Policing is a profession that has been glamorized through movies or TV shows such as Law & Order. However, police work is one of the most stressful occupations (Rodrigues et al., 2017) with...Show morePolicing is a profession that has been glamorized through movies or TV shows such as Law & Order. However, police work is one of the most stressful occupations (Rodrigues et al., 2017) with stress stemming from work circumstances such as working in shifts and from increased exposure to death, violence, and high-pressure situations. To better understand officers’ perception of how their duties and work environment affect their personal life, this paper reports on insights from an ethnographic study of six young, German police officers working in three cities in southwest Germany. The study found that male participants reported their job to lead to hypervigilance and a reduced social life. Furthermore, participants of all genders outlined that the profession increase their gratitude for their life and opportunities they had.Show less
