CORRUPTION IN THE SUBCULTURE OF POLICING: AN EMPIRICAL STUDY OF POLICE OFFICER PERCEPTIONS (SUBCULTURE)
Abstract
This study supports the notion that organizations have a character and life of their own which tends to condition and shape the perceptions and behaviors of incumbents, and is a partial explanation for systemic corruption in police agencies. A theoretical model is developed that describes the occupational socialization of police officers. This process involves perceptual adjustment that is manifest by behavior changes, changes in cognition, and circumspect exposure to new information and new opinions. The study presents the results of an analysis of data collected in a self report survey of police officer perceptions of corruption in their agencies. The survey attempts to measure office perceptions of corruption against the reputations of their agencies on that issue among police experts. The research hypothesis is that officers in reputationally "corrupt agencies" will have measurably different perceptions of corruption than officers in "non-corrupt" agencies. The research confirms this hypothesis and provides an indirect, alternative measure of the phenomenon of police corruption. The final chapter of this sutdy provides guidelines for police administrators relative to establishing anti-corruption programs. These guidelines are based, in part, on the data analysis above, and focus on organizational initiatives that support positive perceptual adjustment among officers to reduce levels of corruption.
Subject Area
Criminology
Recommended Citation
MCCORMACK, ROBERT JOHN, "CORRUPTION IN THE SUBCULTURE OF POLICING: AN EMPIRICAL STUDY OF POLICE OFFICER PERCEPTIONS (SUBCULTURE)" (1986). ETD Collection for Fordham University. AAI8615688.
https://research.library.fordham.edu/dissertations/AAI8615688
