NCJ Number
44940
Date Published
1977
Length
133 pages
Annotation
THE STUDY TESTS THE HYPOTHESIS THAT EXPERIENCE IN LAW ENFORCEMENT MAKES POLICE OFFICERS ESPECIALLY VULNERABLE TO CYNICISM.
Abstract
THE PROJECT WAS BASED ON RESPONSES TO A 103-ITEM QUESTIONNAIRE BY 324 POLICE OFFICERS REPRESENTING 9 LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES IN THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST. THE LAW ENFORCEMENT ORGANIZATIONS SURVEYED RANGED IN SIZE FROM 10 TO 116 MEMBERS WITH ARRESTING AUTHORITY. THE AVERAGE NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES PER AGENCY WAS 57. THOSE POLICE DEPARTMENTS EMPLOYING OVER 70 PERSONS WERE CONSIDERED LARGE ORGANIZATIONS AND THE REMAINING ONES WERE CLASSIFIED AS SMALL. THE PROJECT EXAMINED THE DETERMINANTS OF POLICE CYNICISM, WHICH WAS CONCEPTUALIZED AS AN ATTITUDE WITH BITTERNESS AND DISTRUST AS SALIENT COMPONENTS. TWO OF THE HYPOTHESES TESTED WERE EXTENSIONS OF A STUDY BY NIEDERHOFFER (1967), WHICH FOCUSED ON POLICE CYNICISM, WHILE SIX WERE REPLICATIONS OF HIS STUDY. IN THE PROPOSITIONS, RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN POLICE CYNICISM AND THE FOLLOWING INDEPENDENT VARIABLES WERE EXAMINED: ORGANIZATIONAL SIZE, PROFESSIONALISM, LENGTH AND TYPE OF POLICE EXPERIENCE, LEVEL OF EDUCATION NUMBER OF AWARDS AND COMPLAINTS RECEIVED, AND SOCIAL CLASS BACKGROUND OF RESPONDENTS. THE EIGHT SPECIFIC HYPOTHESES CONCERNED WITH THE DEVELOPMENT OF CYNICISM WERE: (1) POLICE OFFICERS IN SMALL POLICE AGENCIES WILL BE LESS CYNICAL THAN THOSE IN LARGER ONES; (2) PROFESSIONALISM AND POLICE CYNICISM WILL VARY INVERSELY; (3) POLICE CYNICISM WILL INCREASE IN PROPORTION TO THE LENGTH OF POLICE SERVICE FOR THE FIRST FEW YEARS, BUT WILL LEVEL OFF AFTER 7 TO 10 YEARS OF POLICE SERVICE; (4) AS AN INDIVIDUAL'S RANK INCREASES, POLICE CYNICISM WILL DECREASE; (5) AMONG THE LOWER RANKING POLICE PERSONNEL, THOSE WITH A COLLEGE EDUCATION WILL BE MORE CYNICAL THAN THOSE POLICE WITHOUT ONE; (6) POLICE OFFICERS WHO RECEIVE AWARDS FOR MERITORIOUS DUTY WILL BE LESS CYNICAL THAN THOSE POLICE WHO DO NOT; (7) POLICE OFFICERS WHO RECEIVE COMPLAINTS WILL BE MORE CYNICAL THAN THOSE WHO DO NOT; AND (8) SOCIAL CLASS AND POLICE CYNICISM ARE INVERSELY RELATED. FOR SIX HYPOTHESES, (1,2,3,5,6,7), THE CORRELATIONS WERE IN THE PREDICTED DIRECTION, BUT WERE WEAK; FOR THE REMAINING PROPOSITIONS, (4,8), THERE WAS INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE FOR EITHER STATISTICAL OR SUBSTANTIVE VERIFICATION. THE TWO GENERAL FINDINGS THAT EMERGED FROM THIS PROJECT WERE: (1) ORGANIZATIONAL SIZE IS A SIGNIFICANT VARIABLE WHEN TRYING TO UNDERSTAND POLICE CYNICISM. FIRST, IT IS STATISTICALLY RELATED TO POLICE CYNICISM, AND SECOND, IT SPECIFIES NUMEROUS RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN THE POLICE CYNICISM MEASURES AND OTHER INDEPENDENT VARIABLES. (2) CYNICISM IS A COMPLEX ATTITUDE. IT CONTAINS VARIOUS DIMENSIONS WHICH ARE INDEPENDENT FROM ONE ANOTHER, BUT RELATED TO THE OVERALL SCALE. FIVE SUBSCALES WHICH WERE DEVELOPED ARE DESCRIBED. A BIBLIOGRAPHY AND SUPPORTING MATERIALS ARE APPENDED.