Trabalho emocional de policiais militares: do mapeamento de demandas emocionais ao treinamento em regulação emocional

Abstract

This thesis focuses on studying emotional labor in police officers. Considering the social relevance of police officers for the security and stability of society, the objective of this work was assess the effectiveness of a training to improve the repertoire of regulation strategies and reduce the stress of police officers based on the mapping of their emotional labor demands. Study 1 was a systematic literature review which was conducted to analyze empirical studies on training and interventions with a focus on the mental health of police officers. Upon determining the search and inclusion criteria, 30 papers were found and analyzed, which were categorized by using Bloom’s Taxonomy (learning domains: cognitive, affective and psychomotor). Two categories were created: one category comprising mixed-domain training, and another one consisting of single-domain training. The results indicate a growth in the number of publications after 2018 and the predominance of training that used the three learning domains. Study 2 comprised document analysis, an interview, and a focus group, to characterize police officers’ emotional labor demands required by their occupation and by their corporation The analyzed document was the Statute of the Police Force of the State of Bahia, where we identified three categories (demands related to the mission of the corporation; demands related to the professional role of police officers; and, demands related to personal conduct). Subsequently, we conducted an interview with a police force chief and a focus group with three participants. The interview and focus group were analyzed by using the IRAMUTEQ software and two axes and three classes were identified. The first axis was named “Society demands” (class 3) while the second axis was named “Professional role demands”, which divided into two classes: “Affective states” (class 1) and “Compliance with institutional norms” (class 2). Finally, Study 3 assessed the effectiveness of a training designed on the outcomes of the literature review and the identified emotional labor demands, to improve police officers’ process of emotional regulation and stress reduction. Forty-four police officers split into an experimental group and a control group participated in the training. The results showed a decrease in emotional dysregulation and stress in the experimental group shortly after they participated in the intervention and follow-up. In this study procedural changes were observed, which contributed to understanding the gain of regulatory repertoire over time by police officers, who are a job category strongly subjected to emotional challenges. The three studies helped to better delimit the phenomenon of emotional regulation, considering its dynamic nature and the results indicate practical contributions by offering help for police officers to manage stress and their emotion experiences.