This study examines police job satisfaction and its association with general occupational attraction. Police officers from sixteen municipal departments (n=1,114) across one southern state (Alabama) were found to possess moderate-high overall job satisfaction, with regression analysis supporting the conclusions of prior studies that demographics are of little value to understanding job satisfaction. The findings convey that 25% of job satisfaction variance can be explained from six variables (in order of importance): social contribution, pay, adventure/excitement, autonomy, peer respect, and job security. The importance of benefits and community respect was unsupported, as were partner and special operation assignments. The author concludes that a great portion of police satisfaction hinges on the realization of work environment expectations, and that departments must proactively construct policies to enhance fulfillment of officer aspirations.

Stratified random samples of native and transfer students at a university were compared based on data extracted from student transcripts for 1989, 1990, and 1991. Transfers' first-semester GPAs at the university were less than their community college cumulative GPAs, but natives maintained similar upper and lower division GPAs. Regression analysis revealed, however, that upper division GPAs varied little between native and transfer students when influences of related variables were held constant. Separate regression analyses of transfer and native variables detected that lower division GPA and major were significant predictors of upper division GPA for both groups, but more so for transfers than for natives, with business and science majors earning lower GPAs than others. Although race was not a significant predictor for transfers, it was the most significant predictor for native students: White natives earned higher upper division GPAs than minority natives. The authors conclude that community colleges need to improve the rigor of their business and science programs, but they provide nurturing environments for minority students.

This study suggests that police departments who promote counseling benefit from officer stress reduction. Officers from sixteen municipal police departments (n= 1,114) across the state of Alabama possessed moderate stress, but were influenced significantly by organizational demographics (including counseling opportunities). A majority of officers believed that stress signs were not predictive of police suitability but remained reluctant to share fears and anxieties with fellow colleagues, suggesting that officers feared the stigma associated with the need for stress counseling. Officers working in supportive counseling climates had significantly less stress, a reduced need for counseling, and a greater willingness to use counseling. Officers who engaged in counseling (at least occasionally) also reported more stress, indicating an awareness of their need for counseling. The authors concluded that police departments should consider requiring mandatory and periodic counseling for all officers, a procedural tactic that camouflages counseling need while concurrently treating the source of officer stress.

This study compares perceptions of domestic violence for college students planning to work in law enforcement with students aspiring to careers in social work and non-law-enforcement criminal justice (N = 491). The study involves students attending four public universities across one Southern state who completed a survey (spring of 2006) measuring whether various scenarios were (1) related to domestic violence, and (2) worthy of being reported to law enforcement. Findings indicate that all student groups (law enforcement, non-law-enforcement criminal justice, and social work) tended to identify the various scenarios as domestic violence (and worthy of being reported) regardless of the person's sexual orientation, violence severity, and offender's or victim's gender. However, law enforcement students are less sensitive to domestic violence when compared with social work and non-law enforcement criminal justice students. Findings reveal that (1) graduate students, (2) female students, and (3) White students (compared with African American students in general) attending majority White universities were more likely to identify domestic violence and its worthiness of being reported.The data in this study indicate that criminal justice programs produce graduates who are reasonably sensitive toward the importance of appropriate domestic violence response but could still improve using the techniques employed within social work programs.

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