Attitudes Toward the Police

A Comparison of Canadian and American Adolescents

Datos Bibliográficos

ID6192575
AutoresCurt Taylor Griffiths, L Thomas Winfree (0000-0001-5729-5987, Louisiana State University)
Año1982
Volumen6
Número1-2
Páginas127-141
Fecha de publicación1982-01-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessNo
TipoARTICLE
RevistaInternational Journal of Comparative and Applied Criminal Justice (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0192-4036 • E-ISSN: 2157-6475
EditorialInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/01924036.1982.9688748
OpenAlexW2094432423
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas20
Referencias citadas20

The present inquiry is an attempt to determine the attitudes which adolescents in Canada and the United States have toward the police and the determinants of these attitudes. In addition to providing a diverse sample of youths from two countries, each with unique policing structures and policies, the study represents the first attempt to assess the attitudes twoard the police held by a sample of Canadian adolescents. The sample for the inquiry consists of 869 youths from a rural Rocky Mountain State and three West Coast cities in the United States and 1200 youths from a major metropolitan area on the West Coast of Canada. To assess the attitudes which adolescents hold toward the police in their respective countries and areas, a 16–item Likert scale was employed along with a series of questions eliciting a variety of social-biographical, experiential (type and extent of contacts with police) information as well as the prestige rating of the police. Analysis of the data indicates that the majority of adolescents in both countries have positive attitudes toward the police, regardless of the type of police force (Canadian RCMP, Canadian Municipal, U.S. Sheriff, U.S. Municipal) they are policed by. In addition, none of the social-biographical variables in either sample contributed significantly to the attitudes which were held toward the police, nor were certain juveniles more likely to have more negative experiences with the police. Rather, the primary determinant of juvenile attitudes toward the police in both countries seems to be the type of contact which the adolescent had with the police. The findings have significant implications for the police literature and police operational policy which are discussed

Community policing · Criminology · Developmental psychology · Geography · Likert scale · Metropolitan area · Prestige · Gun Ownership and Violence Research · Policing Practices and Perceptions · Psychology · Social and Intergroup Psychology · Social Psychology