Police officers' perceptions of their job

Abstract

Police Officers' perception of their work is influenced by training and socialisation and by how satisfying or stressful their work is. This dissertation will study police officers' perceptions of their work, analysing whether it offers job satisfaction and whether this satisfaction can be increased. It will study attitudes of police officers towards proposed changes in the police force, in particular those embodied in the recently published white paper. It will also attempt to describe moves towards professionalism and community policing. The study will examine the perceptions of male and female officers from different departments and of different ranks. Officers will be interviewed about various aspects of their job including motivations for entering police work training, job satisfaction and career goals. Relevant literature and other research findings will corroborate these interviews.