NCJ Number
74962
Date Published
1979
Length
89 pages
Annotation
The attitudes of young West Indian males in Great Britain towards the police force as a career were surveyed between December 1978 and January 1979.
Abstract
The study was conducted through personal interviews with 116 subjects aged 16 to 24 years and served to supplement a larger study of the attitudes of 1042 males selected from the country's general population. The West Indians differed from the larger sample in that they were younger, on the average; they lived almost exclusively in working class households; they were twice as likely to be unemployed; and they lived solely in conurbations and urban areas. The results showed that the West Indians expected a job to provide security from being redundant, a good rate of pay, opportunity for advancement, good training opportunities, and work that one could cope with. However, only 9 percent of this group had ever considered a career in the police force, and 3 percent would still do so at the time of the survey. Comparable figures for the main sample were 23 percent and 9 percent, respectively. Reasons the West Indians gave for not considering a police profession centered on a basic lack of interest in the job, anticipated color prejudice, and fear of losing one's friends. These subjects were much more likely to see the police as discriminating against any identifiable minority. In fact, the West Indians differed significantly from the subjects in the larger sample in their beliefs that the police are officious and interfering, that the police dislike young people and those who are unconventional, and that most people they knew did not like the police. Additional findings, data tables with explanatory tests, and a questionnaire are included.