NCJ Number
56355
Date Published
1978
Length
119 pages
Annotation
THE OCCUPATIONAL INTERESTS AND GRADES OF 105 POLICE OFFICERS ENROLLED IN A CRIMINAL JUSTICE BACCALAUREATE PROGRAM AT FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY IN MIAMI ARE EXAMINED.
Abstract
DEMOGRAPHIC DATA, GRADE TRANSCRIPTS, AND STRONG-CAMPBELL INTEREST INVENTORY (POLICE OFFICER SCALE) SCORES WERE ANALYZED FOR THE STUDY SUBJECTS, ALL OF WHOM HAD ACHIEVED ASSOCIATE OF ARTS DEGREES FROM MIAMI-DADE COMMUNITY COLLEGE AND WERE EMPLOYED AS FULL-TIME SWORN OFFICERS WHILE ATTENDING FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY. THE SUBJECTS' SCORES WERE COMPARABLE TO THOSE OF A 196-SUBJECT CRITERION GROUP TESTED BY THE DEVELOPERS OF THE STRONG-CAMPBELL INSTRUMENT. CONTRARY TO EXPECTATIONS, NO SIGNIFICANT RELATIONSHIPS WERE FOUND BETWEEN SUBJECTS' OCCUPATIONAL INTERESTS AND THEIR GRADE-POINT AVERAGES AT THE COMMUNITY COLLEGE. IF, AS THE FINDINGS SUGGEST, STUDENTS' INTERESTS ARE NOT RELATED TO ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE, THE LIBERALIZATION OF ELECTIVE CHOICES FOR STUDENTS MAY HAVE TO BE RECONSIDERED. THE FINDING OF COMPARABILITY BETWEEN THE INTEREST SCORES OF THE STUDY SUBJECTS AND THOSE OF THE CRITERION GROUP (WHOSE MEMBERS PRESUMABLY WERE NOT PURSUING COLLEGE DEGREES) INDICATES THAT EDUCATION DOES NOT HAVE MUCH IMPACT ON THE JOB-RELATED ATTITUDES OF POLICE OFFICERS. SUGGESIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH ARE OFFERED. A LITERATURE REVIEW, SUPPORTING DATA, COPIES OF STUDY INSTRUMENTS, AND A LIST OF REFERENCES ARE PROVIDED. (LKM)