Alcohol abuse in male and female officers

Alcohol abuse and policing have, unfortunately, long gone hand-in-hand. It has been an ingrained aspect of the “fraternity” / “bonding” aspect of the police culture for many years. Fortunately, as awareness regarding wellness and self-care become greater concerns in society in general, there has been some correction for this recently; however, there remains a relationship between police work, police culture, and the maladaptive abuse of alcohol as both an aspect of police culture and a coping mechanism for stress. One contributing factor is that alcohol is generally the only “drug of choice” for law enforcement, as it is the only legal drug available for recreational use which will not cause an officer to be terminated for using off-duty; and so it is the recreational “go-to” drug in policing. Explain the study’s hypothesis. Explain the dependent and independent variable(s). Explain any assessment measures used in the study. Present the findings of the study. What can be learned from this study?