NCJ Number
174271
Journal
Journal of Police and Criminal Psychology Volume: 13 Issue: 1 Dated: Spring 1998 Pages: 1-11
Date Published
1998
Length
11 pages
Annotation
The reasoned action model was used with 37 police academy cadets and 95 police patrol officers to predict their decisions to arrest a violent male spouse in a typical spousal violence situation.
Abstract
The reasoned action model deals with belief-based attitudes and subjective norms concerning a behavioral alternative that individuals develop through experience. To assess the model's validity, surveys were sent to 34 police academy cadets and 95 police patrol officers. All police academy cadets and 28 of 95 police patrol officers completed surveys, and the results were used to create the main assessment materials. Belief-based attitudes toward arrest and subjective norms were calculated to predict decisions to arrest a violent male spouse in a typical spousal violence situation. For police patrol officers, subjective norms significantly predicted the decision to arrest, while both attitudes and subjective norms contributed to the explanation of the decision not to arrest. Thirty percent of the variance in overall decisions of police patrol officers to arrest was predicted by attitudes and subjective norms. Police patrol officers believed more so than police cadets that the victim and the perpetrator would soon reconcile, while police cadets believed more so than police patrol officers that the victim should seek protection from a women's shelter. Arrest was clearly not an alternative police officers would choose if it not were for the even more negative outcomes associated with not arresting. Further research is recommended to cross-validate the findings and to fully replicate the reasoned action model for both cadets and officers. Sample questions used in the surveys are appended. 28 references and 1 table