A Longitudinal Study of the Effects of Academy Socialization on Police Integrity

• DOI: 10.1177/10986111211029958
• Date: 01 December 2021
• Published date: 01 December 2021
• Subject Matter: Articles

Article

A Longitudinal Study of

the Effects of Academy

Socialization on Police

Integrity

Amie M. Schuck

1

and

Cara E. Rabe-Hemp

2

Abstract

The objective of this study was to examine changes in American recruits’ percep-

tions of the seriousness of behaviors related to police integrity from the beginning to

the end of their academy training. Using a sample of 655 recruits from multiple

academies in the United States, multilevel growth models were used. The results

showed that the recruits rated scales related to misconduct, code of silence, and a

noble cause less seriously at the end than at the beginning of their training. The

results also showed that ethics training mitigated the effects of socialization, while

organizational injustice intensified the effects of socialization. Female recruits rated

the behaviors more seriously at the beginning and the end of training compared to

male recruits. The results confirm the role of the academy in socializing officers into

the negative aspects of the traditional police culture and highlight important avenues

for police reform.

Keywords

code of silence, corruption, female officers, integrity, misconduct, noble cause,

organizational justice, police misconduct, training

1

University of Illinois at Chicago, Illinois, United States

2

Illinois State University, Normal, Illinois, United States

Corresponding Author:

Amie M. Schuck, 1007 West Harrison St., Chicago, IL 60607, United States.

Email: amms@uic.edu

Police Quarterly

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DOI: 10.1177/10986111211029958

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2021, Vol. 24(4) 578 –606

Schuck and Rabe-Hemp 579

Police integrity is “the normative inclination among police to resist temptations

to abuse the rights and privileges of their occupation” (Klockars et al., 2007,

p. 1). The perception that police lack integrity is a substantial barrier to building

constructive police–community partnerships and maintaining public trust in the

police (Gaffigan & McDonald, 1997). Integrity is a feature of both an officer

and an agency. Research on officer integrity generally focuses on studying

correlates of moral attitudes, acts of corruption, and general misconduct

(Chappell & Piquero, 2004; Donner et al., 2016; Donner & Jennings, 2014;

Pogarsky & Piquero, 2004; Wolfe & Piquero, 2011). Research on agency integ-

rity often compares integrity levels across police organizations and within

departments across operational units (Alain et al., 2020; Maska

´ly et al., 2020)

and concentrates on the degree to which leaders communicate and enforce rules

and the willingness of employees to actively participate in helping maintain

standards (Klockars et al., 2007; Skolnick, 2002). While scholarship on police

integrity has helped inform public policy (US Department of Justice, 2001), to

sustain high ethical standards for officers and law enforcement agencies, there is

an urgent need for additional research aimed at refining our understanding of

the formation of police attitudes toward integrity.

The aim of this study is to examine the effect of socialization during academy

training on recruits’ perceptions of the seriousness of behaviors related to police

integrity. Research shows that officers’ attitudes regarding the seriousness of

integrity behaviors are one of the strongest predictors of their willingness to

report misconduct (Kutnjak Ivkovi

c et al., 2013, 2018). Occupational socializa-

tion is the process of acquiring and internalizing the beliefs, values, norms, and

techniques of a profession (J. E. Van Maanen & Schein, 1977). It is how an

apprentice learns the skills necessary to become a capable and productive

member of the occupation and is generally divided into six stages: anticipatory

socialization, career selection, introduction to the occupation and initial social-

ization, real-world experiences, metamorphosis into a full member of the occu-

pation, and continuing commitment (Moore, 1969; Sherman, 1982).

In law enforcement, the socialization process includes learning laws, proce-

dures, and methods as well as internalizing attitudes about the public and police

that are congruous with those of other members of the organization. The social-

ization process during academy training is envisioned as a process of personal

metamorphosis (Chan et al., 2003; Sherman, 1982; Van Maanen, 1973), whereby

a civilian is transformed into a street cop. However, this metamorphosis may

not always be positive. Conventional wisdom suggests that most new recruits

enter the occupation with noble ideals and high expectations; however, by the

time they start working on the street, many would have embraced the negative

aspects of the “canteen subculture,” including cynicism, suspicion, racial dis-

crimination, and deviant practices (McNamara, 1967; Muir, 1977; Sherman,

1982; Skolnick, 1966; Van Maanen, 1973; Waddington, 1999; Westley, 1970).

Using data collected from 655 recruits in the United States, this study examines

2Police Quarterly 0(0)