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Attitudinal Differences Between Taiwanese and American Police Officers

NCJ Number
215357
Journal
Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies & Management Volume: 29 Issue: 2 Dated: 2006 Pages: 190-210
Author(s)
Ivan Y. Sun; Doris Chu
Date Published
2006
Length
21 pages
Annotation
This study compared the attitudes of Taiwanese and U.S. police officers regarding aggressive law enforcement, legal restrictions, and citizen support.
Abstract
Results indicated that compared to their U.S. counterparts, Taiwanese police officers were more likely to have a broader role orientation, positive attitudes toward aggressive law enforcement, and negative attitudes toward citizen support and legal restrictions. The findings reflect the social, cultural, and political traditions under which the police in Taiwan operate. For example, Taiwanese police most likely have a broader role orientation because they have historically been assigned a wide range of social functions. Other findings revealed that Taiwanese officers in different departments hold similar job-related attitudes while U.S. officers’ attitudes differ widely between departments. The findings suggest that police administrators, particularly in Taiwan, should develop strategies to improve officers’ negative attitudes toward citizens. Participants were 288 officers from 2 Taiwanese police departments and 638 officers from 2 U.S. police departments who completed face-to-face survey interviews on a voluntary basis. Statistical data analysis included mean comparisons and multivariate regressions. Future research should consider adding more attitudinal measures and collecting data from non-English speaking countries. Tables, references