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Police Cynicism - What We Know From the Niederhoffer Scale

NCJ Number
104453
Journal
Journal of Criminal Justice Volume: 15 Issue: 1 Dated: (1987) Pages: 17-35
Author(s)
R H Langworthy
Date Published
1987
Length
19 pages
Annotation
The Niederhoffer cynicism scale has been applied to many samples of police officers. Sometimes the scale itself has been the focus of attention; other times the correlates of cynicism have been the principal concern.
Abstract
This article reviews the police cynicism literature, describing the kinds of analyses undertaken and the generalizations apparent in the literature, and it draws several conclusions regarding police cynicism. The primary conclusion is that measurement of cynicism using the Niederhoffer scale is highly suspect; hence, the veracity of conclusions founded on the cynicism scale are questionable. (Author abstract)

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