Chinese police cadets' attitudes toward police role and work

Abstract

If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information. About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.comEmerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services.Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation. AbstractPurpose -The purpose of this paper is to examine Chinese police cadets' attitudes toward police roles and their work. Design/methodology/approach -Using survey data collected from 182 cadets in a Chinese police college, this paper assesses the influences of cadets' characteristics and training on their attitudes toward law enforcement, order maintenance, preventive patrol, and community building. Findings -Cadets without family members or relatives serving as police officers and with stronger physical capability are more likely to support the law enforcement role, while cadets with greater physical capability are less likely to favor order maintenance. Younger cadets and those without a Bachelor's degree are more likely to view preventive patrol as an important goal for the police. Cadets with stronger attitudes toward law enforcement are more likely to regard community building as an important police goal. Research limitations/implications -Future research should continue to explore factors that influence officers' occupational attitudes and incorporate more attitudinal dimensions into the analysis. Future projects should also target local station officers from different departments. Originality/value -This study represents one of the first attempts to empirically assess Chinese police cadets' work-related attitudes. Findings of the study provide Chinese police administrators with useful references and directions to improve police training and enhance police-community relations. IntroductionPolice occupational attitudes and behavior have consistently been one of the major concerns in police literature since the 1960s. Findings from research on the US police indicate that police occupational outlooks and operational styles may be shaped by socio-legal, psychological, and organizational factors (Worden, 1995a). This broad line of inquiry is important for accumulating evidence to develop and revise theories of police behavior and attitudes and for generating useful knowledge to create the basis of police reform. While frequently tested in Western literature, the research question

Police students’ social background, attitudes and career plans

“…However, we also find studies which conclude that the importance of previous educational attainment on the recruits' attitudes toward police role and work are limited (Sun et al, 2009), and that it does not influence the probability of arrest or search (Rydberg and Terrill, 2010). All in all, the conclusion shared by Wimshurst and Ransley (2007) and Sun et al (2009) seems reasonable: The question of whether higher education really matters for the type of police officers we get, is still not settled.…”

“…Exceptions include Sparger and Giacopassi (1986), who find that the class background of police officers does affect their attitudes towards the wealthy, and Morash et al (2006) who includes class background as a control variable and finds that it does not have a significant effect on the self-reported occupational stress of police officers. Finally, Sun et al(2009) have found that the socio-economic status of the family does not influence the recruits' views on what are the most important tasks of the police. However, their results show that compared to the other recruits, those who have a family member working in the police see law enforcement as somewhat less important.…”

“…attitudes towards the public, and for their actual career paths. Longitudinal research, which follows the recruits from the academy and into their working life, would be interesting both to see whether the importance of social background changes during the career, and whether we find the importance of socialization and job experience, which is described in the differential socialization/experience theory (Sun et al, 2009) The lesson to be learned for those who are considering a change in the academic status of their police education, is that this could result in a different social profile among the students, with a larger proportion having parents with higher education. However, this will probably not be important for the type of police officers we educate, at least when it comes to their orientation towards theory and doing operational police work.…”

“…A growing body of research on educational attainment as a path towards professionalism and certification of the police is among the trends that have led to a more complex relationship between the police and the academic world (Lee and Punch, 2004). Sun et al (2009) have described two general theories which can be used to understand attitudinal differences between police officers. According to predisposition theory, the occupational attitudes will reflect the officer's personal characteristics and background, including social background.…”

From legalist to Dirty Harry: Police recruits’ attitudes towards non-legalistic police practice

“…However, neither of these studies explores the effect of background characteristics such as sex and level of education, or that of contextual variables such as type of duty or precinct size. All in all, this leads Sun et al (2009) to underscore the need for longitudinal studies focusing on factors influencing officers' occupational attitudes.…”