Abstract Purpose – The article aims to report on an examination of South African Police Service (SAPS) recruits for indicators evincing the presence of the police culture theme of isolation. The research also seeks to determine if the presence of isolation as characteristic of SAPS recruits is gender neutral as well as whether indicators of social isolation change over the period of basic recruit training as well as during the first period of encounter, field training.

M.A. / This study is based on developing guidelines that will enhance Employee Assistance Programmes (EAP) services within the South African Police Services (SAPS). The implementation of EAP services within the SAPS has left the members confused as to whether these services are meant to assist management (i.e. their employer- to get rid of them), or are the services really meant for their benefit and well being. The qualitative research methodology was applied with the researcher selecting participatory action research to engage members and the management in the study. The type of action research was focus group. 6 focus group sessions were conducted in the SAPS-Eastern Free State, with a sample of 72 members and management out of the population of 4000. The findings of the study confirm that EAP services within the SAPS in the Eastern Free State are not effective. Most of the members are not familiar with the EAP services within the SAPS. Those who are aware are afraid to utilize them as they are under the impression that they will be stigmatized or will jeopardise their chances of promotion. It is thus important for the EAP practitioners to adapt to the monitory marketing strategies that will be applicable to the SAPS. The practitioners should strive to market their services to such an extent that members understand the impact of EAP services in their lives. The guidelines have been formulated to enhance the services of EAP practitioners within the SAPS.

In many instances, the South African Constitution is been seen as the most advanced constitutions in the world. Section 196(4)(f)(ii) of the Constitution has made provision for the Public Service Commission(PSC) to investigate grievances of employees in the Public Services and furthermore to recommend appropriate remedies. However, there is a contradiction when implementing these procedures, as the PSC tends to follow their own set of guidelines with regard to the relevant procedures to be followed when dealing with grievances. Due to this, the public servant [s] rights are been under minded and they seem to lose all confidence and faith with the system. The individual have the potential of resolving the differences that exist amongst them, if it is based on the honest and transparent manner. As mentioned above, even though it is the duty of the PSC to implement the proper grievance procedure at work, its fairness and objectivity will be tested and discuss further in detail in this research. However, in the South African Police Services, due to the nature of their protocol which emphasised on the seniority dominated by rank structure, creates an environment of inequality. Meaning that junior officers are not encourage to challenge their superior on the hostile treatment as it will be viewed as a lack of discipline on the part of the junior officer. The grievance procedure therefore, serves as the formal vehicle which the union will encourage the employee to follow in seeking for justice against unfair treatment. In most case the employee are sceptical to file a grievance against their seniors, for fear of victimization, however, this might worsen the situation if it was not brought to the attention of the management. On many occasions the employees have rather taken a decision to resign due to pressure from the management. In terms of section 186(1)(e) of the Labour Relations Act, continued employment are made intolerable if the discontent experience by the employees becomes more and more imminent in the work environment. In a situation where the continued employment has become intolerable, the employee can claim constructive dismissal. This research looks at the different ways which the courts arrive at, when deciding on cases from the South African legal system, in order to determine which tests to apply when dealing with constructive dismissal.

The aim of this study was to determine whether a relationship exists between job satisfaction and organisational commitment. A sample of 73 employees from the South African Police Services - Stanger was utilised. Data was collected using questionnaires and unstructured interviews. The job satisfaction questionnaire designed by Weiss, Dawis, Lofquist and England (1977) was used to measure the different dimensions of job satisfaction whilst the organisational commitment questionnaire developed by Allen and Meyer (1990) was used to measure the different dimensions of organisational commitment. The results indicated variations in the subject's levels of job satisfaction, whereas moderate levels of affective, normative and continuous commitment was found. The correlation analysis showed no significant relationship among the dimensions of organisational commitment (Affective, Normative and Continuance). In terms of job satisfaction, significant relationships occurred among pay, working conditions, supervision, opportunities for advancement and recognition but there was no significant relationship among pay and equitable rewards. No significant relationship occurred between the dimensions of job satisfaction and affective and continuance commitment but there was a significant relationship between job satisfaction dimensions and normative commitment. There was no significant difference in the organisational commitment dimensions and job satisfaction dimensions among gender. No significant difference was found between affective and continuance commitment among the other biographical variables. However, there was a significant difference in the level of normative commitment among the age group, home language group and ethnic group. A significant difference was found between the job satisfaction dimensions and the other biographical variables. According to the results of the multiple regression, opportunities for advancement was the best predictor of affective commitment, working conditions, supervision, relation with co-workers and equitable rewards were the best predictors of normative commitment and relation with co-workers was the best predictor of continuance commitment. / Thesis (M.Admin)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Westville, 2004.

The matter of the language policy of the SAPS and the language attitudes of police officials is a topical, but largely unexplored issue. Little progress has been made to address this issue. This thesis investigates language attitudes of SAPS constables and the impact thereof on language planning in the SAPS. This study tests the hypothesis that the absence of a language policy in the SAPS leads to a discrepancy between the constitutional provisions and language practice in the SAPS. Furthermore, this discrepancy has an impact on the language attitudes of constables in the SAPS. This poses challenges for language planning. The main aims of the study are to ascertain the current language practice in the SAPS and to investigate the language attitudes and preferences of constables. The investigation was conducted in accordance with the triangulation method, i.e. conclusions were only drawn after the data presented by the literature study and each of the empirical components were compared and verified by means of, inter alia, statistical methods. The literature review, which is an exposition of the language policy and language practice in both the SAPS and South Africa, provides the theoretical framework for the empirical study. The empirical study includes a questionnaire completed by constables and interviews with constables and other stakeholders at the helm of policy, management and training. Chapter 1 states the background, problem, hypotheses and objectives of the study. A theoretical exposition of language policy, language planning and language attitude is presented in Chapter 2. Chapter 3 contains a description of the language context of the constables with reference to the language policy, trends and practice in South Africa. The discrepancy between language policy and language practice in the SAPS is highlighted in Chapter 4. This entails a discussion on the language policy and practice in the SAPS, the training of the constables, as well as problems resulting from the current language practice in the SAPS. The empirical research design is discussed in Chapter 5. The results of the empirical research are discussed in Chapter 6, and conclusions and recommendations are stated in Chapter 7. The results show that English is the predominant language in the SAPS. The constables have a positive attitude towards English in the SAPS in spite of their poor proficiency in the language. Afrikaans is used in official situations in the SAPS, but the indigenous languages are used mostly in informal situations. The respondents reported a positive attitude towards the indigenous languages. The research also highlights the lack of language training in basic police training as well as in-service training. The use of English and Afrikaans on an interim basis in the absence of an official language policy is a contributing factor to the poor language proficiency of especially constables who are not mother tongue speakers of the languages in question. It is recommended that language training should form part of the basic police training and in-service training. The SAPS should also finalise a language policy which entails the promotion of multilingualism and development of the indigenous languages for official use. / Prof. M. Pienaar Prof. H. Kroes

M.Comm. / The South African Police Services (SAPS) undertake to provide security and safety for the South African public. This study seeks to find out the causes of motivation and demotivation within the SAPS, in order to contribute towards improving services rendered to the public. The researcher worked in the SAPS and observed lower ranked police officers as being demotivated - leading to an interest in, and an exploration of, the causes of this demotivation. The aim of this study is to assess the impact of rewards as motivation for members of the SAPS in the Polokwane Police Station in the Limpopo province. This study was conducted in the SAPS with the population of police officers at lower ranks (constable to inspector) in order to survey what effectively motivates them. The variables surveyed were monetary-based rewards (promotion, pay progression and incentives), and non-monetary rewards that include internal systems and human resources practices. There were 115 respondents from a pool of 288 police officers. Human resources managers can use rewards to motivate employees to be more productive and rewards are generally viewed as an important motivational tool for any organisation. According to two noted experts in this field, Fred Luthans and Robert Kreitner, whether employees maintain high productivity depends on how they perceive the consequences of their efforts. If they believe high productivity will be rewarded, they will be more likely to work to achieve it. For this reason, organisations should place considerable emphasis on rewards that employees perceive as desirable (Sherman & Colander, 1992). The objective of the study is to determine how successfully the rewards on offer motivate police officers at lower ranks in the Limpopo Province to perform their functions effectively. Although this is mainly a quantitative study, two types of research methods were used, namely qualitative and quantitative. A qualitative pilot study was conducted in order to refine the main questionnaire that is quantitative. The research findings illustrate that the rewards are not having the intended impact as police officers are dissatisfied with the monetary-based rewards and ambivalent towards the internal systems and human resources practices. There were statistically significant differences between the various biographical characteristics in the sample. The measuring instrument yielded an overall Chronbach Alpha coefficient of 0. 79 thus yielding internal consistency in the measuring instrument. The study was limited to police officers of the Limpopo Province at lower ranks and the results should not be generalised. It would be interesting to do a broader study that included more senior ranking officers. Since police officers form the frontline of the criminal justice system, improving their work through motivation has crucial implications. A motivated police officer will perform his or her work with vigour and passion and the significance of motivating employees' growth cannot be over-emphasised.

In this article post-shooting trauma is utilized as an arbitrary punctuation to indicate how police officers communicate their distress during this period of rapid transition in South Africa. It is argued that the medical model (with its attendant lineal causal explanations and descriptions) is inhibitively limited in describing what police officers are presently experiencing. The author motivates the advantages of perceiving and describing events from an ecosystemic perspective (which provides a contextual understanding and emphasizes relationships} . "Stress" is described as an aspect of the system as a whole and not singularly attributable to individuals alone. Among others new policing rules and roles, the turnover in personnel, and the rate of's'ocio-political changes are shown to contribute. It is argued that the Police, as society's guardians of "power" have become the "symptom bearers" for a society in the painful process of adapting to change. Recommendations regarding possible interventions are made. / Psychology / M.A. (Clinical Psychology)

Police Practice / DLitt et Phil. (Police Practice)

Police Practice / D. Litt. et Phil. (Police Practice)

In this article post-shooting trauma is utilized as an arbitrary punctuation to indicate how police officers communicate their distress during this period of rapid transition in South Africa. It is argued that the medical model (with its attendant lineal causal explanations and descriptions) is inhibitively limited in describing what police officers are presently experiencing. The author motivates the advantages of perceiving and describing events from an ecosystemic perspective (which provides a contextual understanding and emphasizes relationships} . "Stress" is described as an aspect of the system as a whole and not singularly attributable to individuals alone. Among others new policing rules and roles, the turnover in personnel, and the rate of's'ocio-political changes are shown to contribute. It is argued that the Police, as society's guardians of "power" have become the "symptom bearers" for a society in the painful process of adapting to change. Recommendations regarding possible interventions are made. / Psychology / M.A. (Clinical Psychology)