Authoritarianism in College and Non-College Oriented Police

The Value Gap between Police and Policed1

“…Several studies have found that police generally suffer from feelings of low selfesteem and are preoccupied with the importance of obtaining "respect for the law" (Becker, 1963;Pfiffner, 1967;Reiss, 1967;Westley, 1951 ;Wilson, 1963). But contrary to popular belief, police scores on authoritarianism and dogmatism are similar to those obtained by groups of comparable education (Bayley & Mendelsohn, 1969;Niederhoffer, 1967;Smith, Locke, & Walker, 1967). Niederhoffer (1967), for example, found a mean F-scale score of 4.15 for 166 police recruits, which is close to the mean of 4.19 for the working class sample reported in The Authoritarian Personality (Adorno, Frenkel-Brunswik, Levinson, & Sanford, 1950).…”

Psychological Attributes of Policemen: A Review of Research and Opinion

“…Policemen have scored, almost without exception, as not particularly authoritarian or dogmatic on the F scale, D scale, and modifications of same (Bayley & Mendelsohn, 1969;Carlson, Thayer, 8c Germann, 1971;Guller, 1972;Lefkowitz, 1974;McNamara, 1967;Smith, Locke, & Walker, 1967Smith, Locke, 8c Fenster, 1970). In some of those studies they score as less authoritarian than various civilian groups (including college stu-dents and teachers, as well as, more appropriately, lower middle class or working class men).…”

“…In partial support of that position are a variety of studies seeming to document the influence of situational effects. Carlson et al (197 1) found command personnel in a traditional police department to be significantly more authoritarian than those in an "innovative" department; McNamara (summarized in Piliavin, 1973) observed increased F scale scores for recruits over their first year with the police department; Sterling (Note 1) noted that policemen became more assertive and less inclined to help others during their first 18 months on the job; Lefkowitz ( 1974) observed patrolmen, especially those assigned to field operations, to score higher on Dogmatism than either command personnel or those in other bureau assignments who are less exposed to the dangers and pressures of "the street"; Culler (1972) and Smith et al (1967Smith et al ( , 1968Smith et al ( , 1970 describe the "liberalizing" effect on police officers of college education.…”

Perceived Authoritarianism in Self and Others by Male College Students and Police Officers

“…Other studies of authoritarianism in police have made intraprofessional comparisons. Smith, Locke, and Walker (1967) found that among newly recruited officers, those who had attended college were less authoritarian than those who had not. They also found that older recruits were more authoritarian than younger recruits.…”