Public protection officers risk becoming ‘emotionally dead’ by masking true feelings through ‘emotional labour’

24th July 2025Sarah Gibbons, Contributing Editor, Policing Insight

A new report from the Scottish Institute for Policing Research has highlighted concerns that officers in public protection roles often mask their true feelings through ‘emotional labour’ – supressing their own personal emotions in order to display organisationally desired ones – and often won’t seek help because of the stigma surrounding mental health, leaving them at risk of long-term emotional and psychological damage, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

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Public protection officers risk becoming ‘emotionally dead’ by masking true feelings through ‘emotional labour’

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