The role of the social support strategy in the process of police officers’ adaptation to the conditions of extreme service

Introduction. The paper considers the issues related to coping strategies and resources in the process of a person’ adaption to extreme activities. It was supposed that in order to avoid serious homeostatic disorders in the body during stress, there is a mechanism of safety net and adjustment to the optimal state for coping. This mechanism involves both socio-legal and personal strategies and resources, but a specific mechanism of their interaction and preferences has not been studied yet. The purpose is to reveal the coping strategies preferred by police officers in order to adapt to extreme conditions in their activity. Materials and Methods. 86 police officers were examined via Lazarus and Folkman methodology. Results and Discussion. The specifics of manifestation of police officers’ coping behavior lies in their striving to rely on themselves, on their knowledge, experience and ability to analyze the situation and independently reduce the stress of the situation, while seeking for social support ranks the last probably due to the fact that immediately at the moment of threat to life and health this strategy is hardly applicable. Conclusions. When choosing coping police officers rely more on the strategy of «problem solving planning» (33,8%) than on the strategy of «seeking for social support» (17,6%). The police officers preferred to rely on their knowledge, skills, experience and ability to analyze the situation fast and immediately. Concerning adaptive choices the police officers preferred «positive overestimate» - 20,3% and «self-control» - 18,9%, which proves the tension of their everyday activity wherein they attempt to reduce the high level of tension on their own.