Abstract
The purpose of this research was to determine if police culture impacts officer wellness by inhibiting officers from seeking assistance and/or maintaining wellness throughout their career. Using self-selected volunteers at a county sheriff’s department in a western state, the researcher conducted in-depth interviews. Questions pertained to officer perceptions about their work environment, mental health generally, and critical incident stress. The researcher recorded the interviews using a digital recording device and later transcribed the interviews using a Microsoft word-processing program. The transcribed documents were imported into a qualitative analysis program, specifically QDA Miner, whereby major themes were coded and later analyzed. The major themes observed were similar to those found in the literature including a macho image, cynicism, and an “us versus them” mentality. The results indicate a relationship between police culture and officer wellness if we consider wellness as adversely affected by factors including critical incident stress, crime fighter image that must be maintained, cynicism, and organizational stressors. Future research might include a longitudinal study of officers at the academy stage and again upon retirement. Furthermore, questions pertaining directly to officer wellness should be considered.