

    Joseph Pascarella

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Thornton, A.R., Grant, H., Lavery, C., Spanjol, K., Krawczyn, J. (2022). Prevention: Resilience Building, Training, Education Programs, and Crisis Lines. In: Johnson, O., Papazoglou, K., Violanti, J., Pascarella, J. (eds) Practical Considerations for Preventing Police Suicide. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-83974-1_11

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-83974-1_11

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  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-83974-1

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