The Burnout Syndrome of Police Officers in Thailand

Abstract

In Thailand, police officers at Metropolitan Police Bureau worked under pressure, stress, exhaustion, and discouragement. This situation leads to inefficient or diminishes performance, creating more resignations annually. However, there has been little discussion about this situation. The purpose of this study is to explore the Burnout syndrome of police officers, and test the relationship of the influences affecting the police officers. Both qualitative and quantitative methods were used. The quantitative sample included 398 police officers from Metropolitan Division 1-9, Investigation Division, and Traffic Police Division. The qualitative sample included twenty police officers and scholars, who were key informants. Questionnaires and in-depth interviews were used. The statistics were percentage, means, standard deviation, effectiveness index, and T-test. The findings showed that Inquiry Section was the most important and responsible missions, and high workloads, insufficient budget, personality and no human relations with colleagues causing burnout. Also, there was less opportunity for advancement than other fields. Other relevant factors were the relationship at work, with the police officers felt uncomfortable with their supervisors and having bad relations with their colleagues. The influential factors of age, income, duties and responsibilities, and working personality were found at a high level. The correlation of work environment factors organisational roles, and work relationships was high. The research concluded that police officers were overworked and experienced lack of budget, personnel, equipment, tools and no human relations with colleagues. The police administration is ineffective. However, this research was limited in terms of area and sample from Metropolitan Police bureau. Recommendations should be made to improve pay for Performance (P4P) for inquiry officials, including reviewing the promotional of inquiry officials for line growth, building human relations among supervisors, colleagues and subordinates, salary, compensation, and benefits base should be improved, and police organisations should be reformed based on legitimacy. The next recommendation is for future study to research on how to prevent police officers from the burnout syndrome.

Received: 31 October 2022 / Accepted: 18 April 2023 / Published: 5 May 2023