Graduation Year

2009

Document Type

Thesis

Degree

M.A.

Degree Granting Department

Criminology

Major Professor

Lorie Fridell, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Christopher Sullivan, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Shayne Jones, Ph.D.

Keywords

police stress, intimate partner violence, police personality, gender, Tobit regression

Abstract

The most recent research in police domestic violence has shown that officers may perpetrate domestic violence at a higher rate than the general population, 28% versus 16%, respectively (Sgambelluri, 2000). Traditional police sub-culture has been identified, in several studies, as contributing to higher work stress, and using force on the job (Alexander et al., 1993; Drummond, 1976; Johnson et al, 2005; Kop and Euwema, 2001; Sgambelluri, 2000; Wetendorf, 2000). This research, however, has not fully examined the link between adherence to the traditional police sub-culture and officer involvement in domestic violence. This study attempts to identify whether officers who adhere to the aspects of the traditional police sub-culture are more likely to use violence against their intimate partner using two types of domestic violence-physical assault and psychological violence-as well as examine gender's moderating influence on police domestic violence and traditional police sub-culture. Using a survey created from existing scales, 250 officers were contacted within several departments in Central Florida, of these, 90 officers responded. Using Tobit and Logistic Regression the study found that officers who adhere to aspects of the traditional police subculture are more likely to engage in psychological domestic violence. There was no relationship found between traditional police culture and physical domestic violence. A thorough discussion of the results and future research directions is also included.

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