Moving Toward Community Policing: The Role of Postmaterialist Values in a Changing Police Profession

• NCJ Number: 163017
• Journal: American Journal of Police Volume: 14 Issue: 3/4 Dated: (1995) Pages: 151-171
• Author(s): J Zhao; N P Lovrich; K Gray
• Date Published: 1995
• Length: 21 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Issue Overview
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: An earlier draft of this paper was presented at the Annual Meeting of the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences in Chicago, March 8-12, 1994.

Annotation

This paper uses Ronald Inglehart's theory of societal value change in postindustrial societies from materialist to "post materialist" concerns as a theoretical framework to evaluate an ongoing experiment in organizational reform in a progressive police agency -- the Washington State Patrol.

Abstract

A primary aim of the analysis is to assess the utility of Inglehart's theory of societal value change for understanding the reciprocal relationship that exists between individual employee values and organizational reform in contemporary police organizations. One of the most highly regarded theories offered to explain the course of cultural change in contemporary postindustrial societies is the theory of "value shift" developed by Inglehart. Inglehart argues that in advanced industrial societies, individual values have gradually changed from reflecting an emphasis on economic and physical security (materialist values) to placing greater emphasis on freedom, self-expression, and the quality of life (postmaterialist values). In the analysis reported in this paper, several questions regarding the role of postmaterialist values in organizational change toward community-oriented policing and team policing are investigated. First, it considers whether such values are most highly concentrated among the rank-and-file officers, thereby proving a basis of "bottom-up" pressure for change; or is it the case, instead, that such values are most highly concentrated among managers, thereby providing the impetus for "elite-mediated" change. A second issue is the nature of the relationship between postmaterialist values at the macro and micro level among rank-and-file officers and management in the Washington State Patrol. The analyses suggest that the initiation and support of the TEAMS program in the Washington State Police came mainly from the command staff and the middle management/first-line supervisors rather than the rank-and-file officers. It is clear, however, that values favorable to change toward community policing do appear at all levels of the Washington State Patrol to some degree. The authors critique a forum for postmaterialist values to come into play for the building of trust and shared meanings across ranks and organizational divisions. 5 tables and 45 references