NCJ Number
145649
Journal
Journal of Criminal Justice Volume: 21 Issue: 4 Dated: (1993) Pages: 353- 382
Date Published
1993
Length
30 pages
Annotation
This paper reviews quantitative research since the 1980's on the causes of police behavior and compares and contrasts these recent findings with those cited in Lawrence Sherman's article of 1980.
Abstract
Sherman reviewed two decades of quantitative research and provided a synopsis of factors known to influence service, detection, arrest, and use of force. The research since Sherman's summary of findings have used more sophisticated analytical methods, producing a large body of findings on how individual, situational, organizational, and community- level variables influence police behavior. The comparison of these findings with Sherman's indicates that although our understanding of the causes of police behavior has become more refined, many questions remain unanswered. Future research should use interaction terms, consider how the same independent factors exert influence across many categories of police behavior, examine the role of organizational strategies in reducing or eliminating undesirable police behavior, include a wide variety of police organizations, and provide theoretical explanations of findings generated through statistical analyses. Tables, notes, appended chart, and 94 references (Author abstract modified)