Job Satisfaction of Police Psychologists

Abstract

This study describes the relationships among job satisfaction, perceived officer animosity, job involvement, time investment in different psychological services, and personal characteristics of law enforcement psychologists. Subjects were 28 male and 19 female police psychologists drawn from the Directory of Division 18, Police and Public Safety Section, of the American Psychological Association. They worked both in-house and as consultants. All subjects were contacted by telephone and given a structured interview. Results indicated that police psychologists were extremely satisfied with their jobs, and perceived little officer animosity, no matter how much of their professional time was devoted to law enforcement work. In addition, police psychologists spend much more of their professional time doing counseling, and screening and selection, than doing training and organizational development. Finally, the counseling activity was significantly related to two important demographic variables: status (in-house or consultant) and sex. Counseling was done mostly in-house, and largely by female police psychologist.