scholarly journals Concepts of multifaceted social support in operational work in the lives of South African Police Service members

2014 ◽  
Vol 40 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Masefako A. Gumani
Keyword(s):  
Social Support ◽  
South African ◽  
Linear Process ◽  
Support Network ◽  
Social Support Network ◽  
Network Systems ◽  
Police Service ◽  
South African Police Service ◽  
South African Police ◽  
Vhembe District

Orientation: The extensive role that social support plays in the lives of South African Police Service (SAPS) members outside of the expected work networks of professionals and colleagues should be further studied to reflect on the benefits received when handling the stressful and traumatic effects of operational work.Research purpose: The objective of this study was to describe the concepts of multifaceted social support network systems as perceived by SAPS members in the context of the Vhembe District (South Africa) in assisting them to deal with the effects of their operational work.Motivation for the study: There is still a call in social research to focus on the influence of different functions and sources of social support.Research design, approach and method: A descriptive phenomenological research design was used, and 20 SAPS participants were selected through purposive sampling. Unstructured,face-to-face interviews, field notes, telephone follow-ups and diaries were used to collect data which was subsequently analysed through phenomenological explication.Main findings: The results show that social support is not a linear process but is multifaceted,depending on specific operational settings. Furthermore, the social support network system identified is informed by the values of communal living in the Vhembe District as well as in the operational context in which the SAPS members work.Practical/managerial implications: The SAPS should help initiate and involve, during the debriefing of operational members, types and functions of social support that are dependent on organisational and community contexts.Contribution/value-add: This study makes a meaningful contribution to understanding that social support in the SAPS operational context is different from other contexts.

scholarly journals The influence of organisational stressors on the well-being and performance of operational police members

2019 ◽  
Vol 45 ◽  
Author(s):  
Masefako A. Gumani
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Limpopo Province ◽  
The South ◽  
Police Service ◽  
South African Police Service ◽  
And Performance ◽  
South African Police ◽  
Vhembe District

Orientation: Studies on the influence of organisational stressors on the well-being and performance of operational members of the South African Police Service in the visible policing and detective service programmes in rural areas, like the Vhembe district, Limpopo province, South Africa, have not been conducted yet.Research purpose: The aim of this study was to explore and interpret operational members’ experiences of organisational stressors, which influence their well-being and performance when attending to critical incidents of rape, domestic violence, murder and road accidents, in the Vhembe district, Limpopo province.Motivation for the study: The study proposes ways of dealing with organisational stressors that influence the well-being and performance of operational members when performing their tasks.Research approach/design and method: An interpretative phenomenological research design was used and 17 South African Police Service participants were selected through purposive sampling. Unstructured face-to-face interviews, diary entries and telephonic interviews were conducted and field notes were used to collect the data, which were analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis guidelines.Main findings: The results highlight internal, external, task-related and individual organisational stressors among operational members of the South African Police Service that led to psychological distress, including negative perceptions of self and work, job dissatisfaction, considerations of resignation, increased training needs and strained working relationships.Practical/managerial implications: A need for a systems perspective on problem-solving, with top-bottom and bottom-up approaches, is proposed to manage organisational stressors among operational members of the South African Police Service in the Vhembe district.Contribution/value-add: The study contributes towards the contextual understanding and management of organisational stressors in rural operational policing.

Safeguarding the Republic? The South African Police Service, Legitimacy and the Tribulations of Policing a Violent Democracy

2021 ◽  
Vol 56 (1) ◽  
pp. 92-108
Author(s):  
Guy Lamb
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Public Trust ◽  
The South ◽  
Police Service ◽  
South African Police Service ◽  
The Republic ◽  
South African Police ◽  
High Crime ◽  
Excessive Use Of Force

Since 1994 the South African Police Service (SAPS) has undertaken various efforts to build legitimacy in South Africa. Extensive community policing resources have been made available, and a hybrid community-oriented programme (sector policing) has been pursued. Nevertheless, public opinion data has shown that there are low levels of public trust in the police. Using Goldsmith’s framework of trust-diminishing police behaviours, this article suggests that indifference, a lack of professionalism, incompetence and corruption on the part of the police, particularly in high-crime areas, have eroded public trust in the SAPS. Furthermore, in an effort to maintain order, reduce crime and assert the authority of the state, the police have adopted militaristic strategies and practices, which have contributed to numerous cases of excessive use of force, which has consequently weakened police legitimacy in South Africa

scholarly journals UNLAWFUL ARREST AND UNLAWFUL DETENTION: SEPARATE GROUNDS OF ACTION AND PUNITIVE DAMAGES Mvu v Minister of Safety and Security 2009 6 SA 82 (GSJ)

Obiter ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
J Neethling ◽  
JM Potgieter
Keyword(s):  
Police Officer ◽  
South African ◽  
Punitive Damages ◽  
The South ◽  
Police Service ◽  
South African Police Service ◽  
Love Relationship ◽  
South African Police ◽  
A Charge

In Mvu v Minister of Safety and Security the plaintiff, an inspector in the South African Police Service was arrested without a warrant for malicious damage to property (his 15-year old daughters’ cellphones). It transpired that the plaintiff, while on police business in Gauteng, visited his daughters. He became enraged when he discovered that they had received cellphones by way of a “love relationship”, whereupon he took the cellphones and threw them to the ground, seriously damaging them. The daughters went to apolice station and laid a charge against the plaintiff for malicious damage to property. The police officer seized with the matter telephoned the plaintiff who immediately travelled to meet him. Upon arrival he arrested the plaintiff and imprisoned him overnight with six other men and set him free the following afternoon on warning. When the matter eventually came to court, the plaintiff was discharged at the end of the state’s case. 

scholarly journals UNFIT TO OWN A FIREARM? The role of the police in firearm control

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anthony Minnaar ◽  
Duxita Mistry
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
The South ◽  
Police Service ◽  
South African Police Service ◽  
Firearm Control ◽  
South African Police ◽  
Lack Of Knowledge

This article draws on a study that examined aspects of the implementation by the South African Police Service (SAPS) of section 11 of the old Arms and Ammunition Act. This section refers to the declaration by the police of a person to be unfit to possess a licensed firearm.Although the police are more vigilant than ever about declaring people unfit, their lack of knowledge about the process needs to be addressed, as does the tendency of police and prosecutors to blame each other for problems that arise. Unless these deficiencies are ironed out soon, they will obstruct the execution of the new Firearms Control Act.

scholarly journals Occupational Stress, Personality Traits, Coping Strategies, and Suicide Ideation in the South African Police Service

2007 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
pp. 246-258 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacobus Pienaar ◽  
Sebastiaan Rothmann ◽  
Fons J. R. van de Vijver
Keyword(s):  
Personality Traits ◽  
Coping Strategies ◽  
Occupational Stress ◽  
South African ◽  
Police Officers ◽  
Suicide Ideation ◽  
The South ◽  
Police Service ◽  
South African Police Service ◽  
South African Police

The objective of this study is to determine whether suicide ideation among uniformed police officers of the South African Police Service could be predicted on the basis of occupational stress, personality traits, and coping strategies. Using a cross-sectional survey design, the Adult Suicide Ideation Questionnaire, the Police Stress Inventory, the Personality Characteristics Inventory, and the Coping Orientation to Problems Experienced are administered to a stratified random sample of 1,794 police employees from eight South African provinces. A logistic regression analysis shows that low scores on conscientiousness, emotional stability, approach coping, and turning to religion as well as high scores on avoidance coping are associated with more suicide ideation.

scholarly journals Coping, stress and burnout in the South African police service in Kwazulu-natal

2003 ◽  
Vol 29 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Wiese ◽  
S. Rothmann ◽  
K. Storm
Keyword(s):  
Coping Strategies ◽  
South African ◽  
Maslach Burnout Inventory ◽  
Measuring Instruments ◽  
The South ◽  
Passive Coping ◽  
Police Service ◽  
South African Police Service ◽  
Kwazulu Natal ◽  
South African Police

The objective of this research was to determine the relationship between coping, stress and burnout in the South African Police Service. A survey design was used. The study population (N = 257) consisted of police personnel in Kwazulu-Natal. The COPE, Police Stress Inventory and Maslach Burnout Inventory – General Survey (MBI-GS), were used as measuring instruments. Structural equation analysis showed that job demands (as stressors) are associated with exhaustion. Passive coping strategies contributed to exhaustion and cynicism, while seeking emotional support led to lower exhaustion. Exhaustion contributed to cynicism. Stress because of a lack of resources, active coping strategies and not coping passively seem to impact on professional efficacy. Opsomming Die doelstelling van hierdie navorsing was om die verband tussen coping, stres en uitbranding binne die Suid-Afrikaanse Polisiediens te ondersoek. ’n Opname-ontwerp is gebruik. Die studiepopulasie (N = 257) het bestaan uit polisiepersoneel in Kwazulu-Natal. Die COPE, die Polisiestres-Opname en die Maslach-uitbrandingsvraelys – Algemene Opname (MBI-GS) is as meetinstrumente gebruik. Strukturele vergelykingsmodellering het aangetoon dat werkseise (as stressore) geassosieer word met uitputting. Passiewe coping- strategieë het bygedra tot uitputting en sinisme, terwyl die soeke na emosionele ondersteuning tot laer uitputting gelei het. Uitputting het tot sinisme bygedra. Stres a.g.v. ’n tekort aan hulpbronne (invers), aktiewe coping-strategieë en passiewe coping-strategieë (invers) blyk ’n uitwerking op professionele doeltreffendheid te hê.

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