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Article
Publication date: 12 February 2018

Lois James, Stephen James and Bryan Vila

The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether citizen characteristics (race/ethnicity and attire) or demeanor predicted how officers interacted in simulation scenarios that…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether citizen characteristics (race/ethnicity and attire) or demeanor predicted how officers interacted in simulation scenarios that could turn violent.

Design/methodology/approach

Controlled-laboratory experiments were conducted during which police participants (n=50) responded to equivalent numbers of black, white, and Hispanic individuals in multiple branching video scenarios in a use-of-force simulator. Within these scenarios, the attire of on-screen individuals was varied (“street” or “business” clothing) as was their demeanor – individuals were either friendly or confrontational. Each scenario had the potential to end peaceably or turn violent, depending on how the officers treated people in the simulator.

Findings

Multi-level modeling revealed that neither the race/ethnicity nor the attire of on-screen individuals predicted how officers interacted with them. However, the demeanor of on-screen individuals did – officers were significantly more likely to verbally escalate and end up with a deadly outcome when faced with confrontational individuals (f=3.96; df=1, 558; p<0.05).

Research limitations/implications

These findings offer important new insight into how fairly officers interact with people during routine encounters that have the potential to turn violent, and what this means for perceptions of police legitimacy, procedural justice, and allegations of racial bias.

Originality/value

This is the first laboratory study to test the impact of citizen characteristics and demeanor on how officers escalate and de-escalate encounters.

Details

Policing: An International Journal, vol. 41 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1363-951X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 9 January 2019

Justin Pickett and Justin Nix

The purpose of this paper is to revisit classic theoretical arguments regarding the broad effects of civilian demeanor on policing and extend associated findings.

1354

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to revisit classic theoretical arguments regarding the broad effects of civilian demeanor on policing and extend associated findings.

Design/methodology/approach

The theoretical framework draws on insights from the literatures on police culture, the group engagement model and fairness heuristic theory. The authors argue that demeanor is best conceptualized as the degree of procedural justice exhibited by civilians toward police. Theoretically, procedurally just cooperation should influence officers’ adherence to police culture by affecting their social identification and assessments of civilians’ motives and moral deservingness. To test the hypotheses, the authors surveyed sworn officers from a large metropolitan police department in the southeastern USA in the Fall of 2016.

Findings

Results reveal that officers use their procedural justice judgments as heuristics to assess civilians’ trustworthiness, dangerousness, and moral deservingness, and these judgments influence their policing style. Officers who perceive greater procedurally just cooperation by civilians feel less threatened by the public, are more willing to use procedural justice themselves, and are less supportive of a “tough cop” policing style.

Originality/value

The authors propose that: civilian demeanor is best conceptualized as the extent to which civilians exhibit procedural fairness toward the police; and in order for meaningful police reform to occur, it is important to acknowledge the role of civilian demeanor in shaping officers’ attitudes, beliefs and behaviors.

Details

Policing: An International Journal, vol. 42 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1363-951X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 13 December 2022

Md. Jahangir Alam and Muhammad Mezbah-ul-Islam

The study aims to appraise the impact of service quality dimensions on user satisfaction in Bangladeshi public university libraries using structural equation modeling (SEM).

Abstract

Purpose

The study aims to appraise the impact of service quality dimensions on user satisfaction in Bangladeshi public university libraries using structural equation modeling (SEM).

Design/methodology/approach

This study developed an SEM method based on SERVQUAL, LibQUAL+ and SERVPERF instruments, including 30 items under five service quality dimensions and eight satisfaction items with the 7-point Likert scale to appraise the impact of library service quality dimensions on user satisfaction. For this purpose, a survey was carried out among 437 students, 52 MPhil/PhD researchers and 32 teachers of the nine selected public university libraries of Bangladesh through a structured questionnaire. The SEM approach included path analysis, confirmatory and exploratory factor analysis, as well as construct reliability and validity where user satisfaction was used as the dependent variable, and five service quality dimensions were applied as independent variables.

Findings

This model was identified as significant and clarified 58% of the total variation in user satisfaction. The study findings indicated that resources of the libraries, staff competence, demeanor approach and tangible facilities of the public university libraries have a significant impact on user satisfaction.

Originality/value

An initiative has been taken for the first time to ascertain the impact of library service quality on user satisfaction applying the SEM approach in Bangladesh. Moreover, it creates an avenue to prompt future studies on the structural relationship between user satisfaction and service quality dimensions in academic libraries globally.

Details

Performance Measurement and Metrics, vol. 24 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1467-8047

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 February 2018

Per Echeverri and Maria Åkesson

The purpose of this paper is to identify the key elements of professional identity in service work in order to provide more in-depth theoretical explanations as to why service…

1376

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to identify the key elements of professional identity in service work in order to provide more in-depth theoretical explanations as to why service workers do as they do while co-creating service.

Design/methodology/approach

This study takes a multi-perspective on professional identity, i.e. using both an employee and a customer perspective, arguing that the phenomenon mainly consists of what these interactants jointly do during the service interaction and of the meanings that are attributed to it. The authors draw on a detailed empirical study of professionals working at a customer centre. Methodologically, the study is based on practice theory, which helps us to illuminate and analyse both the micro practices and the meaning attributed to the professional identity of service workers.

Findings

The key elements of professional identity in service work are outlined within a framework that describes and explains three different facets of the service workers’ professional identity, i.e. as a core (i.e. individual resources, cognitive understanding, interaction), as conditions (i.e. service prerequisites), and as contour (i.e. demeanour and functions).

Research limitations/implications

The findings are based on an empirical data set from a public transport customer centre. As the results are limited to one context, they do not provide statistical generalizability. Although limited to one service industry, the findings may still be of high relevance to a wide range of service organisations.

Practical implications

The study shows the significance of managers not just talking about the importance of being service-minded; more exactly, a wide range of service prerequisites, beyond cognitive understanding, needs to be in place. It is crucial that service workers are given the time to develop their contextual knowledge of their customers, and of other parts of the service organisation.

Originality/value

This study offers original empirical contributions concerning the key elements of professional identity. An alternative conceptualization of professional identity is provided, through which the paper adds to service research, explaining more specifically what kinds of knowledge and skills are in use during the co-creation of services.

Details

Journal of Service Theory and Practice, vol. 28 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2055-6225

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 June 2005

Amanda L. Robinson and Meghan S. Stroshine

This paper seeks to investigate what victims of domestic violence expect police to do for them, and how these expectations subsequently influence their levels of satisfaction.

5582

Abstract

Purpose

This paper seeks to investigate what victims of domestic violence expect police to do for them, and how these expectations subsequently influence their levels of satisfaction.

Design/methodology/approach

Structured interviews with 222 victims of domestic violence were conducted by staff from an integrated community‐based service delivery agency in Cardiff, Wales. Multivariate analyses were performed to reveal the factors that contribute to domestic violence victims' satisfaction with the police.

Findings

Consistent with the expectancy disconfirmation model, results indicate that the most important determinant of satisfaction is the extent to which victims' expectations about police behaviour and demeanour are fulfilled.

Originality/value

The results of this study and implications for police policy are discussed.

Details

Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies & Management, vol. 28 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1363-951X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 2 November 2012

J. Pete Blair, Timothy R. Levine, Torsten O. Reimer and John D. McCluskey

The purpose of this paper is to present a review of the deception detection literature that arrives at a different conclusion from the one presented by King and Dunn…

1077

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to present a review of the deception detection literature that arrives at a different conclusion from the one presented by King and Dunn. Specifically, the authors’ review shows that people can detect deception at significantly above chance accuracy in policing environments. A new paradigm for deception detection is also discussed.

Design/methodology/approach

An extensive literature review was conducted.

Findings

People can detect deception at levels that exceed chance in a variety of police‐related environments when an ecological approach to detecting deception is adopted.

Practical implications

The authors’ review suggests that it is time for deception detection training and manuals to move away from the demeanor‐based systems that are currently dominant and toward coherence and correspondence‐based systems.

Originality/value

The paper presents a perspective that is different from the one advanced by King and Dunn. It also introduces the ecological detection of deception paradigm to the policing literature.

Details

Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies & Management, vol. 35 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1363-951X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 September 2005

Kenneth J. Novak and Robin S. Engel

The purpose of this paper is to understand the factors that influence officer behavior when encountering suspects of crime who are perceived to have a mental disorder.

1609

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to understand the factors that influence officer behavior when encountering suspects of crime who are perceived to have a mental disorder.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper utilizes data collected from systematic social observations of street officers during 617 encounters with suspects, including 49 that were perceived to have a mental disorder. Multivariate models are estimated to determine the relative influence mental disorder has on officer decision making.

Findings

The paper finds mentally disordered suspects are more likely to demonstrate disrespectful or hostile behavior. The paper also finds that disrespect and hostility increases the likelihood of arrests. However, results also demonstrate that despite behavioral differences, persons with mental disorders are significantly less likely to be arrested by officers. Results support the contention that officers view mental status as a mitigating factor during encounters, and further calls in to question the criminalization hypothesis.

Research limitations/implications

It is not clear what extent informal actions were taken by officers during encounters with mentally disordered suspects. Future research can also examine the interaction process that occurs between police and citizens who are mentally disordered, and consider evaluating the effectiveness of various responses to mentally disordered suspects.

Originality/value

This paper has value for both practitioners interested in understanding the dynamics of the police‐citizen encounter, as well as academics who are involved with theorizing the nature of social control by police officers.

Details

Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies & Management, vol. 28 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1363-951X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 11 March 2014

Wendy C. Regoeczi and Stephanie Kent

Through systematic observation of police decision-making behavior, the aim of this paper is to investigate what factors differentiate between citizens who receive a warning vs a…

2734

Abstract

Purpose

Through systematic observation of police decision-making behavior, the aim of this paper is to investigate what factors differentiate between citizens who receive a warning vs a ticket from police and whether the influence of those factors varies by race. The paper also explores the context of those decisions for both blacks and whites to further the understanding of the underlying mechanisms of any observed differences in the likelihood of receiving a ticket vs a warning.

Design/methodology/approach

Data were collected during police ridealongs conducted in a sample of cities within Cuyahoga County, Ohio. A total of 140 ridealongs were completed, yielding a total of 312 vehicle or citizen stops.

Findings

The paper finds that black citizens are more likely to receive a ticket than white citizens. However, the paper also finds important differences in the situational context of traffic stops for blacks and whites and uncover evidence of a cycle of traffic tickets and license suspensions among some black drivers.

Research limitations/implications

The study demonstrates the importance of examining the underlying situational context in analyses of decision making in traffic stops. The main limitation of the analyses is that the data were limited to one county in the state of Ohio.

Practical implications

The data suggests that one of the causes of the racial disparities in tickets vs warnings involves a cycle of tickets and license suspensions that occurs among some black drivers. These drivers appear to become caught up in a cycle where a compilation of prior tickets from traffic infractions, driving without insurance, or defaulting on child support payments leads to high numbers of points and subsequent license suspensions. The paper discusses some practical implications for addressing this pattern, including specific programs that could be adopted by municipalities that seek to break the cycle of repeated violation of driver's license laws.

Originality/value

Beyond identifying the impact of citizen race on the likelihood of receiving a warning vs a ticket during a traffic stop, this study contributes to the existing literature by exploring the situational context of these decisions, and identifying the ways in which variations in situational contexts help explain racial differences in outcomes in traffic stops. The identification of a traffic ticket cycle among some black drivers appears to be an original finding.

Details

Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies & Management, vol. 37 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1363-951X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 September 1998

Michael D. Reisig and Andrew L. Giacomazzi

This study assessed citizen attitudes toward police performance and their perceptions of policing strategy in a small, northwestern town. At the neighbourhood‐level, significant…

6048

Abstract

This study assessed citizen attitudes toward police performance and their perceptions of policing strategy in a small, northwestern town. At the neighbourhood‐level, significant differences in attitudes toward police performance (i.e. officer demeanour and citizen‐police relations) were revealed; however, variations in perceptions of community policing initiatives (i.e. collaborative police‐community partnerships) were not observed. At the individual‐level, results showed that attitudes toward police performance were not significant determinants of citizen perceptions of community policing. This evidence suggested that citizens were receptive to the idea of co‐production of order, and specifically of partnerships between residents and the police to address neighbourhood crime‐related issues. As such, these findings call into question the long standing assumption that positive attitudes toward police are a necessary precursor to the establishment of meaningful, co‐operative ties between citizens and the police.

Details

Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies & Management, vol. 21 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1363-951X

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 1 June 2009

Yassir Semmar

The purpose of this study is to gain a better insight into the reasons that make Qatar University students reluctant to attend professors’ office hours. Factor analysis was first…

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to gain a better insight into the reasons that make Qatar University students reluctant to attend professors’ office hours. Factor analysis was first conducted to reveal the components underlying this reluctance; Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) was then employed to analyze the effects of gender, GPA, credit hours completed, year of enrollment, and college/major on those factors. Results indicated that professor's competence and demeanor, course characteristics, students' social skills, attitudes/motivation, time conflict/communication style, students' apprehension as well as their physical/emotional state were all related to their reluctance to attend office hours. Moreover the predictor variables of gender, GPA, and credit hours completed had significant effects on several of those seven reluctance factors.

Details

Learning and Teaching in Higher Education: Gulf Perspectives, vol. 6 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2077-5504

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