Features of Professional Victimization Among Employees of the Ministry of the Russian Federation for Civil Defence, Emergencies and Elimination of Consequences of Natural Disasters and Law Enforcement Agencies
The results of theoretical and empirical studies of the characteristics of professional victimhood in professions providing safety to people are presented. It is shown that the work of law enforcement officers and the Ministry of Emergency Situations is done in extreme conditions, in the first place, when interacting with citizens characterized by antisocial and criminal behavior, in a situation of stress and panic, and in the second place, in natural and man-made emergencies. The results of an empirical study performed on the sample are presented (n = 60, age range = 30–40 years; 30 employees of the SOBR of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation for the Saratov region and 30 employees of fire and rescue units for the protection of Engels. The appropriate diagnostic tools were used: the victimization technique by O. O. Andronnikova; “Indicator of coping strategies” by D. Amirkhan; “Methods of coping behavior” by R. Lazarus and S. Folkman. Statistical data processing was performed by comparing two independent samples (Mann-Whitney U-test), correlation analysis. It is stated that one of the causes of professional destructions of law enforcement officers and the Ministry of Emergency Situations, which include, among other things, the victimization of professional behavior, is a high level of stress against the background of depletion of coping resources. With this combination of factors, employees of these departments can begin to form unconscious, passive, protective mechanisms to overcome stress, their critical thinking and adequacy of assessment of their own actions can reduce. Against this background, the rejection of perception of reality and the search for a way out of reality lead to a decrease in mental tension through the use of aggressive forms of behavior, or, on the contrary, formation of a gullible, subordinate pattern of behavior. Developed coping behavior and a sufficient number of coping-resources help reduce the risk of victimization for both law enforcement officers and emergency workers. The applied aspect of the problem under study can be implemented in the advisory and preventive activities of the psychological services of the agencies that ensure safety of the population.
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