Abstract
Since Niederhoffer’s (1969) pioneering work, police cynicism has been a staple in research on police officers and police work, various typologies of police officers and definitions of the police subculture or police personality rely to a greater or lesser degree on conceptions of cynicism and suspicion. More recent research has questioned both the validity of measures of cynicism and typologies of police officers.
The present study examines the link between cynicism and job satisfaction which is implicit in the literature. Findings indicate not only that these two factors are correlated, but also that relationships reported between cynicism and other factors in policing are mirrored by correlations between those factors and a measure of job satisfaction. The question which arises is, to what degree are correlations reported in the literature spurious, resulting not from cynicism, as was thought, but from a more generic measure of job satisfaction?
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Buzawa, E. S. (1984) Determining patrol officer job satisfaction, Criminology 22(1): 61–82.
Chwast, J. (1970) Value conflicts in law enforcement, in A. Niederhoffer & A. Blumberg (eds.). The Ambivalent Force. (New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston): 113–19.
Hochstedler, E. (1981) Testing types: A review and test of police types, Journal of Criminal Justice 9(6): 451–66.
Langworthy, R. (1987) Comment-Have we measured the concept(s) of police cynicism using Niederhoffer’s cynicism index?, Justice Quarterly 4(2): 277–80.
Langworthy, R. (1987b) Police cynicism: What we know from the Niederhoffer scale, Journal of Criminal Justice 15(1): 17–35.
Lotz, R. and R. Regoli (1977) Police cynicism and professionalism, Human Relations 30: 175–86.
Lundman, R. (1980) Police and policing: An introduction. (New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston).
Muir, W. (1977) Police: Streetcorner politicians. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press).
Niederhoffer, A. (1969) Behind the shield. (Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday).
Regoli, R. and E. Poole (1978) Specifying police cynicism, Journal of Police Science & Administration 6(1): 98–104.
Regoli, R. and E. Poole (1979) Measurement of police cynicism: A factor scaling approach, Journal of Criminal Justice 7(1): 37–51.
Regoli, R. and E. Poole (1980) Police professionalism and role conflict: A comparison of rural and urban departments, Human Relations 33(4): 241–52.
Regoli, R., J. Crank, R. Culbertson and E. Poole (1987) Police professionalism and cynicism reconsidered: An assessment of measurement issues, Justice Quarterly 4(2): 257–76.
Regoli, R., J. Crank, R. Culbertson and E. Poole (1987b) Rejoinder-Police cynicism theory development and reconstruction, Justice Quarterly 4(2): 281–86.
Skolnick, J. (1975) Justice without trial. 2nd. (New York: John Wiley).
Sparger, J. and D. Giacopassi (1983) Copping out: Why police leave the force, in R. Bennett (ed.) Police at Work. (Beverly Hills: Sage): 107–24.
Toch, H. (1973) Psychological consequences of the police role, in E. Edelfonso (ed.) Readings in criminal justice. (New York: Glencoe): 85–92.
Walker, S. (1983) The Police in America: An Introduction. (New York: McGraw-Hill).
Westley, W. (1970) Violence and the Police. (Cambridge, MA: W.I.T. Press).
Wilson, J. (1968) Varieties of Police Behavior: Law Enforcement in Eight American Communities. (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
The authors would like to thank Dr. Robert Langworthy for his helpful comments on an earlier draft.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Travis, L.F., Vukovich, R.J. Cynicism and job satisfaction in policing: Muddying the waters. AJCJ 15, 90–104 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02887458
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02887458