The link between traditional police sub‐culture and police intimate partner violence

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to identify whether officers who adhere to the aspects of the traditional police sub‐culture – authoritarianism, cynicism, and burnout – are more likely to use violence against their intimate partner. Intimate partner violence (IPV) is measured in terms of both physical assault and psychological violence.

Design/methodology/approach

A survey was created using existing scales and was given to a sample of police officers from four departments in the southern United States. Both Tobit and logistic regression were utilized to examine the effects of the traditional police sub‐culture on the two types of intimate partner violence.

Findings

The results of the analyses partially supported the link between traditional police culture and police intimate partner violence. The results showed that two aspects of the traditional police sub‐culture, burnout and authoritarianism, were significantly related to psychological IPV. There was no significant relationship between traditional police culture and physical IPV

Research limitations/implications

There are a relatively small number of police officers in the convenience sample and it is not very diverse in its composition.

Originality/value

The results of this study indicate that those who adhere to the traditional police culture are at more risk for engaging in psychological domestic violence than those officers who do not. The research shows that traditional police sub‐culture has an effect on police intimate partner violence. This information is important in that it may provide police agencies with some direction in implementing domestic violence prevention efforts.

Citation

Blumenstein, L., Fridell, L. and Jones, S. (2012), "The link between traditional police sub‐culture and police intimate partner violence", Policing: An International Journal, Vol. 35 No. 1, pp. 147-164. https://doi.org/10.1108/13639511211215496