This paper was presented at the
National Seminar on
Indian Psychology: Theories and Models
SVYASA, Bangalore,
December 26 - 28, 2007
 

Management of stress and coping behaviour of police personnel through Indian psychological techniques

Randhir Singh Ranta, Paras Attri & Shri Ram Negi — Himachal Pradesh University, Shimla

The police fulfils an essential role in the society and stress potentially reduces the effectiveness of the personnel. The stressed police officers pose a threat to themselves, their colleagues, offenders and/or to public safety and thus it is a matter of urgent concern for psychologists in particular and mental health researchers in general. There are endeavours to reduce, eliminate or modify stress among police personnel using psychological techniques based on the western model. The present study is, however, unique as it uses stress management and stress coping techniques based on Indian psychological models. The multidimensional psychological interventions used in this study were chosen on the basis of indigenous psychological viewpoints embedded in Yoga and meditation techniques. They included pranayam, “Om” chanting, mood management through Indian soft music, other Yogic excises for physical fitness, and stress management through shavasana.

In the present study multidimensional psychological interventions were administered on the volunteers from different ranks of police personnel (e.g. constables, head constables, assistant sub-inspectors and inspectors) to reduce their stress using a control group technique. In order to assess the efficacy of these multidimensional psychological interventions, scores on stress and coping were taken prior to and after the intervention (pre-test and post-test design). Repeated measures analysis of variance was applied to compare the experimental and control groups. It was found that the multidimensional psychological interventions were significant in reducing job stress, and they enhanced the coping behaviour of subjects. The study highlights the role of stress management techniques developed from Indian psychology theory.

Email the author, Mr. Randhir Singh Ranta, at ranta26@gmail.com