Spiritual Survival for Law Enforcement, Rabbi Cary A. Friedman, 2005
Spiritual Survival for Law Enforcement is the culmination of years of research into the unique spiritual stress that LEOs encounter. It helps the LEO to develop a spiritual philosophy for meeting the challenges encountered on a daily basis.
Practical tools are provided to fortify and sustain the officer’s natural spirituality which is under constant assault. Written in easy and straightforward language, this book is a welcome addition to every officer’s library of manuals.
Many training programs are now offering Spiritual Survival as a gift to graduates, as well as including it on reading lists for seminars on police stress.
The book contains seven chapters, each emphasizing the spiritual dimension into the role of the contemporary law enforcement officer. Highlights from each indicate the strengths of this book:
In Chapter 1 “Why This Book is Necessary,” the author acknowledges the stressors and emotional pitfalls that encompass the life of the law enforcement officer as well as the subsequent effects that take shape following short and long-term exposures. From this, the author explores the notion of spiritual vs. emotional health as a state of wellbeing that must be manifested by the officer. As he says, “Emotional health involves ensuring that one has the ability to process and work through experiences and stimuli. Emotional health refers to one’s ability to recover from those experiences and stimuli in order to be able to respond later in other situations in an appropriate manner” (p. 7). Spiritual health, on the other hand, allows one to “step outside of oneself and connect with something external to, and higher than, oneself” (p. 7). Chapter 1 concludes by stating that spirituality does not equal religion and that the reader may enjoy the benefits of the book (and thus nurturing spirituality) with or without such connotations.
In Chapter 2 “The World of the Spirit,” a brief tutorial on theology is provided, as the author examines a non-denominational, religious perspective on life and law enforcement. This is the only chapter that explicitly conveys religion-based language but can easily be applied as a “template” for the development of the reader’s own philosophy on spirituality.
Chapter 3 “The Spiritual Dimension of Law Enforcement” and Chapter 4 “Faith and Spirituality” provide the context for which spirituality is the backbone of law enforcement and the central point of development for the law enforcement officer. It is within these chapters that the reader-officer is asked to examine their own self-concept and to answer the question “why did I enter this profession?” “The goal of any system of spirituality—religious or otherwise—is to infuse a person’s life with transcendent value and meaning” (p. 33). It is from this context that one explores the dimension of law enforcement that requires a value system that must be fostered and maintained like no other job or career path. The author ends Chapter 3 by explaining the value of spiritual health via awareness, clarity of motivation, and the basic symbolism of the profession.
Chapter 4 discusses what the author considers as the three components of faith: faith in God, faith in humanity, and faith in self. After a brief yet powerful examination of these components, a very interesting metaphor is presented by the author in which faith is compared to a bank account where spiritual “deposits” are made (as well as spiritual “withdrawals”). The idea is that one who fails to replenish one’s faith in God, humanity, or self via spiritual deposits, the account goes into overdraft and, eventually, spiritual bankruptcy. “The law enforcement officer hits bottom, exhausted, dispirited, feeling betrayed, adrift without anything to believe in” (p. 50).
In Chapter 5 “Tools for Renewal,” the book concludes with a culmination of tools to be used for what the author calls “spiritual renewal”. It is in this chapter that the author provides fundamental ways to create (or rekindle) our spirituality. The author offers 24 tangible strategies that the law enforcement officer can participate in for reinvigoration and restoration of the spirit. “The goal, of course, is not to restore youthful, naïve idealism. A better goal is to replace the cynicism and hopelessness and despair that took the place of youthful naïve idealism with mature, wisdom-filled idealism and with belief in the same values with which you came to the job” (p. 53).
Chapter 6 “The Role of a Good Chaplain” supports strategies for those who are already chaplains and may perhaps be working with a law enforcement officer, an agency, or may be a law enforcement officer, themselves. The author offers excellent insight based upon years of service in the profession to support the spiritual well-being of the officers that they work (or will work) with.
Chapter 7 provides the book’s summary and brings the entire concept of spirituality in law enforcement full-circle. It explicitly conveys the central ideas and provocative thoughts that drive the book from start to finish and allows for an easy, effective transition to completion.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Rabbi Cary Friedman is a consultant to the Behavioral Science Unit (BSU) of the FBI, and has been a featured speaker at numerous BSU-sponsored conferences at the FBI Academy in Quantico, VA and numerous FBI satcasts.
REVIEWS OF THIS BOOK:
Bob Douglas (Executive Director, Police Suicide Foundation): “You have performed a wonderful service for our law enforcement community with this book!” Lt. Col. Dave Grossman agrees: “From the spiritual to the practical, this is a book that provides life-changing and life-affirming resources, and I unhesitatingly recommend it.” According to Ralph Mroz (Police Officers Safety Association), “Spiritual Survival for Law Enforcement is about a side of law enforcement that is too little addressed: the spiritual void that often crops up in a profession in which we see so much evil, and in which we see our efforts at doing well frustrated by the “justice” system. ... [S]piritual health is necessary to avoid the darkness, the cynicism, and the depression that we too often see in LE veterans. And Friedman shows readers several practical ways to pursue it. This is not a soft, squishy feel-good book, but one that tackles a very real problem with realistic advice.”
Todd Wurschmidt, Ph.D. Executive Director, Ohio Association of Chiefs of Police: “Keeping our police officers spiritually strong is as critically important as, if not more important than, maintaining a high level of physical fitness. Thank you to Rabbi Friedman for offering guidance on this spiritual topic of caring for our police officers.”
Robert E. Douglas, Jr., Executive Director, National Police Suicide Foundation:“This book, Spiritual Survival for Law Enforcement, prompts our law enforcement community to think about the issue of Spirituality as it directly relates to our Twenty-first Century holistic approach in meeting the comprehensive needs of police officers throughout the world. ... You have performed a wonderful service for our law enforcement community with this book!”
Dave Grossman, Lt. Col. (ret.) US Army, Author, "On Killing and On Combat", Director, Killology Research Group: “Wow! What a superb book! My brother, with this book you have sent forth a major ripple of hope! ... You have crafted a book that will help ALL police officers in their struggle to serve justice in a world that is too often dark and confusing. ... In this book you have helped to guide warriors along a path to that vigorous, robust why that can survive any how. ... From the spiritual to the practical, this is a book that provides life-changing and life-affirming resources, and I unhesitatingly recommend and support it. WELL done, my friend and brother warrior-healer!”
Alexis Artwohl, Ph.D., Author, "Deadly Force Encounters": “Rabbi Friedman’s book is an excellent resource for those seeking or providing religious guidance. His message of tolerance and respect for all religious beliefs is a vitally important one. Police Chaplains will find his checklist of how to be a good police chaplain an important reminder of their proper role.”
Ralph Mroz, Training Director, Police Officers Safety Association: “Spiritual Survival for Law Enforcement is about a side of law enforcement that is too little addressed: the spiritual void that often crops up in a profession in which we see so much evil, and in which we see our efforts at doing well frustrated by the "justice" system. He shows that spiritual health and emotional health are different things, and that spiritual health is not the same as religiousness. He explains why spiritual health is necessary to avoid the darkness, the cynicism, and the depression that we too often see in LE veterans. And he shows readers several practical ways to pursue it. This is not a soft, squishy feel-good book, but one that tackles a very real problem with realistic advice. Recommended.”
5 1/2" x 8 1/2", 91 pages, softcover, ISBN: 0-9761966-1-1, BS7928 / $19.95
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