CHAPTER ONE
1.0 INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
1.3 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS
1.5 RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS
1.6 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
1.7 SCOPE OF THE STUDY
1.8 DELIMITATION OF THE STUDY
1.9 DEFINITION OF TERMS
CHAPTER TWO
2.0 LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1
CHAPTER THREE
3.0 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
3.1 RESEARCH DESIGN
3.2 AREA OF STUDY
3.3 POPULATION OF THE STUDY
3.4 RESEARCH SAMPLE AND SAMPLING TECHNIQUE
3.5 INSTRUMENT FOR DATA COLLECTION
3.6 VALIDITY OF THE INSTRUMENT
3.7 METHOD OF DATA COLLECTION
3.8 METHOD OF DATA ANALYSIS
CHAPTER FOUR
4.0 DATA ANALYSIS AND PRESENTATION
CHAPTER FIVE
5.0 SUMMARY OF FINDINGS, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
5.1 SUMMARY
5.2 CONCLUSION
5.3 RECOMMENDATIONS
REFRENCE
APPENDIX
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background to the Study
In Nigeria, a high level of stress has been observed among the working class (Ndom & Makanjuola, 2004). Adeyemo and Ogunyemi (2005) assert that workers who are involved in personal interaction are more vulnerable to occupational stress and job burnout and this could include the police. There is the problem of image problem coupled with the harrowing climate in which they work, and in which they contend with many challenges in the course of their duties, like negative perception from the public, poor funding and mismanagement of available funds, in-fighting among senior officers for promotion and posting, decayed state of discipline, inadequate basic and continuous training of police personnel, obsolete and outdated arms and ammunition, overcrowded barracks, lack of conducive offices and basic working materials. These militate against their work performance, efficiency and effectiveness and could also endanger them emotionally and thereby, make them face serious job burnout while on duty.
Policing job, perhaps more than any professions, not only requires absolute professionalism, but also total commitment expected to make the practitioners proactive and efficient. This becomes expedient in a multi-ethnic country like Nigeria with increase profiling of crime and peace-threatening activities, like kidnapping, ethnic crisis, armed robbery, religious crisis, extra- judicial killing, political violence, and , of recent, the Boko Haram saga. All these could exert much pressure on the personnel of the Nigeria Police. Job burnout is one of the problems that could militate against the efficiency of the police. Job burnout is not a factor to be taken lightly as the burnout syndrome could lead to indecision, disappointments, frustration, defence strategies, loss of creativity, physical and emotional exhaustion, low productivity which could therefore be counterproductive. Police personnel experiencing job burnout cannot be at ease with himself and this could be dangerous to him and the society at large. According to Anshel (2000), law enforcement is one of the most stressful occupations world-wide. The peculiarity of the profession also makes the practitioners to experience job-related stressors such as dealing with unlawful, often dangerous actions of citizens, abusive treatment in the workplace which eventually leads to increased rate of illness, posttraumatic stress and decreased levels of job satisfaction (Anshel, 2000; Rothmann & Agathagelou, 2000.).
The Nigeria Police Force, which grew from the colonial era, was established in 1930 (with a national outlook) to provide security for lives, property and investments in the country (Alemika, 1997). The level at which Nigeria’s police force has met with its obligations has been queried in recent times. The level of functionality of the Nigerian police is being affected by inadequate facilities, training, personnel, and over-centralization of human and material resources (Osuji, 2012; Owen, 2014). In the face of technological constraints and other inadequate facilities, police officers in Nigeria generally rely heavily on their personal crafts to be effective (Owen, 2014). Therefore, as they struggle to meet the increasing security needs of the society, police personnel in Nigeria may be prone to job stress and occupational burnout.
Inadequate facilities and operational demands are two of the major sources of stress for police personnel (Amaranto, Steinberg, Castellano & Mitchell, 2003; Shane, 2010). Lazarus and Folkman (1984) defined job stress as a psychological state that results from perceived negative and threatening imbalance between employees’ job condition and their psychological resources for dealing with the job conditions. Moon and Jonson (2012) submitted that high physical demands and life-threatening work conditions, compounded by changing socio-economic and technological conditions and high societal expectations (Deschamps, Pagnon-Badiner, Marchand & Merle, 2003), may expose police personnel to high level of job stress. Job stress may be more pronounced among police personnel in Nigeria because of the acute shortage of police personnel compared with the population of the citizens they serve. According to Human Rights Watch (2010), the estimated 311,675 police personnel in Nigeria, as of 2008, were securing over 160 million citizens. Based on the United Nation’s benchmark of 1 police officer to 400 citizens, Osuji (2012) submitted that there was a shortfall of 70,600 police personnel in Nigeria.
1.2 Statement of the Problem
There is a degree of stress associated with the world of work it has been observed that while some jobs create a lot of stress for some, but for others are not so stressful. Among the most stressful jobs on earth is that of Police officers, if stress were just a feeling of unease or discomfort, it would not be so worrisome. Research has however shown that stress results to burnout and substance abuse in the form of alcohol or drug usedependence, reduced job satisfaction, increased absenteeism and increased turn over (Rao, 2010), in which all this has been proven to aggravates existing ill health. There has been numerous links between stress and diseases like cancer, heart disease, insomnia and so on. There is therefore a tangible relationship between the amounts of stress a person experiences and his health status. Coon and Mitterer (2009) indicate that Police officers suffer from a high rate of stress related diseases. The threat of injury or death, confrontations with abusive, drunk or hostile citizens and other such events on an almost daily basis takes a toll, the major factor is the unpredictable nature of Police work because there are many stressors associated with Police work in Nigeria and it is the aim of this research to examine occupational burnout and the influence it has on police personnel.
1.3 Objective of the Study
The main objective of this study is to examine occupational burnout among Nigeria police personnel, specifically the study intends to:
1. Find out the demographic factors that causes occupational burnout among Nigeria police personnel
2. Find out the effect of occupational burnout among Nigeria police on their job performance
3. Proffer real life solution to the problem of occupational burnout among Nigeria Police.
1.4 Research Question
1. What are the demographic factors that causes occupational burnout among Nigeria police personnel?
2. Is there any effect of occupational burnout among Nigeria police on their job performance?
3. What is the solution to the problem of occupational burnout among Nigeria Police?
1.5 Research Hypothesis
Ho: there is no effect of occupational burnout among Nigeria police on their job performance
Hi: there is effect of occupational burnout among Nigeria police on their job performance
1.6 Significance of the Study
This research work will very useful in so many ways, firstly it will serve as a guide to other researcher and a reference point to other research on occupational burnout among the Nigeria police.
Secondly this research will expose the government and the general public to stress, occupational burnout and other psychological or emotional challenges the police go through so as to put some policy in place for them to reduce burnout and the Nigeria police force.
1.7 Scope of the Study
This research work will be conducted in Lagos state and it will examine occupational burnout, the demographic factors of occupational burnout and the effect of occupational burnout among the Nigeria police.
1.8 Delimitation of the Study
Finance for the general research work will be a challenge during the course of study. Correspondents also might not be able to complete or willing to submit the questionnaires given to them.
However, it is believed that these constraints will be worked on by making the best use of the available materials and spending more than the necessary time in the research work. Therefore, it is strongly believed that despite these constraint, its effect on this research report will be minimal, thus, making the objective and significance of the study achievable.
1.9 Definition of Terms
Occupational Burnout: a state of physical, emotional or mental exhaustion combined with doubts about your competence and the value of your work.
Police: the civil force of a state, responsible for the prevention and detection of crime and the maintenance of public order.