Contents

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IJPSM 11 (2009) 255

Explorations in police organisation: an Indian context
Sweta Srivastava

The research is concerned with understanding the role of organisational justice, and the parameters of organisational support mechanisms in the sustenance and enhancement of psychological well-being, which in turn was postulated to contribute to a number of organisationally relevant outcome variables, with a focus upon the target group of a security-service organisation personnel. The sample consisted of 270 male lower and middle level respondents from a government security-service (police) organisation, who were located in the eastern, central, and western parts of a large state of north India. Major findings were that internal motivation, ego-resilience, well-being, and organisational justice were significant positive predictors of organisationally relevant outcome variables. Further, organisational justice, and organisational support were found to be positive contributors to well-being, which apparently was needed to alleviate the sense of a lack of psychological well-being that seemed to prevail among the respondents.

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IJPSM 11 (2009) 274

Using expectancy theory to explain officer security check activity
Richard R. Johnson

Expectancy motivation theory (Vroom, 1964) posits that employees will perform tasks if they are expected to do so, have the ability to do so, the opportunity to do so, and believe that their efforts will be rewarded. While this theoretical framework has been used successfully to explain differences in individual officer behaviour with regard to arrest productivity, it has yet to be tested with officer behaviours that are not easily verified. The present study used expectancy motivation theory to account for officer differences in the amount of time they spent on crime prevention security checks of businesses and residences. The findings suggest that while expectancy motivation theory explains a sizeable amount of variation in officer activities that are easily verified (such as arrests), it is not well suited to explain officer variation in work activities that are not easily verified.

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IJPSM 11 (2009) 285

The challenges of community policing in Nigeria
Lanre Olusegun Ikuteyijo

A community approach to the management of crimes and criminal behaviour in Nigeria is the latest in the crime fighters? attempt to curb the menace of the rising crime rate in the country. The efficiency of this approach is, however, facing certain challenges, namely: interference of some ?powerful? members of society in the course of justice, inertia on the part of some corrupt police officials who want the status quo to be maintained, financial constraints, and the unpleasant image of the police. This paper examines these challenges as well as the constraints they pose to the success of community policing in Nigeria. The author is of the opinion that for community policing to be successful in Nigeria, these challenges must be addressed taking into consideration the peculiarities of the Nigerian context.

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IJPSM 11 (2009) 294

The future of initial police training: a university perspective
Dominic A. Wood and Stephen Tong

A recurring issue in the initial training of police recruits in England and Wales concerns the status of student police officers. This position paper engages with debates concerning this aspect of initial police training from a university perspective by reflecting on the experiences gained over a three and a half year period of delivering a Student Officer Programme (SOP), a joint collaboration between a university department and a UK police service. As such it should be read as a comment piece that aims primarily to stimulate debate. Although not an empirical research piece, the paper nonetheless engages with the experiences that have been borne out of the collaborative running of the SOP. The paper presents a philosophical analysis of one particular aspect of that experience, namely the tension that arises from the contradictory status of student police officers.

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IJPSM 11 (2009) 306

Gender, victimisation, perceived risk and perceptions of police performance in disadvantaged neighbourhoods
Randy R. Gainey and Brian K. Payne

Although research on the public?s attitudes towards the police has a long history, and gender has long been considered a potential correlate, theoretical and empirical development concerning the role of gender in forming positive or negative attitudes towards the police is limited. In this paper we approach this issue in three ways to understand better how gender may or may not affect attitudes towards the police among a sample of residents in disadvantaged neighbourhoods in two south-eastern cities. We find that the total bivariate effect of gender in the sample is small and not statistically significant. However, there is some evidence that gender plays a distal causal role because women feel less safe or at greater risk of victimisation, but are less likely to be victimised or confronted with a drug dealer. Theoretical and policy implications are provided.

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IJPSM 11 (2009) 324

Risky intelligence
Nick Keane and Maren Eline Kleiven

The article concerns the use by police services of the abstract idea of intelligence-led policing, often embodied as it is in the United Kingdom in the National Intelligence Model. We will argue that while this is a central framing idea in policing, it contains omissions which lead to faulty decision-making. The article charts the rise of intelligence-led policing in the United Kingdom and argues that circumstances have led to the concept of intelligence becoming equated to ?information which leads to a detection?; however, that this construction leads to the exclusion of intelligence which then impacts upon the business of the police service. One outcome of this is that the members of the community that the police service is charged with protecting and serving pay the price of this decision-making. The central argument of our article is that an overconcentration on the detection of offences has skewed the way the map has been drawn up and how it is currently being used. Our main contention is not that the concept of intelligence-led policing should be abandoned, but that it should be revisited and revised to take greater notice of the changes in the landscape it is designed to cover. The territory is changing but the map is not being amended; it is time for some major revisions.

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IJPSM 11 (2009) 334

Occupation-specific precursors of stress among Greek police officers: the roles of rank and gender
Alexander-Stamatios Antoniou

Although assessment of stress is typically performed using generic stress questionnaires, the context-specificity and generalisability of such assessments are often ignored. This study explored the differences in perceptions of work-related stressors in male/female and high/low rank police officers in Greece, by the application of a context-specific measure. 512 police officers representing the Hellenic police force responded to a questionnaire assessing precursors to work stress, and perceived level of stress. Results revealed that the nature of occupational stressors pertinent to Greek police officers differed as a function of their gender and their rank. Males and females differed in their perceptions of stressfulness of the context-specific issues assessed, with females reporting significantly higher stress in 21 work and organisational issues. High and low rank police officers also differed in their perceptions of stressfulness, with high rank police officers reporting more stress overall. The study highlighted the facts that work issues pertaining to female police officers? work and work issues pertaining to high and low rank police officers are of a specific nature. Women police officers are concerned more with issues related to career opportunities, roles and responsibility, and work?family issues. Risk assessment and stress management interventions should take these into consideration. Context-specificity is a good way forward in assessments of stress, and measures may need to be refined.

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IJPSM 11 (2009) 345

The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia: planners and instigators or foot soldiers?
Philip Caine

The International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg prosecuted the most infamous criminals of the Nazi regime whereas the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) has brought to trial only two of the ?big guns? of the Balkans conflicts. The aim of this study is to assess the effectiveness of the ICTY in fulfilling its mandate to prosecute those most responsible for serious violations of international humanitarian law committed during the conflicts of the Former Yugoslavia. The research combines a literature-based assessment of the ICTY together with focused interviews of the main decision-makers in the Office of the Prosecutor, and seeks to assess the factors involved in the initiation of investigations and the selection of individuals for indictment. The independence and autonomy of the Prosecutor is identified as one of the most significant factors in the selection of indictees, but whilst the highest ranking individuals were always the main targets for indictment by the Office of the Prosecutor, the findings suggest that a weak mandate, inadequate resources and indifference by the international community forced the hand of the Prosecutor into indicting lower level suspects. Further ad hoc tribunals are planned by the United Nations and the lessons learned from the experience of the ICTY are essential if they are to administer international justice effectively.

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IJPSM 11 (2009) 358

The effect of educational differences on the level of job satisfaction in police officers in Turkey
Ali Özel, Nida Bayindir, Hatice Zeynep Inan and Emine Özel

In order to maintain the well-being of a country, it is essential to understand the needs of that country?s police officers and what affects their job satisfaction. Current literature shows that there are many factors that can impact on a police officer?s job satisfaction. The current research examines the job satisfaction of police working in the city of Kutahya, both in central Kutahya and in the counties of Kutahya. The study focused on the relationship between the level of education and job satisfaction for police in central Kutahya and the counties of Kutahya, as well as if the pleasure and dissatisfaction they experience in the organisation is related to demographic factors. Accordingly, the study examined some factors which are assumed to affect job satisfaction, such as communication gaps, friendship, promotion opportunities, management style, fair wages and fair work assignment. The results showed that the level of education does not affect the job satisfaction of police officers who work in central Kutahya or the counties of Kutahya. Moreover, data analysis showed that the police enjoy their job even though they complain about their job and the negative conditions that they experience in their job.

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IJPSM 11 (2009) 366

An evaluation of a self-initiated practice exercise for investigative interviewers of children
Rebecca Wright, Belinda L. Guadagno and Martine B. Powell

The current study extends debate and research on the important role of practice in promoting and sustaining complex skills in investigative interviewing. Specifically, we explored the use of self-initiated practice as one avenue for facilitating ongoing development of professionals who interview children about abuse. A group of 40 investigative interviewers were required to organise and administer their own practice opportunities and to document these sessions in a diary. The professionals were aware of the important role of practice and what constitutes best-practice interview guidelines; however no instruction was given about the desired format, structure and timing of the practice sessions. A combination of quantitative and qualitative analyses revealed poor adherence to self-initiated practice, and the practice (among those who adhered to this model) had negligible impact on performance. Overall, these findings highlight the need for careful monitoring and evaluation of all interviewer practice tasks.

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IJPSM 11 (2009) 377

A study of cadets' motivation to become police officers in China
Yuning Wu, Ivan Y. Sun and Michael A. Cretacci

While a substantial amount of research has examined the motivation for individuals to become police officers, very little is known about why Chinese citizens choose this profession. Using survey data collected from cadets in a Chinese police college, this study attempts to answer three questions: (1) who are the people that decide to become police cadets in China; (2) what are the factors that motivate cadets to choose the police profession, and (3) how do personal characteristics influence cadets? motivations to join the force? The results indicate that Chinese cadets in the sample are largely single, young males from middle-class families. They tended to have some college education while their parents were likely to have attained a lower educational level. Job security and benefits, the opportunity to help people, the desire to enforce the law, and parental influences were important factors that motivated police cadets at this institution to join the force. Cadets? background characteristics only weakly influenced the decision. Implications for policy and future research are discussed.

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Links to other issues

Volume 4 (2002) :   1   2   3   4

Volume 5 (2003) :   1   2   3   4

Volume 6 (2004) :   1   2   3

Volume 7 (2005) :   1   2   3   4

Volume 8 (2006) :   1   2   3   4

Volume 9 (2007) :   1   2   3   4

Volume 10 (2008) :   1   2   3   4

Volume 11 (2009) :   1   2   3

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