The Effect of Layoff on Police Authoritarianism

Abstract

Researchers generally agree with the idea of the police personality; however, there exists disagreement as to whether it is primarily attributable to predispositional traits or on-the-job socialization. As a test of the two major theoretical models, two groups of recalled police officers who were laid off approximately one and two years, respectively, were administered the short-form Rokeach Dogmatism Scale. Employment status during layoff was considered essential in comparing authoritarian levels between the two groups. It was hypothesized that if authoritarian levels of both groups, regardless of layoff employment status, did not differ significantly, then the predispositional model would be supported. If the groups' levels of authoritarianism did vary significantly, then the socialization model would have merit. Although race and age are associated with authoritarianism levels, the results support the predispositional model. Implications from the findings are discussed.