NCJ Number
100853
Journal
Justice Professional Volume: 1 Issue: 1 Dated: (December 1985) Pages: 45-56
Date Published
1985
Length
12 pages
Annotation
The relationship of police professionalism to police work attitudes and characteristics was evaluated in 1980-81 questionnaire responses of 2,900 Texas and Oklahoma police officers.
Abstract
The response rate was 47.9 percent; 48.8 percent of the officers were assigned to patrol, 7.8 to traffic, and 20.8 to detective duty, and the remainder to other duties. Professionalism was defined in terms of eight value-based attitudes: service orientation, sense of calling, pride, conscientiousness, intrinsic reward, formal training, freedom from extraprofessional influences, and effective police organizational role. Results indicate that, relative to their less professional counterparts, more professional officers evinced less cynicism, felt more effective, and were generally less discretionary in their law enforcement. In addition, dedication to demanding professional values did not result in increased job-related stress for most officers. Training and recruitment implications are briefly noted. Appendix and 45 references. (Author abstract modified)