NCJ Number
142931
Journal
Criminal Justice and Behavior Volume: 20 Issue: 2 Dated: (June 1993) Pages: 199-221
Date Published
1993
Length
23 pages
Annotation
This research examined the relationship between the world views held by police officers and their attitudes toward persistent policing problems: "street justice," antipathy toward due process, and the code of secrecy.
Abstract
The police world views identified for the purposes of this research were designated as "craftmanship" and "professionalism." Craftmanship, viewed by the researchers as the world-view of traditional police in the United States, is a mixture of both traditional and common-sense beliefs about policing. It is embedded in the occupational culture of traditional American police. The world view of "professionalism," on the other hand, is based in the theories and practices of scientific management and public administration, which aim to base personnel selection and training in practices that produce officers who act independently in accordance with a professional model of policing. The measure of craftsmanship was constructed with a Likert-type response format, with five categories for each item, ranging from "strongly agree" to "strongly disagree." Professionalism was measured with Snizek's 25-item modification of Hall's (1968) 50-item Professionalism Scale. Measures of the outcome variables (attitudes toward the three policing problems) were also constructed with a Likert-type response format. The study found that endorsement of a craftsmanship world view was associated with favorable attitudes toward street justice, the code of secrecy, and antipathy toward due process. Endorsement of a professionalism world view had little effect on the relationships between craftsmanship and attitudes toward the three police practices. Length of service in the department was apparently the strongest factor in undermining acceptance of street justice, the code of secrecy, and antipathy to due process. 3 tables, appended study instruments, and 46 references