Leaving Law Enforcement: How to Turn Transition Into Triumph

For some officers, the impact of leaving a law enforcement career can be best summarized through the lyrics of a Jimmy Durante song performed in the 1942 classic film The Man Who Came to Dinner:

“It’s tough to have the feeling that you wanted to go,
And still have the feeling that you wanted to stay.”

Despite the simplicity of this expression (and its comedic paradox), the challenges associated with the shift from duty belt to waist belt can be more difficult to identify and dissect, let alone put into words. It is a complex and multidimensional event yielding new life trajectories ranging from bittersweet to painful. I discussed a number of transitional impacts in my posts “Loving and Leaving the Badge” and “The Challenges Police Officers Face When Leaving the Force.”

Life and career transitions such as retirement, a new job, marriage, divorce, a geographic move, and even the death of a loved one are all events that require an individual to adapt to a changed environment. Such change creates a “disequilibrium” where one must cope with an altered life space.

According to Schlossberg et al. (1995) one’s perception about a transition (of self, of the world) plays a key role in determining their ability to adapt. Is it a welcomed change or hardship? Transitions are subjective experiences influenced by a variety of factors both internal and external to the individual.

This helps to explain why people may react differently to the same kind of event. For example, one officer may assess retirement as a liberation that stimulates new relationships and interests. Another may see it as the “end of the line” marked by boredom or a loss of identity and support.

Transition Theory

A number of theories and models for analyzing human adaptation to transition have gained attention in recent years, all of which can be helpful toward stabilizing new life directions. In particular, Nancy Schlossberg’s Transition Theory is perhaps the most widely known model for understanding how adults experience and cope with change. She defines transition as “any event or non-event that results in changed relationships, routines, assumptions, and roles” (Schlossberg et al., 1995).

As a theory of both process and content, Transition Theory offers a systematic framework to address not only longitudinal stages in adult life but the personal characteristics and situational forces impacting adaptation. Change management is therefore a holistic enterprise requiring an inventory of resources (assets) and deficits (liabilities) to navigate perceived challenges and opportunities (Lowenthal et al., 1975; Schlossberg et al., 1995).

For law-enforcement officers, the service-to-civilian transition is a universal passage into a non-law enforcement-oriented culture and lifestyle. This identifiable event is a result of retirement, resignation, or termination—all of which are exits tied to circumstances specific to the individual officer.

For better or worse, officers will be changing roles (different objective role) as well as changing orientations to a role already held (altering subjective state) (Louis, 1980; Schlossberg, 1981). Therefore, Transition Theory can be helpful in addressing what the transition means to an officer’s balance of resources to deficits, post-service environment, sense of competency, and state of physical, mental, and social well-being.

Research by Moos & Tsu (1976) also suggests that outcomes of transition typically carry both positive and negative aspects for the same individual, and either may produce stress that makes coping especially difficult (Schlossberg & Leibowitz, 1980).

Consequently, psychosocial and sociocultural challenges—however big or small—may become evident in any officer in the months preceding an exit, immediately following, or manifest over time. This underscores the importance of viewing adaptation to change as a process (and one that may not always happen quickly or follow a particular pattern).

Career Essential Reads

How You Can Help Your Manager Get the Best Out of You

Finding Purpose in Work in an Age of Automation

4-S Model

The flagship of Schlossberg’s Transition Theory is the “4-S Model,” which takes stock of coping resources through four key factors influencing transition: situation, self, support, and strategies (Anderson et al., 2012). When applied to the service-to-civilian transition, an officer’s ratio of assets to liabilities in each area is a determinant for evaluating ease of adaptation.

Situation (the trigger for change and characteristics of the event)

• Is the departure perceived as positive or negative?
• Who or what is seen as responsible for the departure, and how is the officer’s behavior affected by this person or situation?
• What aspect of the departure does the officer perceive as being within their control?
• Is the departure considered “on time” or “off time” with respect to the officer’s career goals?
• Is the departure anticipated (allowing for preparation) or is it sudden and unexpected?
• Is the role change (law officer to citizen) perceived as a gain or loss?
• Are other sources of stress present in the officer?
• Has the officer been through a similar transition before?

Self (personal and demographic characteristics/psychological resources affecting life view)

• Age (and life stage)
• Race/Ethnicity
• Sex (and sex-role identification)
• State of health
• Socioeconomic status
• Outlook on life/world
• Value orientation
• Spirituality
• Resiliency

Support (characteristics of post-service environment)

• Interpersonal support systems: intimate relationships, family unit, network of friends
• Institutional supports: occupational organizations, professional associations, community groups, church and religious organizations, peer support groups
• Physical setting: living arrangements, personal space, sensory deprivation, comfort, privacy, neighborhood, climate/weather, urban or rural location

Strategies (coping responses)

• Do current strategies modify the officer’s situation?
• Do current strategies control the meaning of the officer’s problems?
• Do current strategies aid in managing the officer’s stress?
• Is the officer willing to seek new information?
• Is the officer willing to take action or cease action?
• Is the officer willing to focus on self-care and coping techniques that manage conflict, desires, thoughts, emotions, and ideas?
• Is the officer willing to be flexible with new or different strategies?

Conclusion

From officers who shed their police armor and ride off into the sunset to those who remain trapped by it, the service-to-civilian transition can be a time of great joy, great hardship, or a little bit of both. It’s a situational premise driven by the nature, circumstances, and impact of change on human adaptation.

Unfortunately, when it comes to identifying these factors, taking stock of resources, and taking charge of new trajectories, police veterans are an elusive population. The end of service greatly diminishes the accessibility, scope, and reach of built-in resources enjoyed on the job. Moreover, a veteran’s competence in recognizing service-related and life transition challenges or what they perceive as problems needing assistance may vary widely.

Schlossberg’s Transition Theory can therefore be a useful tool for bridging these gaps and guiding both self-help and professional support. Ultimately, the goal of any transition-oriented assistance is to help actively serving officers identify potential roadblocks and offer struggling veterans the clarity and relief they seek to help define their own successful outcomes.

Note: The information in this post is for educational purposes only and is not intended to provide clinical or legal advice.

Copyright © Brian A. Kinnaird. All rights reserved.