NCJ Number
206187
Journal
Journal of Police and Criminal Psychology Volume: 19 Issue: 1 Dated: Spring 2004 Pages: 58-70
Date Published
2004
Length
13 pages
Annotation
This study examined the relationship of amount of contact, contact expectation, and content experience with attitudes toward police.
Abstract
In recent years, a change under the community-oriented policing umbrella has required police to expand their role of crime fighting to include maintaining order and enhancing citizen’s quality of life. This new policing philosophy emphasizes a partnership between the police and the community in order to enhance police-citizen relations and solve contemporary community problems related to fear of crime, social and physical disorder, and neighborhood decay. A telephone survey conducted in Midland and Odessa, TX, was given to 581 individuals. Participants were asked questions regarding their attitudes toward police. Participants who had contact with the police in the past 2 years were also asked about the amount and type of contact they incurred with the police. Results indicated that overall the amount of contact did not predict the attitudes and positive experiences correlated with more positive attitudes and negative experiences with more negative attitudes. The study also found that content expectation, when factoring in the effect of content experience, did not predict attitudes. Overall this study indicates that contact does not by itself cause better or worse attitudes. Tables, references