Title

Police culture and coercion

Authors

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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