NCJ Number
61879
Journal
Journal of Police Science and Administration Volume: 7 Issue: 3 Dated: (SEPTEMBER 1979) Pages: 340-345
Date Published
1979
Length
6 pages
Annotation
THIS STUDY EXPLORES A TYPICAL STEREOTYPE ATTRIBUTED TO POLICE OFFICERS--THAT POLICE OFFICERS GROW MORE CYNICAL AS THEY CONTINUE THEIR CAREERS IN POLICE WORK.
Abstract
MORE SPECIFICALLY, POLICE CYNICISM TOWARD THE JUDICIAL PROCESS IN RELATIONSHIP TO THE OFFICER'S AGE, RANK, AND LENGTH OF POLICE SERVICE WAS EXAMINED. DATA WERE COLLECTED FROM 40 MEMBERS OF AN URBAN POLICE DEPARTMENT. TEN OFFICERS WERE JUNIOR PATROLMEN, TEN WERE SENIOR PATROLMEN, TEN WERE DETECTIVE-CORPORALS, AND TEN WERE SERGEANTS AND ABOVE. DEMOGRAPHIC DATA ASCERTAINED EACH OFFICER'S AGE, RACE, RANK, AND LENGTH OF POLICE SERVICE. A MODIFIED VERSION OF NIEDERHOFFER'S POLICE CYNICISM SCALE WAS USED TO TEST CYNICISM TOWARDS THE JUDICIAL PROCESS. THE SCALE RESULTS SHOWED SIGNIFICANT NEGATIVE LINEAR CORRELATIONS WITH THE OFFICERS' AGE, LENGTH OF POLICE SERVICE, AND RANK. OFFICERS BECAME LESS CYNICAL AS THEY GREW OLDER AND REMAINED ON THE POLICE FORCE, AND OVERALL CYNICISM DECREASED WITH LENGTH OF SERVICE, AGE, AND POLICE RANK. THE DATA UPHELD THE KEY CONCEPT OF THE STUDY THAT POLICE ARE A HETEROGENEOUS GROUP. FOOTNOTES AND TABULAR DATA ARE INCLUDED, AND AN APPENDIX CONTAINS THE TEST SAMPLE QUESTIONNAIRE. (MJW)