Stress and Coping Resources of Forest Personnel

Abstract

The multifarious pressures, both on-the-job and off the job, which the forest personnel have to face, are unique in nature. In this line, a study was conducted so as to identify the nature of stress, role of personality and its effect on the forest personnel and the coping styles used by them to counter stress. The sample constituted of 40 Forest Officers and field forest personnel. The results of the study revealed that forest personnel face different types of stressors, namely; work pressures, departmental pressures, personal stressors, home-work interface motivational problems, resource limitations, and group and political pressures. Besides, it was observed that few of the forest personnel were also facing frequent health problems of psychological, psycho-physiological and psychosocial in nature. Coping profile analysis further depicts a dysfunctional approach of forest personnel, regardless of the designation types, towards coping with stress, specifically marked with avoidance based coping strategies. It was revealed that avoidance was the prominent style used as coping by the officers. The results of the study have suggested the need of corrective intervention to make the forestry work more healthy and enjoyable for the forest staff.

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