The present research examined the social identity pattern of a sample of urban police officers by making a direct assessment of the officers' relative degree of alienation from other police officers, police managers, and several community groups. Results from two questionnaires showed that police peers were a clearly defined ingroup, and that social nearness to community groups was determined both on the basis of race and social class. In spite of significant between group differences, those officers closest to their peers were also socially nearest to the community groups. This finding, in conjunction with unremarkable levels of authoritarianism and stress in the sample, tend to refute the ethnocentric and stressed stereotype of police officers. The second questionnaire also elicited attitudes and behavioral intentions in response to police situation vignettes. Results showed the officers were most satisfied, and perceived most support from the public, when acting in a crime fighting capacity.

No description available.

Research has demonstrated that the general public accepts many rape myths and that rape attitudes are strongly connected to other deeply held and pervasive attitudes. However, it has not been clear whether police officers reflected similar attitudes. This research attempted to ascertain if police share the same antecedents of rape myth acceptance as the general public. Using officers from two police departments, it was demonstrated that attidudes regarding sex role stereotyping, sexual conservatism, acceptance of interpersonal violence, and adversarial sexual beliefs were significantly correlated with acceptance of rape myths. However, police were more pro-victim (p < .01) in their attitudes as compared to the general public. Officers who received specialized rape-related training were not significantly different in rape attitudes from those officers who had not received training.

by William, Au Ka Hing. / Thesis (M. Phil.) - Chinese University of Hong Kong. / Bibliography: leaves i-vii.

This dissertation draws on criminology, social and developmental psychology and urban sociology in order to understand how contextual, situational and individual characteristics contribute to young people's relationships with and attitudes toward the police. The study's key question is: is ethnicity salient for understanding people's views of the police in Hackney? In answering this question, I adopt Bronfenbrenner's (1979) systemic framework, which proposes that the developing individual is embedded within a complex structure of influences that shape perceptions and behaviours. This mixed-methods study examines different aspects of the relationships between the police and ethnic minorities in the London Borough of Hackney using qualitative (interviews with community leaders and focus groups with secondary school pupils) and quantitative (surveys) research methods. I explore different levels of association with the police (community and individual) based on the understanding that cultures and historical attitudes influence community/police relationships. I also explore different modes of contact (direct and vicarious) within different settings (neighbourhood and school). I examine the applicability of the 'race and ethnicity' paradigm in explaining current police/minority dynamics by taking a nuanced view of these often artificially broadened categories. I consider other influences, such us social groupings and history of migration as well as community assets of collective efficacy and organisational capacity. The empirical work presented here links knowledge construction about the police to identity processes in order to help understand communities' attitudes generally, and children's specifically. As such, it provides insight into the process of legal socialisation. I explore the relationship between general attitudes about the police (in schools under the Safer School Partnerships scheme and in neighbourhoods) and specific attitudes, including police legitimacy, treatment, performance and pupils' willingness to help them (Tyler, 2006). I find that ethnic background has a limited relationship to general attitudes toward the police, with the exception of Black African pupils, indicating that the use of knowledge about the police interacts with identity development processes for some but not for others. Age, social capital, pupils' association with crime and contact with the police are more reliably related to attitudes toward the police. Surprisingly, I find that migrant pupils and those who are recipients of free meals hold more positive attitudes to the police in school than their counterparts. I find that young people's opinions of the police are more strongly linked to school police officers' performance than fair treatment. While this is a case study, it has implications for theory, practice and policy beyond Hackney, specifically relating to police legitimacy and policing ethnic minorities and young people in ethnically diverse locales.

John Van Maanen. / Bibliography: l. 37-40.

The law enforcement literature has recently begun to focus attention on the problem of alcohol use among police officers. However, to date the problem has been viewed within the framework of the "disease" model of alcohol addiction and the focus has been on the treatment of individual officers whose job performance has been seriously affected by heavy drinking. Anecdotal evidence, on the other hand, indicates that the heavy and consistent use of alcohol is a widespread and accepted phenomenon among large sections of the police force. There is a substantial body of theory which relates socialization processes and job stress problems to the development of homogeneous attitudes and beliefs. These attitudes and beliefs may, in turn, serve to support the heavy use of alcohol by police officers. The objective of the proposed study was to assess the extent of alcohol use among local police and to determine the perceptions held by this target population concerning the reasons for the existence of the problem. Particular emphasis was placed on the concept of job stress. This study is seen as a first step toward a comprehensive understanding of alcohol abuse by police. Questionnaire results confirmed heavy and consistent use of alcohol. The prime reason cited was as a relaxant. Having to deal with the suffering of others and being the target of abuse from citizens were the most often given sources of stress, and drinking with a colleague was seen as a "safe" way to unwind and an important way of staying in touch with colleagues. Results were discussed in terms of current conceptions in the alcohol literature. The recommendation of the report was in support of federal funding for a needed alcohol management programme. / Arts, Faculty of / Psychology, Department of / Graduate

Examines the attitudes and perceptions among parolees, and police officers on why inmates join prison gangs, how powerful they are, and their power and control in prison. Data was gathered from 250 surveys distributed to a group of parolees at an undisclosed southern California municipal police department jail, and 250 surveys distributed to police managers attending the FBI National Academy in Quantico, Virginia. Results of this study validated the hypothesis that there is a significant difference in attitudes and perceptions of parolees and police officers of why inmates join prison gangs and the power and control gang inmates have in prison.

While the South African criminal justice system has become increasingly aware of issues affecting women, matters pertaining to the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community have largely been ignored. The homosexual panic, as well as the quasi-militaristic nature of discrimination among police and within law enforcement agencies in relation to LGBT issues, suggests an apparent omission in the law and sets an example of institutional homophobia, and this fosters antipathy towards the LGBT people in larger communities. With the employment of post-structural feminist theory, this research argues that police homophobia and homophobia in general, reinstates conservative hetero-patriarchal dominance and new forms of marginalization. Criminal law, disregard for human rights legislation and public opinion have been used by some police to reduce and suppress protection of the LGBT community within the Durban Metropolitan area. This dissertation aims to add to current debates on LGBT sexuality by interrogating violence motivated by homophobia and heterosexism as this is the most frequent, visible, violent and culturally legitimized form of hate crimes in Durban. It highlights the antagonism that the LGBT community faces at the hands of police when reporting these crimes. It aims to engage Foucault‟s theory of power in conjunction with other major theories such as Butler‟s theory of performativity, Queer theory, as well as Theron‟s criminalizing theory in order to unpack reasons why power dynamics come into play between police and the LGBT community. The study establishes how fundamentalist moralist Christian notions of sexuality perpetuate violent anti-LGBT rhetoric within law enforcement structures and other institutions in Durban. It seeks to add a new dimension regarding the interrogation of power structures by questioning law enforcement with the aim of demonstrating how homophobia dictates to the victim that they cannot negotiate different forms of sexuality. It sets out to explain how dominant heterosexual culture and religious discourses set boundaries on how the LGBT community in Durban should enjoy their bodies. This research analyzes the human cost of the fusion between culture and conservative religious discourses and how these posit a serious threat to LGBT subjects in negotiating gender fluidity within law enforcement spaces. The concluding chapter offers suggestions on how to strengthen the fragile relationship between the LGBT community and police officials. / Thesis (M.Soc.Sc.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2012.

No description available.