Prior research has established that low self-control is significantly related to negative police behavior, but no known study has investigated the development of self-control in those individuals who become police officers, and its subsequent relationship to police misconduct. To that end, structural equation modeling is used to test the theoretical causal sequence linking effective parenting, self-control, and adherence to the police code of silence among a multi-agency sample of 1,072 police recruits. Though our data offer some support for the parental management hypothesis and for the relationship between low self-control and deviance, the results demonstrate that these propositions are not as clear-cut as theoretically presented. This study offers insight into these complicated relationships and the findings yield important policy implications for police administrators.
(Publisher abstract provided.)