Abstract
The traditional prevailing perspectives on attitudes assume that attitudes, once formed, are relatively stable over time. However, research has revealed that attitudes may be influenced by different factors that may change them. The present pre-post-test study aims to understand if the police recruits’ attitudes towards offenders change after police training and analyse the impact of sociodemographic and personality variables on recruits’ attitudes towards offenders. The Attitude Scale towards Offenders (ATO) and the NEO-FFI Personality Inventory were used in a sample of 74 recruits of a Portuguese Police Force at the beginning and the end of the police training program. Results revealed that, at the end of the training, recruits hold more negative attitudes towards offenders. Those who had previous professional experience in the army hold more positive attitudes, but only at the beginning of the training. Only attitudes towards offenders at the beginning of the police training program predict recruits’ attitudes towards offenders at the end of the training. These results emphasize the importance of initial and continuous training of recruits and police officers.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Ajzen I, Fishbein M (2000) Attitudes and the attitude-behavior relation: reasoned and automatic processes. Eur Rev Soc Psychol 11(1):1–33. https://doi.org/10.1080/14792779943000116
Andersen EL (2006) Perceptions, attitudes, and career orientations of recruit police officers [Unpublished master’s thesis]. Simon Fraser University
Beech A, Fordham AS (1997) Therapeutic climate of sexual offender treatment programs. Sex Abuse-J Res Tr 9(3):219–237. https://doi.org/10.1177/107906329700900306
Blumberg DM, Schlosser MD, Papazoglou K, Creighton S, Kaye C (2019) New directions in Police Academy training: a call to action. Int J Environ Res Public Health 16(24):4941. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16244941
Chandler EV, Jones CS (1979) Cynicism – an inevitability of police work? J Police Sci Adm 7(1):65–68. https://doi.org/10.1350/pojo.76.4.304.25821
Chen G, Einat T (2015) The relationship between criminology studies and punitive attitudes. Eur J Criminol 12(2):169–187. https://doi.org/10.1177/1477370814551211
Church WT, Sun F, Li X (2011) Attitudes toward the treatment of sex offenders: a SEM analysis. J Forensic Soc Work 1(1):82–95. https://doi.org/10.1080/1936928X.2011.541213
Cooper-Thomas H, Anderson N (2002) Newcomer adjustment: the relationship between organizational socialization tactics, information acquisition and attitudes. J Occup Organ Psychol 75(4):423–437. https://doi.org/10.1348/096317902321119583
Costa P, McCrae R (1992) The revised NEO PI / NEO-FFI professional manual. Psychol Assess Resour
Costelloe MT, Chiricos T, Gertz M (2009) Punitive attitudes toward criminals: exploring the relevance of crime salience and economic insecurity. Punishment Soc 11(1):25–49. https://doi.org/10.1177/1462474508098131
Craig LA (2005) The impact of training on attitudes towards sex offenders. J Sex Aggress 11(2):197–207. https://doi.org/10.1080/13552600500172103
Cunha OS, Gonçalves RA (2017) Attitudes of police officers toward offenders: implications for future training. Policing 40(2):3–23. https://doi.org/10.1108/PIJPSM-02-2016-0013
Dovidio JF, Glick P, Rudman LA (2005) Introduction: reflecting on the nature of prejudice: fifty years after Allport. In: Dovidio JF, Glick P, Rudman LA (eds) On the nature of prejudice: Fifty years after Allport. Blackwell, pp 1–16
Engel RS, Worden RE (2003) Police officers’ attitudes, behavior, and supervisory influences: an analysis of problem solving. Criminology 41(1):131–166. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-9125.2003.tb00984.x
Fielding NG, Fielding J (1991) Police attitudes to crime and punishment: certainties and dilemmas. Br J Criminol 31(1):39–53. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordjournals.bjc.a048084
Furnham A, Alison L (1994) Theories of crime, attitudes to punishment and juror bias amongst police, offenders and the general public. Pers Individ Differ 17(1):35–48. https://doi.org/10.1016/0191-8869(94)90259-3
Gaines L, Kappeler V (2005) Policing in America. Anderson Publishing
Gakhal BK, Brown SJ (2011) A comparison of the general public’s, forensic professionals and students attitudes towards female sex offenders. J Sex Aggress 17(1):105–116. https://doi.org/10.1080/13552600.2010.540678
Garbarino S, Chiorri C, Magnavitta N, Piattino S, Cuomo G (2012) Personality profiles of special force police officers. J Police Crim Psychol 27(2):99–1010. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11896-011-9099-6
Garner R (2005) Police attitudes: the impact of experience after training. Appl Psychol Crim Justice 1(1):56–70
Gonçalves RA, Vieira S (2007) Actitudes hacia los reclusos en guardias de prisiones: Validación de una escala y implicaciones para la formación del personal penitenciário [Attitudes towards inmates in prison guards: Validation of a scale and implications for the training of prison staff]. In: Arce R, Fariña F, Alfaro E, Civera C, Tortosa F (eds) Psicología juridica: Evaluación y intervención [Juridical psychology: Evaluation and intervention]. Diputació de València, pp 263–269
Haas NE, Van Craen M, Skogan WG, Fleitas DM (2015) Explaining officer compliance: the importance of procedural justice and trust inside a police organization. Criminol Crim Just 15(4):442–463. https://doi.org/10.1177/1748895814566288
Harper BCA (2012) In pursuit of the beast: undergraduate attitudes towards sex offenders and implications for society, rehabilitation and British psychology education. Internet J Criminol 6743:1–19
Hirschfield PJ, Piquero AR (2010) Normalization and legitimation: modeling stigmatizing attitudes toward ex-offenders. Criminology 48(1):27–55. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-9125.2010.00179.x
Hogue TE (1993) Attitudes towards prisoners and sexual offenders. Issues Criminol Legal Psychol 19:27–32
Hogue TE, Peebles J (1997) The influence of remorse, intent and attitudes toward sex offenders on judgments of a rapist. Issues Criminol Legal Psychol 3(4):249–259. https://doi.org/10.1080/10683169708410821
Hogg MA, Vaughan GM (2005) Social psychology (4th Ed.). Prentice-Hall
Hough M, Moxon D (1985) Dealing with offenders: popular opinion and the views of victims. Findings from the British Crime Survey. Howard J Crim Just 24(3):160–175. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2311.1985.tb00526.x
Huang W, Finn MA, Ruback BR, Friedmann RF (1996) Individual and contextual influences on sentence lengths: examining political conservatism. Prison J 76(4):398–419. https://doi.org/10.1177/0032855596076004003
Imhoff R (2015) Punitive attitudes against pedophiles or persons with sexual interest in children: does the label matter? Arch Sex Behav 44(1):35–44. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-014-0439-3
Kjelsberg E, Skoglund TH, Rustad AB (2007) Attitudes towards prisoners, as reported by prison inmates, prison employees and college students. BMC Public Health 7:1–9. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2458-7-71
Kleban H, Jeglic E (2012) Dispelling the myths: can psychoeducation change public attitudes towards sex offenders? J Sex Aggress 18(2):179–193. https://doi.org/10.1080/13552600.2011.552795
Klein JL, Cooper T (2019) Punitive attitudes toward sex offenders: do moral panics cause community members to be more punitive? Crim Justice Policy Rev 30(6):948–968. https://doi.org/10.1177/0887403418767251
Lin K, Sun IY, Wu Y, Xue J (2020) Chinese police officers’ attitudes toward domestic violence interventions: do training and knowledge of the anti-domestic law matter? Polic Soc. https://doi.org/10.1080/10439463.2020.1797027
Logan T, Walker R, Jordan C, Leukefeld C (2006) Women and victimization: contributing factors, interventions, and implications. American Psychological Association Press
Magalhães E, Salgueira A, Gonzalez AJ, Costa JJ, Costa MJ, Costa P, Lima MP (2014) NEO-FFI: Psychometric properties of a short personality inventory in Portuguese contexto. Psicologia: Reflexão e Crítica 27(4):642–657. https://doi.org/10.1590/1678-7153.201427405
Mancini C, Shields RT, Mears DP, Beaver KM (2010) Sex offender residence restriction laws: parental perceptions and public policy. J Crim Just 38:1022–1030. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2010.07.004
Melvin KB, Gramling LK, Gardner WM (1985) A scale to measure attitudes toward prisoners. Crim Justice Behav 12(5):241–253. https://doi.org/10.1177/0093854885012002006
Miles-Johnson T (2019) Policing diverse people: how occupational attitudes and background characteristics shape police recruits’ perceptions. SAGE Open 9(3):1–13. https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244019865362
Misis M, Kim B, Cheeseman K, Hogan NL, Lambert EG (2013) The impact of correctional officer perceptions of inmates on job stress. SAGE Open 3(2):1–13. https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244013489695
Myers D (2013) Social psychology (11th Ed.). McGraw Hill
Muir W (1977) Police: Streetcorner Politicians. University of Chicago Press
Obst P, Davey J (2003) Does the Police Academy change your life? A longitudinal study of changes in socialising behaviours of police recruits. Int J Police Sci Manag 5(1):31–40. https://doi.org/10.1350/ijps.5.1.31.11243
Olver ME, Barlow AA (2010) Public attitudes toward sex offenders and their relationship to personality traits and demographic characteristics. Behav Sci Law 28(6):832–849. https://doi.org/10.1002/bsl.959
Parker AL, Mohr PB, Wilson C (2004) Attitudinal and personality predictors of diversionary behavior by police. Policing 27(1):9–21. https://doi.org/10.1108/13639510410519886
Pettigrew TF, Tropp LR (2006) A meta-analytic test of intergroup contact theory. J Pers Soc Psychol 90(5):751–783. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.90.5.751
Rade CB, Desmarais SL, Mitchell RE (2016) A meta-analysis of public attitudes toward ex-offenders. Crim Justice Behav 43(9):1260–1280. https://doi.org/10.1177/0093854816655837
Ribeiro RB, Surrador AA (2005) Stress em contexto militar e aeronáutico: Identificação dos stressores mais frequentes e indicação de estratégias organizacionais e pessoais para a melhoria do bem-estar [Stress in militar and aeronautical contexto: Identification of the most frequente stressors and indication of organizational and personal strategies to improve well-being]. In AM Pinto, AL Silva (Coords.), Stress e bem-estar [Stress and well-being] (pp 151–166). Climepsi Editores
Robinson AL, Chandek MS (2000) The domestic violence arrest decision: examining demographic, attitudinal, and situational variables. Crime Delinq 46(1):18–37. https://doi.org/10.1177/0011128700046001002
Rosselli MK, Jeglic EL (2017) Factors impacting upon attitudes toward sex offenders: the role of conservatism and knowledge. Psychiatry Psychol Law 24(4):496–515. https://doi.org/10.1080/13218719.2016.1254562
Rouhani S, Gudlavalleti R, Atzmon D, Park JN, Olson SP, Sherman SG (2019) Police attitudes towards pre-booking diversion in Baltimore. Int J Drug Policy 65:78–85. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drugpo.2018.11.012
Schaible L, Gant L, Ames S (2020) The impact of police attitudes towards offenders on law-enforcement assisted diversion decisions. Police Q 24(2):205–232. https://doi.org/10.1177/1098611120960714
Schein EH (2017) Organizational culture and leadership (5th Ed.). Wiley
Shafiq N, Ohlsson IM, Mathias P (2016) Predictors of punitive attitudes among police officers. J Forensic Pract 18(1):78–86. https://doi.org/10.1108/JFP-04-2015-0025
Singer L, Cooper S (2009) Improving public confidence in the criminal justice system: An evaluation of a communication activity. Howard J Crim Just 48(5):485–500. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2311.2009.00590.x
Terpstra J, Kort J (2016) Police officers’ trust in criminal justice. Int J Law Crime Justice 47:12–20. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijlcj.2016.05.001
Twersky-Glasner A (2005) Police personality: what is it and why are they like that. J Police Crim Psychol 20(1):56–67. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02806707
Unnever JD, Cullen FT (2007) Reassessing the racial divide in support for capital punishment: the continuing significance of race. J Res Crime Delinq 44(1):124–158. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022427806295837
Viki GT, Fullerton I, Raggett H, Tait F, Wiltshire S (2012) The role of dehumanization in attitudes toward the social exclusion and rehabilitation of sex offenders. J Appl Soc Psychol 42(10):2349–2367. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1559-1816.2012.00944.x
Willis GM, Malinen S, Johnston L (2013) Demographic differences in public attitudes towards sex offenders. Psychiatry Psychol Law 20(2):230–247. https://doi.org/10.1080/13218719.2012.658206
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Ethics Approval
The present research was approved by the University of Minho Ethics Commission. All procedures were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional ethics commission and with the 1964 Helsinki declarations and its later amendments.
Consent to Participate
All participants were informed about the content and aims of the study and were informed about their anonymity and voluntary participation. All participants signed an online informed consent.
Competing Interests
The authors declare no competing interests.
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Cunha, O., Carvalho, F., de Castro Rodrigues, A. et al. Attitudes of Police Recruits Towards Offenders: the Impact of the Police Training on Attitudinal Change. J Police Crim Psych 37, 162–172 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11896-021-09484-5
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11896-021-09484-5