Social Bonds and Police Misconduct: An Examination of Social Control Theory and Its Relationship to Workplace Deviance Among Police Supervisors

• NCJ Number: 251310
• Journal: Policing-an International Journal of Police Strategies & Management Volume: 39 Issue: 2 Dated: 2016 Pages: 416-431
• Author(s): C. Donner; J. Maskaly; L. Fridell
• Date Published: 2016
• Length: 16 pages
• Grant Number(s): 2008-DN-BX-0005
• Agencies: NIJ-Sponsored
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical)
• Award: Advancing Knowledge and Practice in Policing: A Longitudinal Platform for National Research

Annotation

This study examined the relationship between social control (adult social bonds) and police misconduct.

Abstract

Multiple regression methods were used to analyze survey data from a sample of 101 first-line police supervisors. A consequence-based measure was used to capture social bonds, and workplace deviance was measured as the self-reported likelihood of future misconduct. 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. The results are discussed in terms of research and policy implications. (Publisher abstract modified)