THE MAJOR VARIABLES INVESTIGATED IN THE STUDY WERE REFERENCE GROUP AFFILIATION, REFERENCE GROUP INFLUENCE, AND SITUATIONAL AND INDIVIDUALISTIC ENHANCERS AND RETARDANTS OF THE SOCIALIZATION PROCESS. THE HYPOTHESES WERE EVALUATED USING LONGITUDINAL SURVEY DATA COLLECTED FROM A POLICE RECRUIT SAMPLE AND A COMPARISON SAMPLE OF PATROLMEN WITH ONE YEAR OR MORE OF POLICE EXPERIENCE. THE MAJOR FINDINGS OF THIS RESEARCH WERE: REFERENCE GROUP AFFILIATION DOES NOT ADEQUATELY EXPLAIN CHANGES IN RECRUIT VALUE SYSTEMS IN THE SOCIALIZATION EXPERIENCE; RECRUIT ETHNICITY OPERATES AS AN INITIAL RETARDANT, AND A COLLEGE EDUCATION OPERATES AS AN INITIAL ENHANCER FOR SOCIALIZATION; NEITHER EDUCATIONAL LEVEL NOR ETHNICITY AFFECTS AFFILIATION WITH REFERENCE GROUPS OTHER THAN THE DOMINANT POLICE GROUP; AND SITUATIONAL VARIABLES SUCH AS THE LEVEL OF ANTICIPATORY SOCIALIZATION OR WORK-RELATED CONFRONTATIONS DO NOT AFFECT THE DEGREE OF REFERENCE GROUP AFFILIATION OR INFLUENCE. (AUTHOR ABSTRACT)...KAP