Police culture and coercion

    Authors

    W. Terrill; E. A. Paoline;P. K. Manning

    Abbreviated Journal Title

    Criminololgy

    Keywords

    police; culture; coercion; force; attitudes and behaviors; DEPARTMENTS; Criminology & Penology

    Abstract

    Researchers have long noted the link between police culture and coercion. To date, however, there have been no empirical studies of this relationship. Using data collected-as part of a systematic social observation study of the police in Indianapolis, Indiana, and St. Petersburg, Florida, this research examines the relationship between traditional views of police culture-from an attitudinal perspective-and coercion-from a behavioral perspective. After developing a classification scheme of officers' outlooks in the context of police culture, we examine the extent to which officers' alignment with cultural attitudes translates into differences in coercive behavior. The findings indicate that those officers who closely embody the values of the police culture are more coercive compared with those that differentially align with the culture, suggesting that police use of force is a function of officers' varying attitudinal commitments to the traditional view of police culture. The implications of these findings for policy and future research are considered.

    Journal Title

    Criminology

    Volume

    41

    Issue/Number

    4

    Publication Date

    1-1-2003

    Document Type

    Article

    Language

    English

    First Page

    1003

    Last Page

    1034

    WOS Identifier

    WOS:000220034200001

    ISSN

    0011-1384

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