ICCT COLLEGES FOUNDATION, INC.
STRESS FACTORS EXPERIENCED BY CRIMINOLOGY INTERNS, THEIR
COPING MECHANISMS AND INTERNSHIP PERFORMANCE RATING
In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements of the
Subject Criminology Research 1 (CRIM 7)
A Thesis Proposal Presented to the
College of Criminology
ICCT Colleges
By
HADIO, JESSA MAE S
ALCANTARA, MICHELLE A.
ANTONIO, VERONICA
ESTORGIO, MICHAEL JR.
DE ORO, JONATHAN ARON
2021
Chapter 1
THE PROBLEM
The researchers observed the need to address issues on different stressors
experienced by Criminology interns due to the heavy demands of work functions and
responsibilities. Interns were observed to suffer from workplace stressors that affect their
attitude towards work. In some cases, interns experience difficulties and challenges in
fulfilling their jobs that cause them stress and anxieties. Once they develop symptoms of
stress, their performance and satisfaction level is decreased and thus, the overall
productivity of their tasks will suffer.
The Bachelor of Science in Criminology program is designed to provide
students with knowledge and skills in the study of historical and contemporary patterns of
crime, responses to crime of the society, the causes of criminality in the society and study
of delinquency. It focuses on the processes involved and the functions of the criminal
justice in the country. The humor consequences of this excessive stress on students are
serious and wide ranging. These include physical symptoms such as headaches, raised
blood pressure, infections, digestive disorders, heart disease or cancer, mental health
symptoms such as withdrawal, poor concentration, anxiety, depression, insomnia, burn-
out and an increased risk of suicide. Behavioral consequences such as low self- esteem,
increased drug or alcohol intake, and deteriorating personal relationships leading to
family, relationship, or career problems are also considered.
Stress may be of good or abysmal among individuals in both physical and mental
aspect depending on the adaptation and adjustments. It is a typical part of life which can
be experienced in home, office, industry and academic environment. Criminology
students who face greater weight of stress as a result of multifactorial causes may
experience negative outcome in terms of emotional, mental and social heath. Ideal stress
can be effective to improve learning ability; however, additional and prolonged stress can
be a cause of health problems according to a study conducted by Sohail (2013). Cognitive
and learning functioning of students may be compromised which lead to low self-esteem
and academic performance.
The key to successfully master or minimize stress highly depends on using
adaptive coping strategies which emphasize the need to expend conscious effort on the
individual's part. This conscious effort required refers to being mindful of one's problem,
solutions, environment, being completely and consciously aware of what is happening in
and around the individual at every given moment. The mindfulness and its association
with different coping strategies and styles found that higher mindfulness predicts the use
of more adaptive, approach coping and less avoidant and emotional coping.
In these trying times, interns in the country are experiencing challenges and
difficulties because of the pandemic. As such, the present study aims to contribute to the
existing body of knowledge through studying the relationship between the factors that
cause stress among Criminology interns, their coping mechanisms and their internship
performance at ICCT COLLEGES, S.Y. 2019-2020.
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
The following will benefit from the results of the study:
Criminology Department. The Department of Criminology will be informed
on the stress factors experience by their interns. Through this, they will be able to guide
their students on their internship orientation about the challenges and difficulties that they
will face throughout their internship.
Teachers. The results of the study can provide teachers with information on the
different stress factors that intern students are experiencing that affect their performance.
Through this, they will be able to conduct seminars on how to deal and cope up with the
demands of the workplace.
Students. The results of the study can help Criminology students to learn how
to deal with different stressors to maintain and improve their good internship
performance.
Future Researchers. The results of the study can serve as guide for future
researchers when they conduct similar studies about stress factors and coping
mechanisms experienced by interns.
STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
The study will try to determine the relationship between the stress
factors experienced by Criminology interns, their coping mechanisms and their internship
performances, S.Y. 2019-2020.
Specifically, it will seek to answer the following questions.
1. What are the stress factors experienced by the respondents in terms of?
1.1 Physical;
1.2 Emotional;
1.3 Environmental;
1.4 Financial and
1.5 Academic?
2. What are the coping mechanisms of the respondents?
2.1 social strategies;
2.2 psychological strategies;
2.3 physical strategies?
3. What are the internship ratings of the respondents?
4. Is there a significant relationship between the internship ratings of the respondents
and:
4.1 the stress factors their coping mechanisms
ASSUMPTIONS AND HYPOTHESIS OF THE STUDY
The following null hypotheses will be tested at 0.05 level of significance:
H01: There is no significant relationship between the internship ratings of the respondents
and the stress factors and their coping mechanisms.
SCOPE AND LIMITATION
The study will be limited to the stress factors experienced by the Criminology
interns, their coping mechanisms and their internship performance. The study will make
use of thirty (30) Criminology interns for S.Y. 2019-2020. As a descriptive type of
survey, standardized questionnaire will be utilized as main instrument in gathering data.
DEFINITION OF TERMS
For better understanding of the discussion in the succeeding chapters, the key
concepts will be defined conceptually and operationally:
Coping mechanism. These are ways to which external and internal stress is
managed, adapted to or acted upon. (Grandea 2016) defined it as constantly changing
cognitive and behavioral efforts to manage stressors.
Internship’ stress. This refers to the experience of unpleasant, negative
emotions, such as anger, anxiety, tension, frustration or depression, resulting from some
aspects of their internship performances (Bulatevych, 2017).
Stress Factors. In a medical or biological context stress is a physical, mental, or
emotional factor that causes bodily or mental tension. Stresses can be external (from the
environment, psychological, or social situations) or internal (illness, or from a medical
procedure).
