NCJ Number
145733
Date Published
1993
Length
280 pages
Annotation
The 121st class of student police officers in France was surveyed from January to December 1992; the survey shows that many students' attitudes toward their police vocations changed over the course of their training. While some students' attitudes were reinforced, others moved to a more authoritarian view of police, and some broadened their views of the police function.
Abstract
The survey, administered four times during the year, sought (1) the students' attitudes toward their training, (2) the evolution of the students' image of the job and its administration, (3) their picture of the police mission and methods, and (4) their concept of the law. Roughly a third of the recruits maintained the attitudes they entered training with; another third developed more positive attitudes; and the last third became more negative, or cynical as the year progressed. But even within these broad trends, researchers found much variation with each quarterly administration of the survey, with many changing their positions at different times in the year. Most recruits knew very little about their police vocation at the start. The researchers observed no homogeneisation of views as the year went on but rather a crystallization around distinct positions concerning the police mission. The researchers contrast the pluralistic attitudes of French police with the more homogeneous police culture reported in Anglosaxon countries, at the same time noting the strong ties of France's centralized police with the authority of the state and of the law. The first volume of this study presents the methodology and study findings. The second furnishes the survey instrument and detailed findings, followed by a governmental report on planned improvements in police training, including its extension from 8 months to 12.