See information provided in the Syllabus link in the classroom

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1 School of Security & Global Studies Criminal Justice CMRJ202 Stress Management for Law Enforcement 3 Credit Hours 8 Week Course Prerequisite(s): None Instructor Information Course Description Course Scope Course Objectives Course Delivery Method Course Resources Evaluation Procedures Grading Scale Course Outline Policies Academic Services Selected Bibliography Instructor Information Instructor: See information provided in the Syllabus link in the classroom Please use internal classroom messaging system Course Description (Catalog) This course will explore the stresses of law enforcement, specific stress factors in law enforcement (i.e., shift work, hazards and dangers, dealing with death and severe injury, postshooting trauma, testifying in court, & undercover work). Methods and techniques for reducing stress will be discussed as will applying these techniques in the field.

2 Course Scope This course was designed for the student currently working in the criminal justice field who faces life and death situations everyday and is left with picking up the pieces of shattered lives. Stress and burnout is a real threat to professional law-men/women. Professional law enforcers must learn to recognize the signs and learn active techniques to deal with stress. Stress is a silent killer. Course Objectives (CO) At the conclusion of this course students will be able to: CO1: Explore the major causes of stress for law enforcement personnel. CO2: Compare and contrast the differences between positive and negative stress experienced by law enforcement. CO3: Identify health risks commonly associated with stress experienced by law enforcement. CO4: Summarize the complexities faced by law enforcement personnel when seeking assistance for stress related issues. CO5: Evaluate approaches to managing stress in a law enforcement agency. CO6: Recognize symptoms of stress experienced by law enforcement personnel. CO7: Evaluate coping strategies for managing individual and organizational stress. Course Delivery Method This course delivered via distance learning will enable students to complete academic work in a flexible manner, completely online. Course materials and access to an online learning management system will be made available to each student. Online assignments are due by Sunday evening of the week as noted and include Forum questions (accomplished in groups through a threaded forum), a mid-term examination, and a final exam submitted for review by the Faculty Member). Assigned faculty will support the students throughout this eight-week course.

3 Course Resources Required Course Textbooks Stevens, D. J. (2008). Police officer stress: Sources and solutions. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. Additional course readings will be located in the weekly lessons. These additional resources will help you get a deeper understanding of the course material and will make for good discussion in the weekly forum. Evaluation Procedures Your final grade in this course will be based on the following course requirements: 1. Forum Questions and Responses to Other Students Work (including the Introduction ): Each student will be required to answer the weekly forum question and respond to at least two other students. Students will be required to post their weekly forum response to the proper forum board. Weekly forum questions will account for 60% of the student s final course grade. Be sure to read and follow the forum assignment instructions in the Forums. The following instructions should guide the preparation of your work in the Forum s: Submit all of your Forum assignment work in text. You may also submit an attachment if you wish to preserve the formatting. Use your own words to explain what you learned through your research. You must complete the forum assignment titled Introduction Forum. Note, this is a graded forum assignment. It is also used to determine your participation in our class for attendance purposes. You need to submit your Introduction and at least two (2) responses to your classmates

4 by 11:55PM EST on Sunday of week 1. For the Introduction Forum assignment your answer needs to be at least 250 words long. It does not need to be based on research, nor does it need to be in APA style. You must also respond to at least two of your classmates for the introduction forum assignment. Your responses to your classmates need to be at least 100 words long. You also need to complete the Week Forum 1. Your Week 1 Forum answer must be submitted by 11:55 PM EST on Thursday For all other forum assignments (weeks 1 thru 8) your answers and responses to others in our class must meet the course requirements stated below in order to earn points. Forum answers must be at least 500 words, excluding the references list, based on research, using professional, scholarly sources, be in APA style, and be submitted by 11:55PM EST on Thursday. Forum responses to your classmates, except the week 1 forum titled Introduction Forum must be at least 250 words, excluding the references list, based on research, using professional, scholarly sources, be in APA style, and be submitted by 11:55PM EST on Sunday. 2. Mid- Term Examination: A mid-term exam is required. The mid-term exam consists of four (4) essay questions. There is no time limit on the exam so students are free to copy the questions and work on mid-term exam off line. The mid-term is open from the start of the class. Students must complete the exam inside the electronic classroom and submit the exam by the end of week 4. The mid-term exam will account for 20% of the final course grade. Use your own words to answer each of the questions in the mid-term exam, explain what you learned in your research. 3. Final Exam/Term Project The final examination is posted in the assignment section of the class. The final exam is a short research paper. You will conduct research and document what you learned during your research in this paper. The topic of this paper can be found in s. Your final exam is due by 11:55PM EST on the final day of our class. The final exam is a 500-word APA Style research paper. The final examination will account for 20% of the student s final grade. 60% = Forum Questions w/ Response (Includes the Introduction )

5 20% = Mid Term Examination (essay questions) 20% = Final Exam/Term Project 100%= Total Points Classroom participation is necessary for distance education. This is not a correspondence course. You will have to interact with your fellow students and your professor. It is imperative that the student stays in contact with the professor and university. If your work schedule changes or you are deployed, a family emergency occurs, or anything that will cause your course assignments to be late, you must make contact with the course professor as soon as possible. I will work out a personal class completion schedule with you. It is the student s responsibility to advise the professor of any changes that will cause course assignments to be late. It is the course professor s discretion to either deny or grant an extension based on information that is provided. Students should log into the classroom several times a week and check announcements, forums and messages. If the student fails to communicate or stay in contact with the course professor they may be dropped or fail the course. It is strongly suggested to communicate openly and freely with the course professor. If you need anything, communicate with the course professor first to work out any problems. Final Examination/Term Project: The final examination is posted in the section of the class. Final Exam CMRJ202 Instructions Answer the question in s in a 500-word essay. The essay will be formatted in APA Style, doubled space using Times New Roman 12 font. There is a sample APA Style paper that is located under Week 8 in Lessons that can be used as a template for your writing. Simply down load the sample APA Style Paper to your computer and use it as a template to guide you in proper APA Style format. Your work will be graded according to the writing rubric in Lessons. Make sure to include at least three professional, scholarly references to support your comments. Students who fail to include three professional, scholarly references will lose points. Doublespace your references and for the second and subsequent lines of the reference indent 5 spaces. This is called the hanging indentation. See examples of properly formatted references in the APA Style Reference Guide and APA Style Sample paper in resources and lessons. You must upload your final exam in a Word document and submit to the assignment section. Make sure to label the exam Students Last Name-Final). Students who failed to write 500- words will lose points. Do not count the words in the cover and reference page as part of your

6 500 words. Only count the main body of your work. The course professor will read and grade your papers and provide you with constructive comments in s. The course professor will be using the writing rubric to grade all written work during the class. Please make sure that you are using the writing rubrics in lessons to use as a checklist for all your academic writing in this class and throughout your educational experience at AMU. Use your own words to explain what you learned in your research to answer the Final Exam question. The course professor is looking for critical thinking and demonstrating that you have a grasp of the material you are researching. At this level in your educational journey students should have solid substance and proper academic formatting in your college level writing assignments. The course professor will be grading on both so make sure you turn in your best work. 8 Week Course Outline The following learning activities will make up your course points. Total possible course points is 100 Percentage and Total Course Points Forum Questions and Response (includes the Introduction) 60% Mid Term Examination (essay questions) 20% Final Exam/Term Project 20% Total Course Points 100% Please see the Student Handbook to reference the University s grading scale.

7 Week Topic(s) Weekly Learning Objective(s) Reading(s) (s) 1 Defining Stress LO1: Define stress LO2: Distinguish between positive and negative stress Chapters 1-2 Readings in Lessons Introduction Forum with Responses Week 1 Forum 2 Occupational Stressors and Consequences LO3: Describe causes of stress for law enforcement officers LO4: Describe health risks associated with law enforcement stress Chapters 3-4 Readings in Lessons Week 2 Forum 3 Critical Incident Stressors LO5: Describe the symptoms of stress in law enforcement officers LO6: Explain how stress impacts law enforcement officers. Chapters 5-6 Readings in Lessons Week 3 Forum 4 War on Crime and Paramilitary Model of Policing LO7: Describe the ways the paramilitary model of policing Chapter 7 Week 4 Forum Mid Term Exam is due by the end of week 4

8 acts as a stressor. Readings in Lessons 5 Policing of Terrorism and Stress LO8: Describe agency stressors. LO 9: Evaluate best approaches to managing agency stress. Chapters 8-9 Readings in Lessons Week 5 Forum 6 Options and Obstacles of Person-Centered Stress Providers LO10: Describe the complexities faced by law enforcement officers when they seek assistance for their stress. Chapters Readings in Lessons Week 6 Forum 7 Change, Professionalism, and Hiring Process LO11: Explain coping strategies for law enforcement personnel. Stress: Sources and Chapters 12 Readings in Lessons Week 7 Forum 8 Organizational Issues L012: Describe how law enforcement managers can control agency stress Chapter 13 Readings in Lessons Week 8 Forum The Final Exam /Term Project will be due by the end of the week. Review the textbook and other course material

9 Policies Please see the Student Handbook to reference all University policies. Quick links to frequently asked question about policies are listed below. Drop/Withdrawal Policy Plagiarism Policy Extension Process and Policy Disability Accommodations Writing Expectations Written assignments will be free of English and grammar errors. All in-text citations and references will be properly formatted in APA Style 6 th edition. Only professional scholarly references will be used during the class. Citation and Reference Style Attention Please: Students will follow the APA Style 6 th edition as the sole citation and reference style in written work submitted as part of coursework. s completed in a narrative essay or composition format must follow the citation style cited in the APA Style 6 th Edition Manual. Late s Students are expected to submit classroom assignments by the posted due date Students are expected to submit classroom assignments by the posted due date and to complete the course according to the published class schedule. As adults, students, and working professionals, I understand you must manage competing demands on your time. Should you need additional time to complete an assignment, please contact me before the due date so we can discuss the situation and determine an acceptable resolution. Routine submission of late assignments is unacceptable and may result in points deducted from your final course grade.

10 Deductions: Late forum posts can be penalized up to 5 points per day Late assignments can be penalized up to 5 points per day Netiquette Online universities promote the advancement of knowledge through positive and constructive debate both inside and outside the classroom. Forums on the Internet, however, can occasionally degenerate into needless insults and flaming. Such activity and the loss of good manners are not acceptable in a university setting basic academic rules of good behavior and proper Netiquette must persist. Remember that you are in a place for the rewards and excitement of learning which does not include personal attacks or student attempts to stifle the expression of others. Technology Limitations: While you should feel free to explore the full-range of creative composition in your formal papers, keep layouts simple. The Sakai classroom may not fully support MIME or HTML encoded messages, which means that bold face, italics, underlining, and a variety of color-coding or other visual effects will not translate in your messages. Humor Note: Despite the best of intentions, jokes and especially satire can easily get lost or taken seriously. If you feel the need for humor, you may wish to add emoticons to help alert your readers: ;-), : ), Disclaimer Statement Course content may vary from the outline to meet the needs of this particular group. Online Library The Online Library is available to enrolled students and faculty from inside the electronic campus. This is your starting point for access to online books, subscription periodicals, and Web resources that are designed to support your classes and generally not available through search engines on the open Web. In addition, the Online Library provides access to special learning resources, which the University has contracted to assist with your studies. Questions can be directed to librarian@apus.edu.

11 Charles Town Library and Inter Library Loan: The University maintains a special library with a limited number of supporting volumes, collection of our professors publication, and services to search and borrow research books and articles from other libraries. Electronic Books: You can use the online library to uncover and download over 50,000 titles, which have been scanned and made available in electronic format. Electronic Journals: The University provides access to over 12,000 journals, which are available in electronic form and only through limited subscription services. Course Guide: The APUS library maintains a Course Guide for our course. You can access it via 202 Library Guide. Turnitin.com Student papers are automatically submitted to Turnitin.com for this class. Please review the Plagiarism Policy so that you can avoid this issue. Selected Bibliography Bichler, G., & Gaines, L. (2005). An examination of police officers' insights into problem identification and problem solving. Crime & Delinquency, (51)1, Retrieved December 11, 2010, from EBSCOhost database. Clifford, M. (2004). Identifying and exploring security essentials. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc. DuBrin, A. J. (1997). Human relations (6 th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc. Gale, C. (2005, August). Confessions; Duress. Journal of Criminal Law, 69, Retrieved December 11, 2010, from EBSCOhost database Gilbert, J. N. (1998). Criminal investigation (4 th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ:: Prentice-

12 Hall, Inc. McCrie, R. D. (2002). Readings in security management: Principles and practices. Security Management Magazine, 126, Retrieved December 11, 2010, from EBSCOhost database Mizell, Jr., L. R. (1998). Invasion of privacy. New York: The Berkley Publishing Group. Robinson M., & del Carmen, A. (1999). Re-engineering (downsizing), corporate security, and loss prevention. Security Journal, 12, Retrieved September 2, 2010, from EBSCOhost database. Sampson, W. C., & Sampson, K. L. (2005, May). Recovery of latent prints from human skin. Journal of Forensic Identification, (55)3, Retrieved September 2, 2010, from EBSCOhost database. Thurman, Q. C., & Jamieson, J. D. (2004). Police problem solving. San Marcos, TX: Anderson Publishing Virta, S. (2002). Local security management: Policing through networks. Policing An International Journal of Police Strategies and Management, 25, Retrieved September 2, 2010, from EBSCOhost database. Weston, P. B., Wells, K.M., & Hertoghe, M. (1995). Criminal evidence for police (4 th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc.