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Evaluation of a community psychology approach to police training
Author(s) -
Veno Arthur,
Gardner James M.
Publication year - 1979
Publication title -
journal of community psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.585
H-Index - 86
eISSN - 1520-6629
pISSN - 0090-4392
DOI - 10.1002/1520-6629(197907)7:3<210::aid-jcop2290070304>3.0.co;2-3
Subject(s) - cadet , psychology , construct (python library) , applied psychology , industrial and organizational psychology , training (meteorology) , community psychology , medical education , social psychology , medicine , physics , archaeology , meteorology , computer science , history , programming language
This study examined the outcome of a police‐training program with a general‐systems‐based community psychology orientation. A course evaluation questionnaire and a 52‐item attitude questionnaire were administered. The response of the Police Department as a social system was also considered. On the basis of the results of this procedure, the following conclusions were made: (1) the participants found the course valuable, interesting, and approved the format and content of the course; (2) the participants developed a heightened psychological sense of community with Aborigines and the mentally ill which was maintained over a year later; (3) the participants developed a decreased psychological sense of community with homosexuals which dissipated over the year's time; and (4) the Queensland Police Department will use this course as a model for all future training of inspectors and will use elements of this course at the cadet‐training level. The more general implications of our study are that: (1) a community psychology approach to police‐psychologist collaboration is possibly more efficient than other approaches in that negative or undesirable incidents are less likely to occur; (2) evaluation in terms of at least one community psychology construct is a possible and functional framework within which to view police‐psychologist collaboration.