April - June 2010 - Bureau of Police Research and Development

Police Sub-Culture : An Adaptation of a Scale for Indian Policemen(2003) was tested onIndian police and aadaptation of thispolice sub-culture scalewas developed forIndian policemen.MethodSampleThe sample comprised of 168 non-IPS male policefunctionaries belonging to the State of Haryana andUnion Territory of Chandigarh. These policefunctionaries ranged in rank from Constable toDeputy Superintendent of Police.The mean age of police functionaries was 43.35years (SD = 8.95). Only those police functionarieswere included in the present study who had aminimum of at least three years of continuousservice in the police organization. The mean averagelength of service was 21.29 years (SD = 9.91).TestPolice Sub-Culture Adherence Scale(Cochran and Bromley, 2003).The Police Sub-Culture Adherence Scale consistsof a total of 46 items. In this scale, functionaries,degree of adherence to the sub-culture of policingis measured by five distinct work/role orientationscales: Crime control, service, cynicism,traditionalism, receptivity to change. 13 itemsmeasure crime control, 14 items measure service,9 items measure cynicism, 6 items measuretraditionalism, 4 items measure receptivity tochange. The functionaries are required to indicatetheir responses to the items along a 5-point Likerttypescale, ranging from 'strongly agree' to 'stronglydisagree'.ProcedureThe aim of the study was to develop a standardizedmeasure to assess the police sub-culture of Indianpolicemen. For this purpose, 168 non-IPS malepolice functionaries were administered theadherence to police sub-culture scale developed byCochran & Bromley (2003). Initially, the scale wasgiven to five senior police functionaries, in order toassess the items and their relevance for use tomeasure adherence to police sub-culture on Indianpolicemen. Based on the recommendations, someminor changes were made. Thereafter, the test wasadministered to groups of functionaries of varyingranks ranging from Constable to DeputySuperintendent of Police. Data was collected insmall groups of functionaries.Scoring of the scale was done as per thespecifications given by the authors. The raw datawas analysed, means and standard deviations andCronbach Alpha reliability estimates of each of thesub-scales were computed.Results and DiscussionTable 1 shows the number of items of each subscalenamely crime control, service, cynicism andreceptivity to change and an example of a sampleitem of each. Table 2 shows the Means of theindividual scales and the Cronbach Alpha reliabilityestimates of the total sample.The Cronbach Alpha reliability of Traditionalism subscalewas found out to be 0.04 and thus it has notbeen retained in the Indian adaptation of the scale.The final version of the scale consists of a total of36 items and four sub-scales.Table 1: Modified Indian Police Sub-Culture ScaleSr. SubNo. ScaleNo. of Sample ItemItems1. Crime 12 An aggressive,Control tough bearing is moreuseful to a law enforcementpolice officer than a friendly,courteous manner.2. Service 14 Law enforcement should beseen primarily as a serviceoriented profession ratherthan a crime controlprofession3. Cyni- 6 Most people would steal ifcism they knew they would notget caught4. Rece- 4 Most changes make myptivityto work more efficient (i.e.change saves time, effort, money)10 ➢ The Indian Police Journal Vol. LVII-No. 2, April-June, 2010