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.     

Job demands, job resources, and burnout among police officers

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between job demands, job resources, and burnout, and to examine if burnout could predict both work and health-related outcomes among police officers. The participants were 223 Norwegian police officers, and data were collected using a questionnaire. The study was part of a national survey of both health care and non-health care professions. The overall level of burnout was low among police officers compared to other occupational groups tested in Norway. Both job demands and job resources were related to burnout, especially work-family pressure was an important predictor for all of the three burnout dimensions. Burnout predicted individual outcomes, such as psychosomatic complaints and satisfaction with life, as well as work outcomes, such as job satisfaction, intention to quit, and organizational commitment. Suggestions for potential interventions to reduce burnout and negative individual and organizational consequences are presented.     

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.     

Suspicion formation among police officers: an international literature review

Recent research on racial profiling has renewed attention on how police officers develop suspicions about citizens, and how these suspicions influence the official behavior of police. In order to guide the current research, a review of the wealth of existing qualitative and quantitative research on this topic is necessary. This literature review examines the existing international research in psychology, sociology, and criminology on police officer development of suspicion. It also lays out a framework for organizing the findings with four broad methods of suspicion development: stereotypical perceptions about typical criminal offenders, prior knowledge about specific citizens; incongruent circumstances, and suspicious nonverbal cues. It concludes with the few studies linking officer suspicions to official police behavior.     

Race relations in police operations: A legal and ethical perspective for officers

This presentation looks beyond the contemporary controversy over the use of race in drug courier profiling and examines the broad spectrum of rare relations affecting police operations. Racial controversy is not new to law enforcement, nor is it a recent phenomenon in American society. American police do not get enough credit for the enormous amount of positive daily interaction within minority communities. Police are pervasively present within minority communities around the clock successfully solving disputes, responding to calls for service, and addressing community concerns. It is against this backdrop that many in law enforcement are becoming increasingly frustrated by the perception, if not the reality of deteriorating race relations between police and minorities. One thing is certain: police cannot withdraw from racial conflict. Police will continue to operate within minority communities, regardless of the racial composition of either the community or the law enforcement agency. Therefore, officer and supervisory training should not only focus on how to avoid racial conflict, but also on how to ethically and legally perform in an environment where treatment of minorities is critically examined.     

Female officers and the ethic of care: Does officer gender impact police behaviors?

Most of the empirical literature on gender and policing has assessed gender differences in arrest levels and police use of force. While simple gender differences in police behavior are important for understanding skills men and women bring to the policing occupation, research must also determine under what conditions gender differences emerge and what factors impact the relationship between officer gender and behavior for this knowledge to be constructive. Although sexy, arrest and force decisions occur when police discretion is often limited, adding little to the knowledge of how gender affects everyday police-citizen encounters. Using data from systematic social observations of police-citizen encounters in St. Petersburg, Florida and Indianapolis, Indiana, this article replicates past analyses of gender differences in police utilization of controlling and supporting behaviors, but also extends the analyses by assessing the possible impact of intervening situational and organizational characteristics, determining under what conditions female officers utilize different behaviors from their male counterparts. The findings provide mixed support for the general hypothesis of gender-specific responses. Consistent with previous literature, this research suggests that women are much less likely than men to utilize extreme controlling behavior, such as threats, physical restraint, search, and arrest. Surprisingly, the findings do not confirm that women are more likely than men to use supporting behaviors, even when controlling for women's greater likelihood to hold community policing assignments. These findings, while unexpected, are important. Simply assuming female officers manifest stereotypically feminine traits in policing tasks is clearly an overly simplistic conceptualization of the meaning and impact of gender in policing. The implications for female officers, policing, and future research are discussed.     

Uncertainty and the use of force among Venezuelan police officers

Literature often emphasizes the use of force as a distinctive feature of police work, while risky encounters and uncertainty are conditions under which such work is carried out daily. Conditions leading to the use of force by the police have been associated with the presence of menacing minorities, losing verbal control, the youth and lack of experience of officers, and critical physical proximity between officers and suspects. Additionally, defiance towards the police has often been linked to increased force used by the police. It is here proposed that uncertainty also fosters police officers’ dispositions to use force. In this study, four focus groups were conducted with officers from two Venezuelan municipal police departments in October 2003, presenting a hypothetical scenario progressing from contact with suspects towards an open confrontation involving a shooting. Officers perceived, through different phases of the scenario, an encounter of no easily predictable outcome with suspects, involving potential harm to the police and bystanders. A pattern seemed to appear among officers in which overcoming real or assumed resistance became the central issue. When physical confrontation with suspects became evident, self defence was the clearest justification for the use of force, though the use of force was also defended by officers without further elaboration on the requirements and conditions for effectively thwarting aggression. It appears that uncertainty about the outcome of a situation fosters both the disposition and the justification for using force.

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The tactical choices of police patrol officers

This article presents the results of an attempt to describe exhaustively the tactics chosen by police patrol officers when handling highly problematic situations. The observations were made in Denver, Colorado, and focused on domestic disputes and “stops” for violations of motor vehicle regulations. The study determined that thirty-three categories were required to describe adequately what police did in domestic disputes and fourteen for motor vehicle stops. Tactical choices were found to vary according to the stage of the encounter between police and public. Tactics at three stages of encounters— contact, processing, and exit—were mapped and the relations between choices at each stage determined. The article concludes with a brief analysis of the relationship between tactical choices and situational factors.     

The relationship of work-family conflict with job stress among Indian police officers: a research note

Law enforcement is often described as a challenging occupation, and working in law enforcement can result in work–family conflict. This exploratory study was undertaken to examine how the different dimensions of work–family conflict are related to job stress among Indian police officers. There are four major dimensions of work–family conflict: strain-based, behavior-based, time-based, and family-based. Data was collected from a survey of police officers in the Sonipat and Rohtak districts of the Indian state of Haryana. Bivariate results revealed that an increase in any one of the dimensions of work–family conflict was associated with increases in stress from work. Multivariate analysis, however, revealed only three of the four dimensions of work–family conflict had a significant association with job stress. Specifically, strain-based conflict, behavior-based conflict, and family-based conflict were significantly associated with higher levels of job stress. These findings provide support for the job strain model.     

The status of women police officers: An international review

This paper reports on a survey of English-language police department websites, annual reports and other reports in order to identify key aspects of the status of women police internationally. Findings are reported for England and Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Eire, the United States, Canada, Australia (eight departments), New Zealand, South Africa, Ghana, Nigeria, India, Pakistan, Hong Kong, Papua New Guinea, and Fiji. Data on the proportion of female officers were available from 18 of 23 locations, with a range between 5.1% and 28.8%. Recruit numbers were available for six locations, and ranged between 26.6% and 37.0%. Limited data on rank and deployment indicated overall improvements. Available longer-term trend data suggested that growth in female officers was slowing or levelling out. Overall, the study showed an urgent need to improve gender-based statistics in order to better inform strategies aimed at maximising the participation of women in policing.     

Variation in the perception of desired qualities of police officers among trainees and senior police officers. Insights into the process and efficacy of police training

Police training is the process of imparting knowledge, skills, and values to police personnel. The study analyses a survey data on the perception of trainees and senior experienced officers regarding desired professional qualities in police officers. There is a high degree of congruence, in the assessment of values which are important for police, among the two groups. There are also differences among the two groups regarding the evaluation of the importance of interpersonal skills and human qualities. The study attempts to explain the similarities and the differences in perception by examining the conservative and innovative nature of police training, and the role of experience in developing an appreciation of human qualities. The study underlines the importance of police training as a mechanism to maintain the stability of operations in the organisation and its pivotal role in bringing about change in the police.     

Occupational satisfaction and competence of police officers as predicted by the Kuder Interest Inventory

A sample of 77 police officers who had been members of the Evansville, Indiana Police Department for at least two years had been given the Kuder Occupational Interest Inventory prior to being hired. Each was given the Zytowski Personal Data Questionnaire to obtain self-ratings of satisfaction and duty performance. A high percentage (81%) of the officers who had been hired and whose careers had continued in police work had Police Officer as one of their top ten occupations on the Kuder Interest Inventory. The Kuder was less successful at predicting satisfaction and performance. These data supported the concept that stress and burnout were more important predictors of satisfaction and duty performance than were interests.     

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.     

Investigating perceptions of race and ethnic diversity among prospective police officers

Many have suggested police diversity will improve police-community relations, but research testing this hypothesis is inconclusive. We investigated perceptions of police race, ethnicity, and diversity in a heterogeneous sample of prospective police officers. Data are drawn from interviews with 42 criminal justice college students in the Southwestern United States, of which 15 were Hispanic, and who each wanted to become a police officer. Participants supported diversity in policing, and collectively expressed a belief that race plays a central role in policing today. Furthermore, participants expressed support for the ideals of both passive and active representative bureaucracy. Hispanics in the sample in particular anticipated they would positively affect police relations in Hispanic neighborhoods and encourage immigrants to cooperate with police.     

Maltreatment by police officers?

In January 1990 amnesty international stated a report concerning 128 cases of alleged torture by the police in Austria since december 1984. Our material consists of 31 cases, three case reports are given in detail. Problems of medical expertise are discussed. It may be difficult to rule out injuries which are caused by accident or self inflicted. Some methods of torture (certain kinds of asphyxia for example) may be impossible to trace.     

Research note: career stage and job satisfaction among southern correctional officers

The career stage theory postulates that employees go through different career stages, and each career stage has different effects on various outcomes, such as job satisfaction. There has been empirical support for the career stage theory from other disciplines, but there has been limited research relating to this theory to corrections. To expand the literature, the current study examined whether different career stages were significant predictors of job satisfactions, while including the personal characteristics and the workplace place variables among Texas correctional officers. The results supported the career state theory: job satisfaction was highest during the entry stage (0–2 years), but was lowest during the second career stage (2–5 years). In career stages three (5–15 years) and four (16+ years), job satisfaction rose. Possible interventions that correctional administrators can undertake to encourage job satisfaction from their staff during the second career stage are discussed.     

Professionalism and campus police officers

Survey research was conducted to examine the effects of education, perceptions of community attitudes, and career commitment upon overall job satisfaction of campus law enforcement officers in North Carolina. Thirteen (13) campus departments participated in the 1984 study. Findings revealed both significant and insignificant relationships. The attained level of post-secondary education was not significantly related to an officer’s perception of having his/her authority questioned, nor was education related to an officer’s feeling of boredom with the job. However, significant relationships were found between several variables including an officer’s willingness to recommend the job to another person and his/her perceptions of community attitudes and the rank of the officer and his/her commitment to the current position.(1)     

Spirituality and health outcomes among police officers: empirical evidence supporting a paradigm shift

The negative impact of traumatic and other work-related stressors on the health of police officers is well-documented. Spiritual development is also commonly mentioned in the professional literature as an effective means of protecting officers from the ill-effects of policing, reportedly resulting in improved health and wellness outcomes. However, few empirical studies have been conducted to support claims regarding spirituality and police officer health. The present study investigated what types of spiritual practices police officers used, the relationships between spiritual effort and spiritual growth regarding various psychological and stress-related symptomatology, and whether differences in psychological and health outcomes existed between police officers engaging or not engaging in spiritual practice (N = 193). With one exception, the results do not support the notion that enhanced spirituality is associated with lower illness symptoms or perceived stress. Rather, opposing findings were demonstrated involving positive associations between spiritual growth and distress. Spiritual effort, however, was inversely associated with alcohol use, a behavioral-based coping mechanism. Implications of these findings are discussed, and suggestions for reconceptualizing police health and spiritual practices are introduced.