Organizational Justice, Police Attitudes, and Work-Related Outcomes

Session Submission Type: Complete Thematic Panel

Abstract

Research has uncovered several important individual and organizational factors that impact both beneficial and counterproductive work behaviors among officers. Papers within this thematic session will examine how such factors—particularly organizational justice—shape important contemporary police outcomes. The first presentation by Gau and Paoline will explore the role of work climate and organizational attitudes on officers’ acceptance of procedural justice as a necessary component of their encounters with citizens. Second, Kochel will discuss how factors such as organizational justice and self-legitimacy impact officers’ motivation, self-reported proactivity, apprehension about using force, desire to work in the community, and enjoyment in having a law enforcement career. This study uses a sample of officers who dealt specifically with the civil unrest in Ferguson, MO. Last, Wolfe’s presentation will examine the causal mechanisms that may tie officers’ perceptions of organizational justice to employee satisfaction by drawing on uncertainty management theory. This panel weaves together a common thread: organizational justice and other officer attitudes impact outcomes of interest to today’s policing.

Sub Unit

• Area VIII. Policing / 44. Police, Communities, and Legitimacy

Division of Special Interest

• Divisions of Special Interest / Division of Policing

Individual Presentations

• Police Officers’ Attitudinal Barriers to Procedural Justice and Legitimacy Training - Jacinta Gau, UCF; Eugene Paoline, University of Central Florida

• Impact of Handling the Ferguson Unrest on Officers’ Motivation, Proactivity, and Use of Force - Tammy Rinehart Kochel, Southern Illinois University

• Why Does Organizational Justice Matter? Uncertainty Management among Border Patrol Agents - Scott E Wolfe, Michigan State University; Jeff Rojek, UTEP; Allison Rojek, UTEP; Vic Manjarrez, UTEP

Chairs

• Scott E Wolfe, Michigan State University

• Joseph A Hamm, Michigan State University

Discussant

• Edward Maguire, Arizona State University