Exploring the Relationship between Effective Parenting, Self-Control, and Adherence to the Police Code of Silence

ABSTRACT

Prior research has established that low self-control is significantly related to negative police behavior, but no known study has investigated the development of self-control in those individuals who become police officers, and its subsequent relationship to police misconduct. To that end, structural equation modeling is used to test the theoretical causal sequence linking effective parenting, self-control, and adherence to the police code of silence among a multi-agency sample of 1,072 police recruits. Though our data offer some support for the parental management hypothesis and for the relationship between low self-control and deviance, the results demonstrate that these propositions are not as clear-cut as theoretically presented. This study offers insight into these complicated relationships and the findings yield important policy implications for police administrators.

Acknowledgement

This work was performed under a subcontract to the University of South Florida from the University of Illinois at Chicago and made possible by grant number 2008-DN-BX-0005 from the National Institute of Justice. Contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institute of Justice. The authors would like to express our appreciation to the anonymous reviewers for their comments and suggestions on an earlier draft of this manuscript. This version has been considerably improved because of their efforts.

Notes

¹ While some police officers may accept the code of silence as a normative practice within the police culture (see e.g., Ivkovic 2005; Long et al. 2013), failing to report a fellow officer’s misconduct demonstrates a lack of integrity. Such behavior is, at best, a violation of department policy and, at worst, a crime. The Los Angeles Police Department, for example, mandates in its department manual that employees report all alleged policy violations to a supervisor or Internal Affairs. Several states (e.g., Texas) also have criminal laws regarding the failure to report serious forms of misconduct, such as felony offenses.

² It is important to acknowledge that some research – contrary to Gottfredson and Hirschi’s premise – suggests that other factors influence individuals’ levels of self-control. These factors include genetics and neuropsychological functioning (Boisvert et al. 2012), peer associations (Meldrum and Hay 2012), school environment (Botchkovar et al. 2015), and neighborhood context (Gibson et al. 2010).

³ All of the participants were employed by the agency that sponsored their attendance at the academy, and each of the recruits went through a substantively similar selection process before being hired.

⁴ Using face validity of the current survey items as well as the similarity of items in previously-validated scales (e.g., Grasmick et al. 1993; Tangney, Baumeister, and Boone 2004), it became clear that the current survey items that comprise this variable reflect both the impulsivity and temper dimensions of low self-control. CFA results demonstrated that these items loaded on a single latent factor and could not be separated out. Accordingly, we treat this variable as a combined impulsivity/temper construct.

⁵ It is important to note that the job satisfaction and cynicism measures are measuring recruits’ pre-service levels of satisfaction and cynicism. In effect, these are baseline measures. While these recruits are just beginning their policing careers at the academy, many departments (e.g., Hillsborough County, FL Sheriff’s Office) utilize “pre-academies” to gauge their new hires. Research has demonstrated that the police socialization process begins even prior the start of the academy (e.g., Van Maanen 1975), and many recruits come into the profession with pre-existing attitudes toward the profession, such as varying levels of cynicism (e.g., Enciso, Maskaly, and Donner 2017).

⁶ The initial models are available upon request.

⁷ The full sensitivity analyses are available from the authors upon request.

⁸ It is important to recognize that different parenting styles exist and that “effective parenting” may not mean the same thing for all parents and their children (e.g., Smetana 1995).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Christopher M. Donner

Christopher M. Donner is an assistant professor in the Department of Criminal Justice & Criminology at the Loyola University Chicago, and he received his Ph.D. in Criminology from the University of South Florida. His current research focuses on police misconduct, with a particular emphasis on the etiology of such behavior. His recent research has been published in Police Quarterly, the Journal of Criminal Justice, and Police Practice & Research. He can be reached at [email protected].

Jon Maskaly

Jon Maskaly is an assistant professor in the criminology program within the School of Economic, Political, and Policy Sciences at the University of Texas at Dallas. His scholarship focuses on issues related to the police, communities and crime, and the relationship between the police and the community. His recent research has been published in Criminal Justice Review, the Journal of Interpersonal Violence, and the Journal of Crime & Justice. He can be reached at [email protected].

Nicole Popovich

Nicole Popovich is a graduate student in the Department of Criminal Justice & Criminology at Loyola University Chicago, and she received her B.S. in Sociology from the University of Wisconsin–La Crosse. She is currently working on a focused deterrence project with the Rockford, IL police department and recently completed an internship with their crime analysis unit. She can be reached at [email protected].

Kanani N. Thompson

Kanani N. Thompson is an investigative analyst for KENTECH Consulting. She received her M.A. in Criminal Justice & Criminology at Loyola University Chicago. Her research interests include police misconduct, police use of force, and forensic science. She can be reached at [email protected].