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- Title
Samozaznava legitimnosti policistk in policistov v Sloveniji.
- Authors
Čuvan, Barbara; Meško, Gorazd
- Abstract
Purpose: The article presents the results of a survey on self-legitimacy and related variables (demographic variables, perceived citizens' opinions about police legitimacy, relations with colleagues, procedural justice and pro-organizational behaviour) of Slovenian police officers. The study was conducted in 2013. The main goal of our research was to identify differences and similarities between female and male police officers. Methods: The survey was conducted in 24 police stations (small, medium, and large) in all eight police directorates in the Republic of Slovenia in June 2013. The study included 417 male and 104 female police officers. Data were analysed by way of quantitative statistical methods (descriptive statistics, t-test, correlation analysis and regression analysis). Findings: The results based on factors self-legitimacy, perception of citizens' opinion about police legitimacy, relations between colleagues, procedural justice of superiors and pro-organisational behaviour showed that there are no significant statistical differences between female and male police officers. The comparisons have shown that male police officers rated their police authority in a more positive manner, expressed a higher level of agreement with the statement on the importance of the role of police in crime prevention, and perceived more trust and support of their peer-officers. Interestingly, male police officers estimated citizens' opinion on fairness in police procedures more positively than female police officers, but male police officers believed that citizens perceive more corruption in the police than female police officers. Male police officers also expressed a higher level of affiliation to the police organization and are more willing to tell others that they work in the police than female police officers. Female police officers assessed the attitude of supervisors towards police officers more positively and believed that the use of excessive force is more acceptable and that their workload is greater than the workload of male police officers. Correlations of variables with self-legitimacy show various correlations for female and male police officers. Research Limitations/Implications: Analyses show that Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) sampling adequacy ratio was appropriate. The sample of male police officers (80 %) and female police officers (20 %) reflects the ratio between the male and female police officers in Slovenia. The findings indicate some important differences in the perception of self-legitimacy. The study is useful for further research on legitimacy, especially with a focus on the use of qualitative research methods. Practical Implications: The findings can be used as a starting point for a discussion on police work of male and female police officers in Slovenia, and their perceptions of police work, police organization, and their relations with citizens. This is important because female police officers were more oriented towards the police organization and support by their colleagues. For them, a reflection on the importance of the citizens' feedback on their legitimacy is less typical. In this sense, female police officers seem to take into consideration only one component of the duality of legitimacy (what peer-officers think about their police competencies and how they assess their own ability to legally and legitimately perform police tasks). The public opinion does not affect their assessment of competencies and moral views, as it does with male police officers. Originality/Value: The article represents original research work using the survey questions on self-legitimacy, citizens' opinion on legitimacy of police officers, relations between colleagues, procedural justice of supervisors, and pro-organizational behaviour. The previous studies primarily examined self-legitimacy of male (or all) police officers and did not focus on self-legitimacy of female police officers or on a comparison between female and male police officers.
- Publication
Varstvoslovje: Journal of Criminal Justice & Security, 2015, Vol 17, Issue 3, p318
- ISSN
1580-0253
- Publication type
Article