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Is policing becoming a tainted profession? Media, public perceptions, and implications
Author(s) -
Chatterjee Deepshikha,
Ryan Ann Marie
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
journal of organizational behavior
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.938
H-Index - 177
eISSN - 1099-1379
pISSN - 0894-3796
DOI - 10.1002/job.2471
Subject(s) - distrust , stigma (botany) , community policing , perception , public relations , power (physics) , public opinion , social media , criminology , social psychology , psychology , sociology , political science , law , politics , physics , quantum mechanics , psychiatry , neuroscience
Summary Stigmatized professions are those where physical, social, and/or moral taints are applied. Stigma theorists hold that stigma is socially communicated and changes over time, but it is unclear if stigma content can be applied to those who are seen as powerful. Two studies examined how the impact of sociopolitical discourses on policing, a profession that carries legitimate power, on the tainting of the profession and distrust in policing. In an examination of archival news media clips on policing ( N = 200), results show that media coverage over time (between 2011 and 2016) has used a more negative tone in discussing police–citizen interactions, and these findings varied by conservative versus liberal media. Importantly, across media sources, taints were ascribed to policing. In a second survey study, individuals directly ascribed taints to policing ( N = 169). Relative to other jobs, policing was categorized as a pervasively stigmatized job (i.e., high frequency and strong potency of taints were applied). It was also found that those who discussed media stories tended to distrust police more. Implications for efforts to recruit, select, and train officers and to improve police–community relations are discussed; findings may also generalize to other public and community facing professions.