Social bonds and police misconduct: An examination of social control theory and its relationship to workplace deviance among police supervisors
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between social control (adult social bonds) and police misconduct.
Design/methodology/approach
Multiple regression methods are used to analyze survey data from a sample of 101 first-line police supervisors. A consequence-based measure is used to capture social bonds and workplace deviance is measured as the self-reported likelihood of future misconduct.
Findings
Police supervisors reported varying likelihoods of future workplace deviance across four acts of misconduct. Social control was found to be negatively related to three of the four acts, which provides general support for the theory and study hypothesis.
Practical implications
The results are discussed in terms of research and policy implications.
Originality/value
Acknowledging important gaps in the literature, this study explores the validity of social control theory for explaining police misconduct.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
This work was performed under a subcontract to the University of South Florida from the University of Illinois at Chicago and made possible by Grant Number 2008-DN-BX-0005 from the National Institute of Justice. Viewpoints are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institute of Justice. The authors appreciate the anonymous reviewers for providing helpful comments to an earlier draft of this manuscript, and the lead author would additionally like to thank Melissa Anderson for her research assistance.
Citation
Donner, C., Maskaly, J. and Fridell, L. (2016), "Social bonds and police misconduct: An examination of social control theory and its relationship to workplace deviance among police supervisors", Policing: An International Journal, Vol. 39 No. 2, pp. 416-431. https://doi.org/10.1108/PIJPSM-10-2015-0109
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2016, Emerald Group Publishing Limited