A perspective on multiculturalism and policing
Cross Cultural Management: An International Journal
ISSN: 1352-7606
Article publication date: 24 October 2008
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between demographics and an employee's understanding of and support for the recruitment of culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) groups in a policing context. Design/methodology/approach – A multi‐method research approach was adopted where a postal survey, comprised of both closed and open questions, was distributed to 500 Victoria Police employees and yielded a response rate of 19.5 per cent.
Findings
The findings show that gender and higher education have significant relationships to understanding CALD and lead to significant support for the recruitment of CALD employees. Results show that the instrument utilized in this study was highly reliable with a Cronbach Alpha value of 0.802. Alpha values for “understanding” and “support” were 0.813 and 0.788, respectively. Research limitations/implications – The limitation of this study is that the findings are based on a pilot study with 97 responses.
Practical implications
The utility of the conceptual model generated in this study has practical implications and value as it is being implemented to assist Victoria Police in designing CALD policies, procedures and practices.
Originality/value
The paper proposes an empirical model showing demographics as critical determinants in understanding and support for CALD recruitment and retention in Policing. Furthermore, the conceptual model makes a significant contribution to the literature and advances Morris et al.'s model.
Keywords
Citation
McMurray, A.J. and Karim, A. (2008), "A perspective on multiculturalism and policing", Cross Cultural Management: An International Journal, Vol. 15 No. 4, pp. 321-334. https://doi.org/10.1108/13527600810914120
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2008, Emerald Group Publishing Limited