Attitudes Toward the Police: A Comparison of Canadian and American Adolescents

The present inquiry is an attempt to determine the attitudes which adolescents in Canada and the United States have toward the police and the determinants of these attitudes. In addition to providing a diverse sample of youths from two countries, each with unique policing structures and policies, the study represents the first attempt to assess the attitudes twoard the police held by a sample of Canadian adolescents. The sample for the inquiry consists of 869 youths from a rural Rocky Mountain State and three West Coast cities in the United States and 1200 youths from a major metropolitan area on the West Coast of Canada.

To assess the attitudes which adolescents hold toward the police in their respective countries and areas, a 16–item Likert scale was employed along with a series of questions eliciting a variety of social-biographical, experiential (type and extent of contacts with police) information as well as the prestige rating of the police. Analysis of the data indicates that the majority of adolescents in both countries have positive attitudes toward the police, regardless of the type of police force (Canadian RCMP, Canadian Municipal, U.S. Sheriff, U.S. Municipal) they are policed by. In addition, none of the social-biographical variables in either sample contributed significantly to the attitudes which were held toward the police, nor were certain juveniles more likely to have more negative experiences with the police. Rather, the primary determinant of juvenile attitudes toward the police in both countries seems to be the type of contact which the adolescent had with the police. The findings have significant implications for the police literature and police operational policy which are discussed.     

A Comparison of Racial Attitudes: Right of Police To Strike

A number of studies have focused on public perceptions of police and have concluded that black citizens have lower evaluations of police than their white counterparts. A review of the recent literature reveals that few studies have compared black and white respondents on attitudes toward strike activity among police despite the growing militancy of public employees. In this paper, the significant relationship uncovered between race and attitudes of university undergraduates (F = 30.3; p = .0001) is validated by examining a referendum vote of the general electorate on the right of public employees to strike. Comparative analysis suggests that black citizens are more sympathetic to the problems and tactics of urban police than their white counterparts. Data from the municipal referendum indicated that eighty four percent of the variance in voting patterns could be explained by the percentage of registered black or white voters in the Memphis precincts.     

Assessing Police Attitudes Toward Drugs and Drug Enforcement

The American War on Drugs has been a long and protracted battle. On the front lines are local, state and federal drug enforcement officers who are tasked with pursuing drug users and dealers. Empirically, officers’ attitudes about the laws they uphold have been shown to impact how aggressively they enforce those laws and the discretion they employ. Although there is a well established body of literature which documents the importance of discretionary dynamics in many areas of law enforcement, we know almost nothing about narcotics officers’ attitudes toward drugs and drug enforcement. Hence, we are unaware of extremely important variables that almost certainly impact and influence front line drug officers. This study fills that gap by examining the survey responses of over 1,000 drug interdiction officers at all levels of law enforcement, measuring their attitudes toward various drugs and the relative harm they incur, along with existing and proposed policies and strategies. The results are discussed in terms of their enforcement and policy implications.     

论警察与媒体的通融

构筑警方与媒体的和谐是我们的应有之义。改善和发展警察公共关系需要借助媒体的力量,良好的媒体关系有助于提升警察形象。媒体是警察与公众联系的桥梁和纽带,警方借助媒体发布正面的信息从而争取公众对警察工作的支持,使“执法者”与服务对象融为一体,共同维护治安、打击犯罪。     

Police Attitudes about the Use of Unnecessary Force: An Ecological Examination

An unexplored explanation for police opinion about their use of unnecessary force can be framed within the research examining police behavior in the context of its geographic location. Using Klinger’s (1997) theory of social ecology as a guide, a vignette research design was employed to survey officers in four departments of varying size and structure. It was hypothesized that officers assigned to higher crime areas would more likely accept the use of unnecessary force by another officer as well as be unlikely to believe that the use of unnecessary force would be reported to a supervisor. Bivariate results and multivariate analyses show support for both hypotheses. Implications for future research and theoretical development are discussed.     

Elections as Focusing Events: Explaining Attitudes Toward the Police and the Government in Comparative Perspective

Traditional views hold that citizens' attitudes toward the police are driven by local concerns. We contend that public attitudes toward the police are responsive to systematic and periodic national-level political factors. In particular, we show that national elections as a focusing event alter periodically the determinants of attitudes toward the police. Using a logistic regression model and diachronic data from Costa Rica, Mexico, and the United States, we find that attitudes toward the police and the national government are linked, and this linkage is responsive to the influence of national election campaigns in varying degrees. In addition, we find that attitudes toward the Mexican police are sensitive to partisan changes in the composition of the national political government. We find no such sensitivity in the police attitudes of Costa Rican and U.S. citizens. This suggests that police attitudes are not only affected by the performance of the national political government but also by the character (consolidated versus unconsolidated) of the national political government. In short, police attitudes in new democracies are an indication of the unconsolidated nature of the state apparatus.     

Gateway to Reform? Policy Implications of Police Officers’ Attitudes Toward Rape

Research has shown that prosecutors rely more heavily on victim characteristics and other extralegal factors than on criteria set forth by the law, when evaluating the merits of a rape case. Little is known, however, about the factors police officers use when assessing the merits of a rape case. The current study contributes to what is known about police officers’ attitudes toward rape. A survey was administered to 891 sworn police officers in two states in the southeastern United States. The surveys were designed to assess police officers’ acceptance of rape myths. Police officers who accept more rape myths were less likely to believe victims who did not adhere to the stereotyped “genuine victim.” This research contributes to what is known about the factors affecting police officers’ decision-making in rape cases. This study has implications for assessing the effectiveness of rape law reforms, inasmuch as these reforms are conveyed through police work.     

Global and Neighborhood Attitudes Toward the Police: Differentiation by Race,Ethnicity and Type of Contact

This study focused on a series of hypotheses regarding residents’ attitudes toward the police: (1) residents’ attitudes toward the police are better represented by a two-dimensional model that differentiates global perceptions of the police from assessments of the police in the respondents’ neighborhood; (2) the structure of residents’ attitudes toward the police is different for Whites, African Americans, and Latinos; (3) direct experiences with the police in the respondents’ neighborhood will be more strongly associated with the respondents’ assessment of police in their neighborhood than global perceptions of the police; and (4) the influence of direct experiences with the police will be stronger for African Americans and Latinos than for Whites. Results based on structural equation modeling offer strong support for the need to differentiate between global and neighborhood perceptions of the police. The underlining measurement structure of attitudes toward the police was similar for Whites, African Americans, and Latinos. However, the relationship between global and neighborhood attitudes was stronger for African Americans and Latinos. Negative contact with the police was associated with both negative global and neighborhood assessments of the police. Non-negative contact was associated with positive neighborhood perceptions of the police; however, only when it occurred within the neighborhood. The influence of direct experiences with the police (both inside and outside the neighborhood) was similar for Whites, African Americans, and Latinos.     

警检关系的基本特征与发展趋势

尽管世界上几个主要国家的警检关系存在三大模式的分野,但各国警察机关和检察机关之间既存在形式上的分工关系,又具有实质上的合作关系,只不过三大模式的侧重点有所不同而已。大致说来,英美模式的侧重点在审判程序,而大陆模式、监督模式的侧重点在审前程序。但从一些国家近年来的司法改革来看,三大模式在相互吸收的基础上,警检关系开始出现紧密化的发展趋势。     

An Exploration of the Relationship Between Emotional Intelligence and Job Performance in Police Organizations

The aim of the current study is to explore the relationship between emotional intelligence and job performance in a sample of 310 police officers. The results show significant correlations between EI levels and police job performance. After controlling for general mental abilities and personality traits, EI has been found to explain additional incremental variance in predicting police job performance. Applied implications of the findings for police organizations are discussed.     

警察文化视野下警民关系的研究

我国正处于社会转轨时期,警民关系由于社会的转型也出现了一系列问题。从警察文化视角研究警民关系,有利于调整警察的价值观与增强群众的认同感,有利于警察体制的建设和执行,有利于警察形象的建设,有利于解决制度不能解决的问题。并从先进警察文化的内化与警察文化的创新两方面谈了警察文化视角解决警民关系的途径。先进警察文化的内化是营造良好的环境和宣传教育,并通过实践外化警察文化从而增强内化;警察文化的创新是要转变执法思想,加强文化强警的认识,通过制度化来稳固已有先进文化成果。     

Distributive Justice and Attitudes Toward the Welfare State

Current debates concerning the viability of the welfare state evoke the question of the social bases of support of the welfare state. Past research has documented fairly consistent relationships between sociodemographic characteristics and attitudes toward welfare policies. Yet, the nature of these relationships is not well understood. In the paper we argue that the level of support for the welfare state is largely determined by the principles of distributive justice espoused by individuals as well as their images of society. We develop a theoretical framework, which outlines the structural relationship between social attributes, principles of justice, perceived conflict, and support for the welfare state. Using data from a recent population survey on the legitimation of inequality, conducted in Israel in 1999 (N = 1057), we test a number of hypotheses. For the empirical analysis we use structural equation modeling with multiple indicators. Our findings reveal substantial support for policies aimed at reducing inequality. At the same time we find strong support for rewards according to merit and unequal earnings distribution. The impact of social attributes on attitudes toward the welfare state is partially mediated by the justice principles and images of society.     

论社区警务工作与公安派出所的关系

社区警务是当今世界各国广泛流行的一种主流警务思潮和新一轮警务改革的探索模式。公安派出所是市、县级公安机关的派出机构。是集防范、管理、打击、服务多种职能于一体的基层综合性战斗实体。两者之间的关系为:社区警务工作包含了公安派出所工作。社区警务工作是以公安派出所为主要载体展开的。实施社区警务战略决不只是公安派出所一家的事情。     

Diversity and Discontent: The Relationship Between School Desegregation and Perceptions of Racial Justice

A number of recent studies have explored the consequences ofinterracial peer effects on the academic and social performanceof minority students. This article contributes to that discussion,focusing, however, on perceptions rather than behaviors. Theanalysis suggests that exposure to white peers is associatedwith declining perceptions of racial justice among black andLatino high school students. While cautioning against causalinterpretations of this finding, the article suggests that theintegrationist aims of Brown v. Board of Education will notbe satisfied without more thoughtful and vigorous desegregationefforts.     

Political Training and Attitudes of Taiwan's Police Recruits

This article investigates police training and attitudes in Taiwan by means of inverviews with educators and students and a questionnaire administered to a random sample of police recruits (N=316). Police recruits in Taiwan are disproportionately rural and Taiwanese in origin; they are children of poorly educated parents whose status is perceived to be low. Today, police recruits are trained in two institutions on Taiwan: the Provincial Police Academy, comparable to a police administration program in a junior college or an extended pre-service program; and the Central Police College, comparable to a four-year, liberal arts institution in the United States.

Most recruits were found to believe they could be highly efficacious and to be supportive of the basic rules of Taiwan's political game. They showed less support for political tolerance and competition, and one-third were cynical toward governing authorities. The site of education appeared to be a major factor in producing differences in attitudes. Recruits trained at the academy were more tolerant and accepting of competition, and they were less cynical; those trained in the regular, four-year program were the reverse. Elite police officers and staff tend to be drawn from the latter institution, and line police officers from the former. These findings suggest that the higher education of police has had consequences in Taiwan different from those observed in the U.S. The findings also bear on Taiwan's security in an increasingly precarious environment     

Nursing Students' Attitudes Toward Victims of Domestic Violence as Predicted by Selected Individual and Relationship Variables

Access to quality health care for victims of abuse is often limited by the attitudes of health care professionals. Data collected from female nursing students (n = 155) revealed that those students with more egalitarian sex-role beliefs and a greater sense of control over life events were more sympathetic to battered women than those students with more traditional sex-role attitudes and less perceived control. Sex-role egalitarianism was found to be the best predictor of attitudes toward victims of domestic violence. Implications for health care practitioners and policy makers are presented.