ABSTRACT
The study is geared towards exploring
some predicting variables of alcohol use among police officers in
Nigeria. Hence, the study investigates whether – character traits
(tough-mindness and aggression) as well as stress are significant
predictors of alcohol use among police officers in Ibadan metropolis.
500 police officers, which comprises of 488 males and 12 females
completed the questionnaire pack of Eyesenck Tough-mindness Scale, Buss
and Perry Aggression Scale, International Stress Management Scale and
Chinese Drug Involvement Scale. Results showed that tough-mindness and
alcohol use are positively and insignificantly related (r=0.53;
p>0.05); aggression and alcohol use are positively and significantly
related (r=0.22; p<0.05); stress and alcohol use are positively and
significantly related (r=0.28; p<0.05) and the joint effect of
tough-mindness, aggression and stress were significantly related
(f=9.23>2.73; p<0.05). Findings were discussed and relevant
recommendations were made for further studies.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY
Psychoactive substances are chemical
substances that when taken, they have the capability to change the
consciousness, mood and thinking processes of an individual (WHO, 2004).
Alcohol is among the commonest psychoactive substances used (Chebukaka,
2014; Attah, etal, 2016). It is socially accepted and serves as
“gateway” to the use of other substances, and as such people begin
experimenting with alcohol, cigarette and other hard drugs. Factors such
as peer influence, broken family structure, advertisement and the
inability to manage stress have been associated to the consumption of
hard drugs, alcohol inclusive (Attah, etal, 2016).
The use of alcohol has huge negative
effects on health on the global populace. Lately, there has been some
occupational, moral or even social justification for the intake of
alcohol. Among students, continuous and excessive use has been linked to
poor academic performance and school dropout. For some, like the police
officers and military men, alcohol consumption is meant to give them
vigor, boldness, courage and a sense of toughness, perceived by people.
Alcohol is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the global
scene. The high rate of deaths in Nigeria, especially among the youths
may not be unconnected with the unhealthy lifestyles. Alcohol use among
students is characterized by a number of risky behaviors which in the
long-run affect their well-being and academic performance. As levels of
alcohol intake increase, so also is the prevalence of a variety of risky
behaviors. Heavy alcohol intake may lead to depression and liver
damage. In addition, alcohol affects many parts of the brain, but the
most vulnerable cells are those associated with memory, co-ordination,
and judgment. Short-term effects (usually lasts up to 72 hours after
heavy use) Alcohol has several physiological and psychological effects,
which may inhibit academic performance of students. Cognitive abilities
are affected by even small amounts of alcohol and can persist for a
substantial period of time after the acute effects of alcohol impairment
disappear. Students’ poor academic performance is associated with
alcohol consumption; this is because it contributes to students missing
classes, failing tests, dropping out of school due to poor grades, and
compromising the academic mission of colleges and universities.
Tough mindness individual is thought to
be determined largely by either genetics and/or heredity, or by
environment and experiences, or both. There is evidence for all
possibilities. Ruth Benedict was one of the leading anthropologists that
studied the impact of one's culture on the personality and tough
mindness of the individual. Tough mindness of the individual can be
defined as a dynamic and organized set of characteristics possessed by a
person that uniquely influences his or her cognitions, motivations, and
behaviors in various situations.
Anger can be the result of hurt pride,
of unreasonable expectations, or of repeated hostile fantasies. Besides
getting our way, we may unconsciously use anger to blame others for our
own shortcomings, to justify oppressing others, to boost our own sagging
egos, to conceal other feelings, and to handle other emotions (as when
we become aggressive when we are afraid). Any situation that frustrates
us, especially when we think someone else is to blame for our loss, is a
potential trigger for anger and aggression.Aggressive behaviour that
police officers exhibit in society today is a concern to everyone. Most
police officers are involved directly or indirectly in this situation.
Velisiwe (2005) stated that this experience does not only affect police
officers but also education personnel, parents, governing bodies,
representative councils and the community at large. This behaviour
frequently interrupts the smooth running of the organization and leads
to an organization or work climate not conducive. It places everybody’s
life at risk and makes the culture of learning and training very
difficult.
Stress has been described in different
ways over the years. According to Kazmi, Amjad and Khan (2008) it was
convinced as pressure from the environment, then later as a strain
within the person. However today accepted definition one of the
interactions between the situation and the individual (Kazzmi, Amjad,
Khan, 2008). It is the psychological and physical states that result
when the resources of the individual are not sufficient to cope with the
demands and pressures of the job situation. Thus, stress is more likely
in some situations than others. According to Acholu (1995) although
much is known about stress but there is no consensus or agreement as to
the definition of the terms among scientist. The term “stress” has been
defined differently by differently authors because of the complex nature
of stress itself. The pressure at work particularly the emphasis on
enhanced productivity has exaggerated the amount of stress being
experienced by workers of the 21st century. According to them
while a modicum of stress at work may enhance work motivation, the
terrific speed of modern work situations create dramatic changes in the
concepts of work and the concepts workers have to handle in working.
Stress in the work place is indispensable. It is an unavoidable aspect
of human existence according to Akinboye and Adeyemo (2002) stress in
the work place describes physical, mental and emotional wear and tear
brought about by incongruence between the requirement of the job and the
capabilities, resources or needs of the employee to cope with job
demands.
Job life on the other hand is one of the
important parts of our daily lives which cause a great deal of stress.
Due to the competitive nature of the job environment most of the police
officers in the world are spending their time for job related work
purposes resulting to ignore the stressor that are influencing their
work and life. According to Ahsa, etal (2009) asserts that people are
more worry about their outcome of their work that can even affect the
way they treat other people and how they communicate with their peers
and customers. Evidently in Nigeria according to Nwadiani and Ofoegbu
(2001) there are life threatening, harmful and challenging situations
which are stressful to people’s existence and well-being. Some of these
according to them include economic instability, driving on poorly
maintained roads, religious intolerance and insecurity.
1.2 STATEMENT OF PROBLEM
Adult life is a time for trying new
things. Police officers practices drugs for many reasons out of
curiosity because it makes them feel good, to reduce stress, to feel
grown up or fit in, they often do not see the link between their actions
today and consequences tomorrow, they also have a tendency to feel
indestructible and immuned to the problems that others experience. The
work place for instance, if the police officer is not properly adjusted,
other than them using other techniques that is conducive and
comfortable (orientation) they subscribe to alcohol abuse. For some
decades now, the issues on alcohol use among police force have been a
debate among various researchers, families, government, medical
practitioners and legal practitioners. The prevalent rate of alcohol use
consumption among police force in different parts of the world gives
room for concern. Data on the long-term implications of such alcohol use
are emerging while intoxication, memory loss, violence and sexual
risk-taking are associated with current patterns of officers alcohol
consumption So many researchers has investigated on the causes of
alcohol use among the police officers, However, this study will
investigate into tough mindness, aggressiveness and stress as predictors
of alcohol use among Police Officers with the aim of suggesting a
better way of helping them to live a good lifestyle.
1.3 PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
The main objective of the study is to
examine character traits (tough mindness and aggression) as well as
stress as predictors of alcohol use among police officers in Ibadan
Metropolis.
The specific objectives of the study are:
- To examine the relationship between tough mindness and alcohol use among police officers in Ibadan Metropolis.
- To examine the relationship between aggression and alcohol use among police officers in Ibadan Metropolis.
- To examine the relationship between stress and alcohol use among police officers in Ibadan Metropolis.
- To examine the joint influence of tough mindness, aggression and
stress on alcohol use among police officers in Ibadan Metropolis.
1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS
The study attempts to provide meaningful answers to the following research questions:
- What is the relationship between tough mindness and alcohol use among police officers in Ibadan Metropolis?
- What is the relationship between aggression and alcohol use among police officers in Ibadan Metropolis?
- What is the relationship between stress and alcohol use among police officers in Ibadan Metropolis?
- What is the joint influence of tough mindness, aggression and stress on alcohol use among police officers in Ibadan Metropolis?
1.5 RESEARCH HYPOTHESES
Five hypotheses were formulated to guide the study and they are stated as follows:
- H01: There is no significant relationship between tough mindness and alcohol use among police officers in Ibadan Metropolis.
- H02: There is no significant relationship between aggression and alcohol use among police officers in Ibadan Metropolis.
- H03: There is no significant relationship between stress and alcohol use among police officers in Ibadan Metropolis.
- H04: Tough mindness, aggression and stress have no joint
significant effect on alcohol use among police officers in Ibadan
Metropolis.
1.6 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
The findings in this study will in no
measure benefit Nigerian Police force, parents, para-military, medical
and legal practitioners, governments at the three tiers (federal, state
and local government), and the policy maker. The researcher believe
people in Oyo state will be able to benefit immensely from this study
because the research is meant to know if tough mindness, aggressiveness
and stress will determine police officers to abuse drugs.
On the part of police forces and
military forces, they will be better exposed through the findings that
the excessive use of drugs by them will affect their personality and
family because the children learns while observing the behaviour of
their parents who are police officers. It is also known that, at this
stage they tend to experiment things probably as a means of coping with
the stress they encountered in which if they not corrected on time they
tend to abuse drugs.
Government, psychologist, medical and
legal practitioners will all benefit from this study in the sense that
they will be able to design interventions for police officers and this
will prohibit them from abusing drugs in the society they find
themselves and helping them to understands their importance in the
society.
1.7 SCOPE AND LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY
The study is designed to determine the
influence of effect of tough mindness, aggressiveness and stress on
alcohol use among Police officers in Ibadan. And so, it is limited to
Ibadan metropolis, Oyo state of Nigeria.
The limitations encountered in course of the study are
- Control Limitation: Based on the directives of the
project supervisor, the study covered character traits and stress as
predictors of alcohol use among police officers only operating in Ibadan
Metropolis.
- Time Limitation: The time allotted to conduct a
study of this magnitude, is relatively too small, given other academic
commitments of the researcher.
- Data Limitation: Based on the nature of the topic
that is targeted at police officers, the respondents are often
unyielding to participate in the survey for the fear of exposing their
personal habits and norms to the researcher.
1.8 ASSUMPTIONS
The study is guided by the following assumptions:
- That are the respondents are police officers operating in Ibadan Metropolis.
- Those only willing respondents participated in the survey.
- That all the information provided by the respondents are true, accurate, unbiased devoid of sentiments.
1.9 METHOD OF ANALYSIS
The study adopted the survey research
design simply because it enables the researcher to recognize the
characteristics of a given population and describe them in a systematic
way and also the ex-post facto research design because the researcher
has no control over the explanatory variables. Furthermore, the
purposive sampling technique was used to select 500 police officers in
Ibadan metropolis. The study used four instruments namely the Eyesenck
Tough Mindness Scale (ETMS); Buss and Perry Aggression Scale (BPAS);
International Stress Management Scale (ISMS) and the Chinese Drug
Involvement Scale (CDIS) to collect data from the selected police
officers. The data collected were analyzed using the descriptive
statistic analysis. Also, the Pearson correlation analysis and the
analysis of variance were used to test the stated hypotheses at 5%
significance level.
1.10 DEFINITON OF TERMS
Aggression: This is a character trait of behavior and attitude featured by hostility, violence and anger.
Alcohol use: has been
defined as an excessive use of addictive substances, especially when
such consumption or misuse of an alcohol is not for therapeutic purposes
but rather for the purpose of altering the normal functioning of the
mind and body.
Police officers: refers
to an individual who play a central role in the law enforcement system
and monitor criminal activity, take part in community patrols, respond
to emergency calls, issue tickets, make arrests, investigate crimes and
testify in court as needed.
Stress: This refers to
the physiological or psychological response to negative psychological or
environ mental factors at work perceived as taxing or disturbing and
threatening to an individual's health or wellbeing.
Tough Mindness: refers to the ability to face difficulties and failures with resilience, determination and courage.