Correlates of Police Misconduct - Violence and Alcohol Use on the Job

• NCJ Number: 82236
• Author(s): J W Jones
• Date Published: 1980
• Length: 22 pages
• Sale Source: National Institute of Justice/
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Society of Police and Criminal Psychology, Atlanta, Georgia, October 1980.

Annotation

Findings and implications are presented from a study that examined incident rates and correlates of unnecessary use of force by police on suspects and on-the-job alcohol use.

Abstract

Fifty-three officers employed by a major midwestern police department were administered questionnaires designed to determine the relationship of deviant attitudes, staff burnout, and job satisfaction to police integrity. It was hypothesized that favorable police attitudes toward violence and drug and alcohol use, high levels of staff burnout, and extreme job dissatisfaction would significantly correlate with the unnecessary use of violence and on-the-job alcohol use. The unnecessary use of violence and on-the-job drinking were reported through questionnaire inquiries. The typical officer was found to have unduly shouted at, pushed, or shoved a suspect seven times over 6 months, and the typical officer consumed alcohol during work hours on 8 days during 6 months. Officer attitudes toward several measures of deviance, staff burnout, and job dissatisfaction were found to correlate significantly with the criterion measures of aggression and alcohol use at work. The findings indicate that psychological tests which measure attitudes toward the excessive use of force and on-the-job alcohol use can be used for preemployment screening. Psychological tests can also be preemployment screening. Psychological tests can also be used to monitor officers' stress or burnout levels so stress-reduction interventions can be conducted. Four notes and 32 references are provided.