Author: Ali Amleh
The study aimed to explore the feasibility of creation of psychosocial support unit in the Palestinian Police as perceived by the police officers. The study approached the literature as a multi-dimensional phenomenon, which addressed both theoretical and applied research. The study sheds light on an important topic in the police organization in the Arab World in general and in the Palestinian society in particular. The police organization play an important role in preserving the society's stability, to ensure their survival, development, continuation, and prosperity; taken into consideration the different psychosocial issues that may affect negatively their members. Besides, the significance of this recent study is the first, to the author knowledge, which dealt with this theme, which in turn encourages other researchers to work on further research on this important issue.
A 30-item questionnaire was formulated which was divided into four sub-scales as follows: the general information of the participants; the second section dealt with the creation of psychosocial support unit (20 items); the third section included the obstacles of the creation of psychosocial support unit (10 items); and the fourth had an open question in terms of the respondents' expectations about the work of the psychosocial support unit once they are developed. The random stratified method was utilized which comprised of a sample size of 367 male and female respondents among the Palestinian officers in West Bank. The collected data was statistically analyzed using the statistical package for social sciences (SPSS).
The results revealed that the participants are highly supported the creation of psychosocial support unit, the mean scores and standard deviation were (M 4.10 SD 0.42); of the Palestinian officers surveyed, 82% supported the creation of such important psychosocial support unit. The findings of the study revealed significant statistical differences in the creation of psychosocial support unit among the officers due to major and educational level. However, no statistical significant differences were found in the rest of the study variables, that is, gender and rank. The findings revealed a positive correlation between age and the creation of psychosocial support unit; however, a reverse correlation where found between experience and the creation of psychosocial support unit.
In light of the current study and its discussions, the following is recommended: the necessity of creation of psychosocial support unit in the police organization, which affects positively their ability through providing psychosocial support to its members; and finally, further research is essential to develop an understanding of psychosocial support using the case study and qualitative research design.
Keywords: Psychosocial Support, Palestine, unit, Police officers.
Ali Amleh, MA. Sustainable Rural Development, Institute of Sustainable Development, Al-Quds University, Main Campus, Jerusalem- Abu Dies, Palestine. Police Officer, Psychosocial Support Unit, Ramallah, Palestine. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
