Job satisfaction among frontline police officers in China: the role of demographic,work-related,organizational and social factors

This study was intended to add to information about the underinvestigated policing studies in China. The possible impact of demographic characteristics, work-related variables, and organizational management and social variables on police job satisfaction was investigated. Data were collected through a self-report survey administered to a sample of sworn police officers training in a national police university in China (N?=?393). Results indicated that work-related characteristics associated with variety and stress, and organizational variables associated with professional development and peer cohesion were the most important predictors of job satisfaction in this sample of police officers.     

Coping with Work Stress in Police Employees

Present study endeavored to investigate the role of coping in work stress of police employees. A 3 × 2 factorial design with three levels of job hierarchy (officers, sub-inspectors, and constables) and two levels of job tenure [short job tenure (0–10 year) and long job tenure (above 10 year)] was used in present study. A total of 240 police personnel from Gorakhpur Zone (India) participated as respondents. Objective Work Stress Scale, Feeling of Work Stress Scale (Cooper 1983), and Coping Scale (Carver et al. 1989) were used to determine the level of work stress and coping of the police employees. ANOVA results revealed that the level of work stress varied across different groups of police personnel. More specifically, objective work stress was found greater in sub-inspectors than constables and officers while constables reported more feeling of work stress than sub-inspectors and officers, respectively. Furthermore, the different groups of police personnel differed on various forms of coping response, in which officers used more active- and adaptive-related coping strategies than sub-inspectors and constables, respectively. Contrary to this, constables used more maladaptive coping strategies than sub-inspectors and officers. Correlation results evinced that active- and adaptive-related coping responses have an inverse link with work stress, whereas maladaptive coping responses have a positive relationship with work stress. Findings have been discussed in the light of organizational and personal factors.     

Swedish Police Officers’ Job Strain,Work-Related Social Support and General Mental Health

This study investigated the association between psychosocial job characteristics and general mental health among police officers and the extent to which social support at work plays a role in this association. The findings are based on a cross-sectional survey. A written questionnaire was assessed by 714 police officers volunteered to participate in the study. The participants completed a series of validated instruments assessing job demand, control and social support at work (JDCS); general mental health (GHQ); and sociodemographic characteristics. High job strain was associated with low levels of work-related social support. Moreover, poor mental health was associated with low levels of work-related social support, active work and high job strain. The joint effect of high job strain and low levels of work-related social support had a significant effect on poor mental health. Work-related social support buffered job strain to some extent. Workforce health promotion policies should attempt to reduce job strain and emphasise the importance of work-related social support. Knowledge about police officers’ general mental health and policymakers’ support for police officers may have positive effects on the performance of the police force.     

The perceived levels of job satisfaction among police officers: A descriptive review

Whereas job satisfaction is a popular research topic among industrial and organizational psychologists, police organizational researchers have all but ignored the area of job satisfaction. Considering its link to many organizationally important factors, such as productivity, morale, and personnel turnover, research on job satisfaction in policing should be important. The identification of how satisfied police officers are with various jobrelated factors can be extremely useful to the police executive. This article examines perceived satisfaction of a purposive sample of 2611 police officers, with respect to 23 job-specific and three global job satisfaction items.     

Police officers’ perceptions of organizational justice and their trust in the public

Research in organizational psychology has consistently demonstrated that employee perceptions of organizational justice have significant effects on employee attitudes, perceptions, and behaviors. Similar studies utilizing the organizational justice model in policing have also noted these effects, including the relationship of justice perceptions with officer attitudes toward the public. Recent theoretical developments in policing contend that the association between internal perceptions of justice and external attitudes may be the result of organizational and supervisory practices that ‘trickle-down’ into the police-community relationship. This paper explores this association by assessing the effects of officer perceptions of organizational justice on officer trust in the public. A sample of patrol division police officers were surveyed using measures taken from the organizational justice literature and Mayer, Davis, and Schoorman’s model of organizational trust. Results show a strong relationship between perceptions of organizational justice and trust in the public even when other relevant predictors are controlled.     

Family Leave and Law Enforcement: A Survey of Parents in U.S. Police Departments

The women of United States police departments challenge traditional gender role expectations by exhibiting equal competence in a job with a masculine identity. Women also modify police culture in a myriad of ways, one of which is through the special work-related needs that accompany motherhood. Results from a survey of police officers suggest that gendered perceptions regarding work and family persist indicating that a value shift within police departments has occurred. Findings derived from qualitative responses suggest that women’s entry in policing, along with shifting societal attitudes about work and family, could transform the institution’s “hegemonic masculinity,” an enduring characteristic of many police departments.     

A Hierarchical Analysis of Correctional Officers’ Procedural Justice Judgments of Correctional Institutions: Examining the Influence of Transformational Leadership

A substantial body of prior research has demonstrated the significant positive effect of organizational procedural justice on institutional policy compliance. However, research examining the antecedents of organizational procedural justice is only just beginning to emerge in the criminal justice literature. Due to the potential for institutional deviance and the importance of rule adherence among individuals in positions of authority, we believe it is important to investigate correctional officers’ procedural justice perceptions. As such, this study examines 929 correctional officers over 40 institutions to identify if criteria for fairness, leadership style, and officer and institutional characteristics influence officers’ perceptions of procedural justice. Results from hierarchical linear regression indicate that the ability to have a say in decisions, a sense that institutional rules are impartial, and perceptions that management leads through motivation and encouragement significantly increases correctional officers’ perceptions of procedural justice. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.     

Force,Stress, and Decision-Making Within the Belgian Police: the Impact of Stressful Situations on Police Decision-Making

Stress and fear are inevitable aspects of the police job and may have a large impact on police officers’ decision-making process. Many studies have explored how stress and fear may influence assessments of police officers, especially with regard to the use of force. This article aims to contribute to this research domain by reporting the findings from two empirical studies among Belgian police officers: a quantitative study of police officers’ attitudes towards and experiences with the use of force and a qualitative study on the influence of stress and emotions on officers’ decision-making and assessment abilities and accuracy of shooting. Both studies confirmed that stress and fear are often present in Belgian police practice. One of the main findings is that Belgian police officers are anxious about the consequences of their actions because they know they will be held accountable for them. The pressure that results from this accountability can make it even more difficult for police officers to react to stressful situations. Therefore, we need to look for the right balance in this difficult position, by providing tools that support police officers in making daily decisions, and help them do their job as effectively as possible.     

The commemoration of death,organizational memory,and police culture

Police scholars document that although there is fragmentation of the so‐called “monolithic” police culture, historically consistent features of the occupational culture of police exist. By drawing on ethnographic observations in three U.S. police departments, I describe how one consistent feature of police culture—the preoccupation with danger and potential death—is maintained by the commemoration of officers killed in the line of duty. Through the use of commemorative cultural artifacts, officers and departments construct an organizational memory that locally reflects and reifies the salience of danger and potential death in policing. Furthermore, commemoration of fallen officers is not restricted to a department's own; the dead of other departments are commemorated by distant police organizations and their officers, maintaining broad, occupational assumptions of dangerous and deadly police work that transcend a single department and its localized organizational memory. Implications for the study of police culture, inequalities in policing, and police reform are considered.     

Perceived Citizen Cooperation, Police Operational Philosophy, and Job Satisfaction on Support for Civilian Oversight of the Police in South Korea

While civilian oversight in matters pertaining to police accountability is commonly found in law enforcement agencies in Western countries, this concept is fairly new to many emerging democracies. This study examines the origins and development of citizen oversight of the police in South Korea. Using a sample consisting of 406 surveyed Korean police officers, this study further examines the effects of individual factors and organizational characteristics, such as police operational philosophy, citizen support, and job satisfaction, on officers’ perceptions of civilian oversight of the police. The findings suggest that, although South Korean police officers are generally ambivalent about the role of civilian oversight, there is a strong relationship between organizational characteristics and support for a civilian role in police oversight.     

Police Misconduct,Media Coverage,and Public Perceptions of Racial Profiling: An Experiment

The purpose of this study was: (1) to assess the impact of an incident of racial profiling on residents’ attitudes about profiling; and (2) to examine the effects of exposure to a video clip of deliberation about the incident on residents’ beliefs about the causes of profiling. All residents, White and minority, were less likely to believe that Chicago police officers engaged in profiling after the incident. These findings suggest that attitudes about the prevalence of racial profiling are susceptible to the manner in which the media construct incidents of police misconduct. Exposure to the video clip was not related to differences in residents’ beliefs about the causes of profiling, but was related to differences in perceptions of the dangerousness of traffic stops. The findings highlight the need for more research on how media constructions of police misconduct influence attitudes about profiling and impact community–police relations.     

Informing Police Response to Intimate Partner Violence: Predictors of Perceived Usefulness of Risk Assessment Screening

Substantial research has demonstrated the value of using risk assessment tools for the prediction and management of violence risk, including for intimate partner violence (IPV) (Mills, Kroner, and Morgan 2011). Such tools have been advocated for use by police officers (Hilton, Grant, and Rice 2010), but little is known about police officers’ perceptions of using these tools to inform their decision-making. Using a sample of 159 Canadian police officers (73% male, M age =?41.8 years, SD?=?8.9), the current study examined police officer’s experiences with IPV risk tools, their attitudes about using such tools, and identified predictors of these attitudes using an online survey. Most of this sample had previously used an IPV risk tool, which was most commonly the Brief Spousal Assault Form for the Evaluation of Risk (64.1%). Most police officers rated use of risk tools as at least somewhat to extremely helpful (73.5%), and 67.4% indicated that they would use a risk tool with sufficient training on it. Regression analyses indicated that police officers’ perceived IPV risk tool usefulness was significantly predicted by older respondent age and greater perceived need for guidance in responding to IPV calls. In conclusion, most police officers view IPV risk screening as valuable for informing their responses to such calls for service and are likely to embrace such decision-aids with sufficient training on their potential impact for enhancing safety.     

Police culture,individualism, and community policing: Evidence from two police departments

According to the conventional wisdom, the police culture consists of a set of values, attitudes, and norms that are widely shared among officers, who find in the culture a way to cope with the strains of their working environment. Some research implies that the conventional wisdom is overdrawn, and recent research has begun to question it more directly. Changes in the composition (i.e., the race, sex, and education) of police personnel, as well as philosophical and organizational changes associated with community policing, could be expected to further fragment police culture and to shift the distribution of police attitudes. Here we examine variation in outlooks that, according to conventional wisdom, are part of the police culture, using survey data collected in two police departments. We also examine the relationships between these outlooks and characteristics of officers—sex, race, education, length of service, community-policing training, and community-policing specialist assignment—that are associated with the changes in policing. We find that officers' outlooks do not conform to the pattern that we would expect on the basis of conventional wisdom. We also find that the variation in officers' occupational attitudes is not patterned to a great extent by their characteristics. We conclude with directions for future research on police attitudes.     

A comparative study of the attitudes of Urban,Suburban and Rural Police Officers in New Jersey regarding the use of force

This article examines the attitudes of sample populations of urban, suburban and rural police officers in New Jersey in regard to a hypothetical use of force scenario. The aim of the study is to identify similarities and differences in the perceptions of officers who are faced with the same type of hypothetical situations but who are exposed to different training, procedural and environmental factors. Police officers in the United States receive different types of training in each state that might influence their attitudes towards the use of force. A pilot study was conducted comparing two urban police departments from two different states and showed some differences in the attitudes of the surveyed officers. To further explore these differences, a more refined look at three police departments in one state (New Jersey) was conducted as part of a doctoral dissertation of the lead author. Research questions are aimed at identifying the differences in the frameworks for the justification of force based on a host of variables. The research questions stipulated that there will be some significant differences in attitudes towards the use of force by the officers, based on physical location of the communities they police. The findings of the study identified additional factors that might influence the officers’ attitudes. Twelve focus groups, four at each of the sites, were analyzed and it appears that there may be a geographic and demographic influence on how the officers respond to the scenario.     

Relationship Between Motivation to Lead,Mental Health Status,and Job Satisfaction of Male and Female Civil Police Constables

The purpose of the study was to examine the differences in perceptions of motivation to lead, mental health, and job satisfaction of male and female police constables. Police constables (N = 203, male = 144, female = 59) were surveyed at four districts (Varanasi, Mirzapur, Allahabad and Lucknow) in the state of Uttar Pradesh, Republic of India. Participants’ responses were obtained on questionnaires which measured demographic characteristics, motivation to lead (Dubrin, 1998), psychological well-being, psychological distress (Heubeck & Neill Psychological Reports, 87:431–440, 2000), and job satisfaction (Dantzker’s Journal of Crime and Justice 16:171–181, 1993). Results of t test analysis indicated that job experience, salary, education, motivation to lead, and psychological well-being were significantly different among the male and female police constables. Motivation to lead was a significantly positive correlate of job satisfaction among male participants only while psychological well-being was significantly, positively correlated with job satisfaction of both male and female participants. Psychological well-being also exercised partial mediator effects on the positive relationship between “motivation to lead” and job satisfaction in male police constables only. However, psychological distress was negatively correlated with job satisfaction of male police constables. The findings have significant implications for increasing job satisfaction in the police department. Findings indicate that the government should concentrate on removing anomalies in the job conditions of the female police constables so as to promote psychological well-being. Simultaneously, the police department should also pay attention to conditions which can increase motivation to lead among its female police constables.     

Does the police code of silence vary with police assignment? An empirical exploration of the relation between the code and assignment

ABSTRACT

This paper contains an in-depth exploration of the relation between police code of silence and police assignment. A police integrity survey was used to measure the contours of the code among Croatian patrol officers, detectives, and community-policing officers. Samples of police officers evaluated fourteen hypothetical scenarios describing various forms of police misconduct. Whereas the type of assignment was a weak predictor of the respondents’ adherence to the code of silence, the respondents’ assessments of misconduct seriousness and expected discipline, as well as perceptions whether other officers would report misconduct, were strong predictors of the respondents’ own expressed adherence to the code.     

Suspect Police Officers Investigated by Former Police Officers: Good Idea,Bad Idea?

Up to 1992, all illegal use-of-force complaints against police officers in Israel were handled internally by the police department. In 1992, following public and political pressure, an external civilian board was established to handle such cases. In this framework, investigations of suspect police officers are conducted by former police officers. In this study, investigators' and suspects' personal and organizational characteristics were examined, as well as their attitudes to the civilian board and the manifestation of police violence. In general, the two groups were found to differ significantly on both levels. The employment of former police officers with high professional qualities seems to have some advantages in this investigative situation.     

A Qualitative Assessment of Stress Perceptions Among Members of a Homicide Unit

Existing research on stress among police assumes the presence of uniform stressors across job roles and borrows upon generic stress instruments to tap stress types and levels. The present study draws upon interviews with 26 members of a metropolitan homicide unit to provide an inductive vantage point on stress perceptions within a specialized area of policing. We provide evidence that the occupational and organizational forms of stress detailed by these officers are shaped largely by the unique nature of homicide work. Among the unique task-related stressors observed include the complexities of homicide crime scenes, time pressures, cases assignment factors, paperwork demands, and long-term ownership over individual case files. A series of structural issues from both within and outside the police agency are identified as organizational stressors unique to homicide work. We conclude with a proposed theory of homicide investigator stress and implications for future research.     

Ethnicity, trust, and acceptance of authority among police officers

This article examines the factors that influence the willingness of police officers to comply with decisions made by police command staff. In particular, this research focuses on the extent to which officer ethnicity interacts with perceptions of procedural justice in influencing officer compliance. The data for this study were drawn from an anonymous mailed survey (n = 648) examining officer attitudes toward the complaint investigation process in one large municipal police department. Structural equation modeling demonstrates that ethnicity does influence officer compliance, but only weakly and indirectly. Latino/a officers are less likely to report trust in police internal affairs than White officers, and thus somewhat less likely report that they are willing to comply with command staff decisions. Other factors, such as morale, perceptions of procedural justice, and rank, prove to be much more powerful predictors of officer compliance than ethnicity.     

A career stage analysis of police officer work commitment

This study examined police officer attitudes toward their work in an effort to determine whether a three-stage model of career development has utility in broadening the understanding of police officers' commitment to their work. One-hundred-sixty-four officers were surveyed using a variety of measures of work commitment including: affective, continuance, and normative organizational commitment; job involvement; Protestant work ethic; and career commitment. Data were also collected on officer intentions to remain with—and their perceptions of conditions under which they might leave—their current agencies. Results showed support for a two-stage rather than the traditional three-stage model of career development, with the trial stage being uniquely different from later career stages. The findings are discussed in light of the applicability of career-stage research to the law enforcement profession.