Premium
A Longitudinal Study of Attitude Shifts among Black and White Police Officers
Author(s) -
Teahan John E.
Publication year - 1975
Publication title -
journal of social issues
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.618
H-Index - 122
eISSN - 1540-4560
pISSN - 0022-4537
DOI - 10.1111/j.1540-4560.1975.tb00739.x
Subject(s) - hostility , white (mutation) , feeling , social psychology , psychology , converse , ethnocentrism , preference , racism , gender studies , sociology , biochemistry , chemistry , geometry , mathematics , economics , gene , microeconomics
Radical increases in racial animosity between white and black officers were found from the time of entering the academy until eighteen months later. All officers seemed to become more hedonistic, impersonal, and detached, and to develop feelings of hostility toward authority figures. As black officers progressed through the academy and on into regular police work, they became increasingly negative toward whites and disillusioned with the department; they began to shift in the direction of a greater sense of black unity and polarity against whites. While blacks saw greater preference being given to whites, white officers perceived the converse with the result that they became also more ethnocentric and polarized. Little evidence was found to indicate that a police experience molds men to feel a greater sense of social concern, or that it motivates them to improve relationships between races.