Individual value preferences among American police officers: The Rokeach theory of human values revisited

Abstract

This paper examines the value orientation of American police officers in a major municipal police department. Relying primarily on survey data, the aim of this paper is to utilize Milton Rokeach’s theory of human values to investigate the following three issues: What are the value orientations of police officers today? Have such value orientations among police officers changed over time? Is there a consensus on values among officers? The primary findings of this paper strongly suggest that value orientations among American police officers have remained relatively stable over recent decades. Moreover, there is a high degree of consensus on value priorities among police officers across years of service, level of education and gender.

Citation

Zhao, J., He, N. and Lovrich, N.P. (1998), "Individual value preferences among American police officers: The Rokeach theory of human values revisited", Policing: An International Journal, Vol. 21 No. 1, pp. 22-37. https://doi.org/10.1108/13639519810206583