Measuring attitudes toward police use of force: Psychometric properties of a self-administered questionnaire

• In Event: Posters I

Abstract

Interventions during which police officers use force are undeniable sources of controversy within society. In psychometric terms, one's attitude toward police use of force constitutes a latent trait - an abstract and unobservable concept embedded in an individual's psychology. Considering this, the current study aims to determine if attitudes toward police use of force can be empirically seized and systematically measured. To do so, attitudes toward police use of force of 2 724 college students in the province of Quebec (Canada) were collected using a self-administered questionnaire. Firstly, Item Response Theory was employed in order to verify whether this questionnaire manages to adequately grasp these attitudes. Secondly, Differential Item Functioning analyses were performed in order to attest whether the questionnaire provides a measure as valid (1) for females (n = 1 180) and for males (n = 1 327), as well as (2) for in-training police candidates (n = 1 690) and for other college students (n = 799). In conclusion, the advantages of a systematic measure of attitudes toward police use of force as well as strategies to improve the psychometric properties of the instrument devoted to measuring this latent trait for different populations are discussed.

Authors

• Camille Faubert, Université de Montréal

• Jean-Pierre Guay, University of Montreal

• Rémi Boivin, Université de Montréal