Police-Youth Relations and Ethics (From Policing in Central and Eastern Europe: Ethics, Integrity, and Human Rights, P 545-552, 2000, Milan Pagon, ed. -- See NCJ-206270)

• NCJ Number: 206278
• Author(s): Irena Cajner-Mraovic; Tajana Ljubin; Drazen Ivanusec
• Date Published: 2000
• Length: 8 pages
• Sale Source: College of Police and Security Studies
• Publication Format: Book (Softbound)
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: Slovenia

Annotation

This analysis of police-youth relations in Croatia is based on a survey of juveniles to determine their attitudes toward police and the ethics of their behavior as well as an analysis of juvenile offenses against police.

Abstract

The survey involved a sample of 197 (approximately evenly divided between girls and boys) eighth-grade students from several schools in Zadar, Croatia. The questionnaire was administered by the school psychologist or a teacher during school hours. The first part of the questionnaire involved several questions about the juvenile's perceptions of police behavior toward juveniles. The students were asked to rate the police on the way they treat juveniles, including their communication with them. Students who had interactions with police in the past were asked to rate the way they were treated, with responses ranging from "extremely poor" to "excellent." The second part of the questionnaire consisted of several statements designed to measure juveniles' perceptions of police-juvenile relations, police compliance with some ethical principles, and juveniles' attitudes toward police. Most of the students rated police-juvenile relations as moderate to good. Boys' ratings of the police were generally lower than those of girls. Both boys and girls rated police communication with youth as the area of poorest police performance. Boys reported many more contacts with police than girls, and they rated police behavior more negatively. The majority of students believed that police officers acted according to the law rather than their own rules; however, the majority of students perceived that the police did not treat people equally or fairly. Students who had experienced negative contacts with police rated their compliance with ethical principles as poor. Overall, the survey found that juvenile contacts with police produced negative reactions from juveniles. This suggests that police must focus on initiating positive contacts with youth in which communication is positive and supportive. 1 table and 9 references