Values of Police Officers, Recruits, and Civilians in England

• NCJ Number: 69662
• Journal: Journal of Police Science and Administration Volume: 8 Issue: 2 Dated: (June 1980) Pages: 205-211
• Author(s): R Cochrane; A J P Butler
• Date Published: 1980
• Length: 7 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study attempts to discern whether differences in values and value systems do exist between the police and the public in Britain, given suggestions that there is a rift between the police and the policed in Britain.

Abstract

The terminal value scale of the Rokeach Value Survey (RVS) (maintaining that value systems are the organization of beliefs along a continuum of relative importance) was completed by 75 male constables, 25 of which were new recruits and the remainder of which had more than 2 years of experience in police work. The control group of civilians was formed from interviewing men in their homes. All respondents ranked 18 values on the scale. Experienced officers differed from the controls on a 'world at peace,' which they placed much lower on their list of values, and on a 'comfortable life,' 'mature love,' and 'self-respect,' which they rated considerably higher. Comparing recruits with civilians, recruits ranked a world at peace much higher. Experienced officers differed from recruits in ranking self-respect higher. There was strong evidence that with increasing experience, the value system of British policemen becomes more dissimilar to that of the public. There is also a much greater difference between the values of the police and the policed in England than that found by Rokeach in the U.S. One explanation for the differences in the value systems of the police and the policed is that they may occur as the result of the combination of the influence of the group solidarity of police officers and the distancing of social influences of society because of the social isolation. An alternative strategy for the police could involve the acceptance of the differences, but the use of training programs and management techniques to sensitize officers to the ramifications of their personal value systems and the recognition of differing value systems of the citizens with whom they interact. Footnotes and tables are provided.