NCJ Number
170413
Journal
Justice Quarterly Volume: 14 Issue: 2 Dated: (June 1997) Pages: 295-323
Date Published
1997
Length
29 pages
Annotation
A model for police job satisfaction was applied to police constables in three structurally similar but socially different developing Caribbean nations.
Abstract
The model developed contains 10 variables in three clusters that pertain to police job satisfaction. The cluster of "individual effects" addresses the variables of years of service, gender, and rank; the cluster of "perceived conditions of work" focuses on the variables of supervision, discipline, and promotion; and the cluster of "perceived police context" encompasses the variables of citizen support, crime problem, personal equipment, and station condition. Predictions were made regarding the applicability of a developed-nation model to less developed nations and the effects of differing sociopolitical factors on the constables' levels of job satisfaction and the efficacy of the model. The findings show that traditional predictors from the organizational behavior literature, such as promotion policy, affect satisfaction levels, as do predictors from the police literature, such as citizens' support. Yet, not all traditional predictors, such as individual characteristics, influence job satisfaction. The findings suggest that nation- specific external and internal political factors affect the explanatory power of the model as well as levels of job satisfaction. Policy implications of the findings for developing nations are discussed. 3 tables and 52 references