Social Learning Theory Of Police

Police are often stereotyped to be authoritative, dictatorial employees of the state. According to the National Research Council (2004),”...Officers embrace attitudes that are more authoritarian than the average person and that these attitudes influence police behavior in undesirable ways” (p. 129). Through the Social Learning theory we are going to examine what and how police and police culture have been influenced to adapt to an authoritative personality, as well as perspectives on authoritative personalities. Is it that police work itself develops an authoritarian world-view, or is it that authoritarian personalities are selected for police work in the first place? The Social Learning theory fathered by Albert Bandura, suggests that learning
Because an officer work requires him to be occupied with the potential violence, he begins to develop this perception in all aspects of his life making it difficult to believe any good he sees which turns into cynicism. Police are subjected to a life full of rigidness and savagery, and “one of the most common explanations for police cynicism is public antipathy toward the police” according to Balch (p. 111). “Westley found that 73 percent of the policemen he interviewed believed the average citizen dislikes police officers” (Balch, 1970). Citizens that deal with the law often shape the perception of the officer. Public scrutiny is often what pushes police officers away from the public and begins to define the public in deviant terms just as he was defined by them. Following cynicism is bigotry. Because of cynicism and suspiciousness, it is no surprise why bigotry along with the others influence an authoritative personality. Many officers suffer from cultural shock when patrolling ghettos, so finding a high amount of prejudice among them is no surprise
“According to Watson and Sterling, the policeman’s hard-bitten pragmatism is closely tied to his cynical outlook on life” (Balch, 1972). Much of the duties of officer’s call for a right now action which makes him value a common sense approach more than a theory approach (Balch, 1972). Officers seem to have no empathy towards citizens and expect them to perform in a way they feel is appropriate. “Policemen simply spend too much time dealing with the public to escape its opinions…they are condemned and degraded by the very people they have sworn to protect (Balch, 1972). Since the job entails a certain insecurity, officers demand respect from citizens and this is where a violent authoritative behavior can arise. Police brutality is brewed into the officer as a means of getting respect rather than being violent. In many occurrences, the unprofessionalism from officers is oriented toward citizens who show no form of submission. Officers tend to believe that they need to assert their personal authority opening up a stage set for violence. Lastly, conventionalism, which mean the rigid adherence to conventional, middle-class values (Balch, 1972). Police forces are ran paramilitary style with strict discipline. It is important to the department to display values of the middle-class, whereas many officers recruited are from the working class. The discipline enforced upon the