Cross-National Analysis of Female Police Officers' Attitudes in the United States and Taiwan

• NCJ Number: 222712
• Journal: International Criminal Justice Review Volume: 18 Issue: 1 Dated: March 2008 Pages: 5-23
• Author(s): Ivan Y. Sun; Doris C. Chu
• Date Published: March 2008
• Length: 19 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study examined whether Taiwanese and U.S. female police officers differed in their attitudes toward their role and work as police officers.

Abstract

The study's general finding is that policewomen in Taiwan had occupational outlooks and beliefs different from their U.S. counterparts. Specifically, Taiwanese policewomen were more likely than U.S. policewomen to have a broad role orientation, favor aggressive patrol, be resentful of legal restrictions on their actions, and disapprove of selective enforcement of laws. In explaining these differences between Taiwanese and American policewomen, the authors argue that police officers' occupational beliefs and attitudes are primarily determined by the social, cultural, political, and organizational contexts that determine the policies and practices governing police work. In the social and cultural contexts in Chinese societies, police have been historically empowered with a broad range of social functions that extend far beyond the law enforcement aspect of policing. Thus, Taiwanese policewomen are more willing than American policewomen to handle various noncrime activities or minor offenses in the community. Similarly, the distinction between Taiwanese and American policewomen's attitudes toward legal restrictions can be attributed to variations in the historical legal controls on police behavior in the legal process, especially in court rulings. Taiwanese data were collected through a survey questionnaire used by the Projects on Policing Neighborhoods conducted in the United States. For the cross-national comparison, approximately 50 survey items were selected from the questionnaire and then translated into Chinese by the authors. U.S. data were collected in the summers of 1996 and 1997 in Indianapolis, IN, and St. Petersburg, FL. The survey was administered to Taiwanese police officers in the summer of 2005. 3 tables and 70 references