NCJ Number
28898
Journal
Criminology Volume: 13 Issue: 2 Dated: (AUGUST 1975) Pages: 168-192
Date Published
1975
Length
25 pages
Annotation
NIEDERHOFFER, DRAWING ON HIS LAW ENFORCEMENT EXPERIENCE AND DURKHEIM'S THEORY OF ANOMIE, PROPOSED A LINEAR CAUSAL MODEL TO EXPLAIN POLICE ANOMIA AND PARTIALLY TESTED IT FOR A NONRANDOM SAMPLE OF NEW YORK CITY POLICE.
Abstract
THIS PAPER REPLICATED NIEDERHOFFER'S STUDY WITH APPROPRIATE MULTIVARIATE TECHNIQUES, EXAMINED THE NATURE AND PREVALENCE OF CYNICISM, AND TESTED THE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN SEVERAL INDICES OF FRUSTRATION, CYNICISM, AND ANOMIA. THE STUDY POPULATION WAS MADE UP OF ALL SWORN MEMBERS OF THE POLICE DEPARTMENT OF 'LAKE CITY,' A FICTITIOUS NAME FOR A NORTHEASTERN INDUSTRIAL AREA WITH 168,000 WHITES AND 30,000 BLACKS. RESEARCHERS FOUND THAT, CONTRARY TO NIEDERHOFFER'S EXPECTATIONS, CYNICISM WAS NOT PREVALENT AMONG POLICE OUTSIDE NEW YORK CITY; CYNICISM MAY BE DESCRIBED ADEQUATELY ONLY WITH REFERENCE TO THREE DIMENDIONS; MOST INDICES OF FRUSTRATION DO NOT SIGNIFICANTLY CORRELATE WITH TWO SUBSCALES OF CYNICISM; AND CYNICISM DOES NOT INTERVENE IN THE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN A NUMBER OF INDEPENDENT VARIABLES AND ANOMIA. AN ALTERNATE MODEL BASED ON MERTON'S CONCEPTUALIZATION OF ANOMIA AS THE RESULT OF A DISCREPANCY IN CULTURAL VALUES AND INSTITUTIONALIZED MEANS FOR ATTAINING SUCH GOALS WAS TESTED. IT WAS FOUND THAT PERCEIVED MEANS-GOALS DISCREPANCY VIS-A-VIS LEGAL NORMS AND GOALS INTERVENED IN THE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN RANK AND ANOMIA AND YEARS ON FORCE AND ANOMIA. A LIST OF REFERENCES IS INCLUDED. (AUTHOR ABSTRACT MODIFIED)