Research suggests that police recruits come to policing with high ideals and positive ethical standards. Yet as early as the police academy, subtle shifts in recruit attitudes and values occur. By the end of the rookie year, this ethical value shift is almost complete, and it has negative ethical implications. This ethical value shift places many officers in conflict with a number of legal standards and core societal values. Although research has identified these outcomes, there is only limited understanding of the processes that fuel these ethical value shifts. This article presents exploratory research in police socialization processes and identifies process mechanisms that trigger a number of these value shifts. Structural elements in policing training that sustain these mechanisms are analyzed.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Bahn, C. (1975). The psychology of police corruption: Socialization of the corrupt. Police Journal, 48, 30-36.
2.
Bahn, C. (1984). Police socialization in the eighties: Strains in the forging of an occupational identity. Journal of Police Science and Administration, 12(4), 390-394.
3.
Bayley, D. H., & Mendelson, H. (1969). Minorities and the police. New York: Free Press.
4.
Bennett, R. (1984). Becoming blue: A longitudinal study of police recruit occupational socialization. Journal of Police Science and Administration, 12, 47-58.
5.
Berg, B. L. (1990). First day at the police academy: Stress reaction training as a screening out technique. Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice, 6, 89-105.
6.
Blau, P. (1956). Bureaucracy in modern society. New York: Random House.
7.
Brooks, L. (1989). Police discretionary behavior: A study of style. In R. Dunham & G. Alpert (Eds.), Critical issues in policing: Contemporary readings (pp. 121-145). Prospect Heights, IL: Waveland.
8.
Buerger, M. E. (1998). Police training as Pentecost: Using tools singularly ill-suited for reform. Police Quarterly, 1, 27-63.
9.
Burbeck, E., & Furnham, A. (1985). Police officer selection: A critical review of the literature. Journal of Police Science and Administration, 13, 58-69.
10.
Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2000). National census of fatal occupational injuries, 1999 (U.S. Department of Labor, USDL 00-2360). Washington, DC: Government Printing Office.
11.
Carpenter, B. N., & Raza, S. M. (1987). Personality characteristics of police applicants: Comparisons across subgroups and with other populations. Journal of Police Science and Administration, 15, 10-17.
12.
Crank, J. P. (1998). Understanding police culture. Cincinnati, OH: Anderson.
13.
Crank, J. P., & Caldero, M. A. (2000). Police ethics: The corruption of a noble cause. Cincinnati, OH: Anderson.
14.
Delattre, E. J. (1989). Character and cops: Ethics in policing. Lanham, MD: AEI Press.
15.
Erikson, R. (1981). Rules For police deviance. In C. Shearing (Ed.), Organizational police deviance. Toronto, Canada: Butterworths.
16.
Gaines, L., Kappler, J., & Vaughn, J. (1997). Policing in America (2nd ed.). Cincinnati, OH: Anderson.
17.
Greene, J., & Klockars, C. (1991). What police do. In C. Klockars & S. Mastrofski (Eds.), Thinking about police: Contemporary readings (pp. 273-384). New York: McGraw-Hill.
18.
International Association of Chiefs of Police. (2000). Law enforcement code of ethics. Retrieved October 25, 2001, from http://www.TheIACP.org/pubinfo/Pubs/CodofEthic.htm
19.
Kappeler, V., Studer, R., & Alpert, G. (1994). Forces of deviance: The dark side of policing. Prospect Heights, IL: Waveland.
20.
Kennedy, D. M., & Homant, R. (1981). Nontraditional role assumptions and the personality of policewoman. Journal of Police Science and Administration, 9, 346-355.
21.
Lefkowitz, J. (1975). Psychological attributes of policemen: A review of research and opinion. Social Issues, 31(1), 3-26.
22.
Lundman, R. J. (1980). Police and policing: An introduction. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston.
23.
Manning, P. K. (1978). Lying, secrecy and social control. In P. K. Manning & J. Van Maanen (Eds.), Policing: A view from the street (pp. 238-254). Santa Monica, CA: Goodyear Publishing.
24.
Mastrofski, S. D., Ritti, R., & Hoffmaster, D. (1991). Organizational determinants of police discretion: The case of drinking driving. In C. Klockars & S. Mastrofski (Eds.), Thinking about police: Contemporary readings. Boston: McGraw-Hill.
25.
Matza, D. (1964). Delinquency and drift. New York: John Wiley.
26.
Maxfield, M., & Babbie, E. (2000). Research methods for criminal justice and criminology. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
27.
McNamara, J. H. (1967). Uncertainties in police work the relevance of recruit's background and training. In D. Bordua (Ed.), The police: Six sociological essays. New York: John Wiley.
28.
McNulty, E. (1994). Generating common sense knowledge among police officers. Symbolic Interaction, 17(3), 281-294.
29.
Niederhoffer, A. (1967). Behind the shield: The police in urban society. Garden City, NJ: Doubleday.
30.
Redfield, R. (1941). Folk culture of the Yucatan. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
31.
Reuss-Ianni, E. (1984). Two cultures of policing. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction.
32.
Riksheim, E., & Chermack, S. M. (1993). Causes of police behavior revisited. Journal of Criminal Justice, 21, 353-382.
33.
Sayles, S., & Albritton, J. (1999). Is there a distinct subculture in American policing? In J. Sewell (Ed.), Controversial issues in policing (pp. 154-171). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
34.
Senna, J., & Siegel, L. (1987). Introduction to criminal justice (4th ed.). St. Paul, MN: West.
35.
Shearing, C., & Ericson, R. (1991). Culture as figurative action. British Journal of Sociology, 42, 481-506.
36.
Sherman, L. W. (1980). Causes of police behavior: The current state of quantitative research. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 17, 69-100.
37.
Sherman, L. W. (1999). Learning police ethics. In L. K. Gaines & G. W. Cordiner (Eds.), Policing perspectives: An anthology (pp. 301-310). Los Angeles: Roxbury.
38.
Skolnick, J. H. (1993). Justice without trial: Law enforcement in a democratic society (3rd ed.). New York: Macmillan.
39.
Swidler, A. (1986). Culture in action: Symbols and strategies. American Sociological Review, 51, 273-286.
40.
Van Maanen, J. (1973). Observations on the making of policemen. Human Organization, 32, 407-418.
41.
Westley, W. A. (1970). Violence and the police. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
42.
Wilson, J. Q. (1968). Varieties of police behavior. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
