NCJ Number
126901
Journal
Criminal Justice and Behavior Volume: 17 Issue: 4 Dated: (December 1990) Pages: 395-409
Date Published
1990
Length
14 pages
Annotation
Research on police cynicism is beset by two limitations. First, research aimed at identifying latent dimensions within the Niederhoffer 20-item scale has resulted in a surfeit of subscales that appear to be unique to the research setting. Second, no job-related consequences of police cynicism have been identified.
Abstract
The present research focuses on both issues. First, a police cynicism scale that is purposefully multidimensional was constructed. Second, the impact of the cynicism subscales on three areas of job performance -- work relations, hostile police-citizen encounters, and arrests -- was assessed. Data were derived from questionnaire responses of 110 police officers who represented two departments in Colorado. An analysis of latent structure identified four dimensions of cynicism. Composite indices constructed from these indices were found to affect all areas of job performance. 4 tables, appendix, and 25 references (Author abstract)