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Publication
Attitudes of police recruits towards offenders: the Impact of the police training on attitudinal change
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Advisor(s)
Abstract(s)
The traditional prevailing perspectives on attitudes assume that attitudes, once formed, are relatively stable over time. However,
research has revealed that attitudes may be influenced by different factors that may change them. The present pre-posttest
study aims to understand if the police recruits’ attitudes towards offenders change after police training and analyse the
impact of sociodemographic and personality variables on recruits’ attitudes towards offenders. The Attitude Scale towards
Offenders (ATO) and the NEO-FFI Personality Inventory were used in a sample of 74 recruits of a Portuguese Police Force
at the beginning and the end of the police training program. Results revealed that, at the end of the training, recruits hold
more negative attitudes towards offenders. Those who had previous professional experience in the army hold more positive
attitudes, but only at the beginning of the training. Only attitudes towards offenders at the beginning of the police training
program predict recruits’ attitudes towards offenders at the end of the training. These results emphasize the importance of
initial and continuous training of recruits and police officers.
Description
Keywords
Attitudes Offenders Police recruits Police training
Citation
Cunha, O., Carvalho, F., de Castro Rodrigues, A., Cruz, A. R., & Gonçalves, R. A. (2021). Attitudes of police recruits towards offenders: The impact of the police training on attitudinal change. Journal of Police and Criminal Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11896-021-09484-5
Publisher
Springer Verlag