# Military and police psychology



## kwflatbed (Dec 29, 2004)

2 Part Series

*Part I: Military and police psychology: Mutual influences and contributions*

*Part I: Operation assistance*

*Q:* _My wife's family has a long military tradition and, recently, my brother-in-law came home on leave from his tour in Iraq. We were talking about his experiences over there and my own activities as a city cop, and it was amazing how many of the same tactics, challenges and stresses seem to affect us both. Has anybody ever taken a look at how military service people and law enforcement officers can learn from each other?_
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*(AP Photo/Mike Derer)*

*A:* Like siblings separated at birth, yet unknowingly living next door to each other their whole lives, military psychology and police psychology have long independently addressed the cognitive, perceptual, emotional, and behavioral aspects of men and women performing extreme service in defense of their communities - whether that "community" is a specific neighborhood or the nation as a whole.

Especially after 9/11, the dividing line between police and military defenders of our civilized society has been further blurred. In fact, many law enforcement officers have undergone military service and many military service members utilize tactics and strategies derived from patrol and special unit policing to carry out their assigned duties. So it may be time to highlight the recent advances in police psychology that have both drawn from, and can contribute to, the work of our military colleagues and improve the clinical and operational services we provide to men and women in uniform, wherever they may serve.

Typically, military and police psychological services have been divided into two main branches: operational support and clinical services. The former will be described in Part I of this column; the latter will be covered in Part II.

Full Article Part 1:http://www.policeone.com/health-fitness/articles/1626666/

*Part II: Military and police psychology: Mutual influences and contributions*

By Laurence Miller, PhD
In Part I of this column, we examined the mutual contributions of military and police psychology to the demands of operational assistance. In Part II, we take a look at the role of police and military psychology in clinical services delivery.
*Clinical services*








(AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

In military and police psychology, _clinical services_ encompass the behavioral and mental health strategies utilized to restore and improve the health and well-being of military or law enforcement service members. Unlike the more extensive scope and leisurely pace of many forms of civilian psychotherapy, the aims and purposes of military and law enforcement intervention strategies are typically short-term and targeted to restoring personnel to an optimum level of functioning in a minimum amount of time.
*Combat and critical incident stress* 
Clearly, the most stressful aspect of both military service and police work is the prospect of being injured or killed, closely followed by the act of killing another. Other stresses have to do with enduring the loss of comrades and generally confronting the human cruelty and carnage of warfare or violent criminal activity. Both police and military psychologists have made important contributions to the assessment and amelioration of these traumatic stress syndromes.

Full Article Part 2: http://www.policeone.com/health-fitness/articles/1626656/


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