ABSTRACT

Occupational stress influences many aspects of policing and can contribute to unacceptable attitudes and behaviors among law enforcement officers. Specifically, officers with greater workload stressors may be more likely to hold attitudes favorable toward police misconduct. Yet, we predict that organizational justice may inhibit the effect of such stressors on attitudes toward misconduct. We used survey data from a sample of 437 police officers serving in eight California agencies to examine the role of organizational justice and workload stressor on officers’ beliefs in noble-cause corruption (e.g., an end justifies the means attitude). Officers who viewed their workload as taxing held stronger attitudes favorable toward noble-cause corruption (OR = 1.23, 95% CI [1.03, 1.46], p = .019). Furthermore, organizational justice moderated the effect of workload stressor on noble-cause corruption beliefs (OR = 0.75, 95% CI [0.57, 1.00], p = .049), such that workload had a weaker relationship with noble-cause corruption beliefs among officers who believed their command staff was organizationally fair. In the end, perceptions of fair supervisory treatment help buffer police officers from the negative consequences of an overburdened workload. From a practical standpoint, the results underscore the importance of police managers incorporating organizational justice into their managerial practices. However, whether police managers can be trained on the use of organizational justice remains open to empirical scrutiny.

摘要

职业压力影响警务的许多方面，并可能导致执法人员的不可接受的态度和行为。具体来说，工作压力更大的警官可能更有可能对警察的不当行为持有利态度。然而，我们预测组织公正可能会抑制这种压力源对不当行为态度的影响。我们使用来自加利福尼亚州八个机构的 437 名警官样本的调查数据来检验组织正义和工作量压力源对警官对高尚腐败的信念的作用（例如，目的证明手段态度是正确的）。将工作量视为负担的官员对高尚的腐败持更强烈的态度（OR = 1.23, 95% CI [1.03, 1.46], p= .019)。此外，组织公平缓和了工作量压力源对高尚腐败信念的影响（OR = 0.75, 95% CI [0.57, 1.00], p = .049），因此工作量与高尚腐败信念之间的关系较弱。相信他们的指挥人员在组织上是公平的。最后，对公平监管待遇的看法有助于减轻警察因工作负担过重而产生的负面影响。从实际的角度来看，结果强调了警察管理者将组织正义纳入其管理实践的重要性。然而，是否可以对警察管理人员进行有关使用组织正义的培训，仍有待实证研究。