Jack R. Greene

A Macro-Level Model of School Disorder:

Drawing on school climate theory and social disorganization theory, this article examines the influence of major institutional and community factors on disorder in Philadelphia public schools. Using U.S. census data, school district data, and police data, the authors examined the following predictors of disorder in 43 middle schools: community poverty and residential stability, community crime, school size, and school stability. Community was conceptualized in two ways: local (the census tract around the school) and imported (aggregated measures from the census tracts in which students actually reside). Previous studies have failed to make this distinction when assessing community-level influences on school disorder. The authors used path analysis to examine direct and indirect relationships between community characteristics (poverty, residential stability, crime rates), school size, school stability (a factor score based on student attendance and turnover), and school disorder (a factor score based on school incident data and dismissal rates). The local community model fit the data better than the imported model: The communities immediately surrounding schools have a stronger influence on school disorder than the communities from which students are drawn. Community poverty exerted strong indirect effects on school disorder in both models. The effects of community variables on school disorder were strongly mediated by school stability, illustrating that analyses of institutional processes have much to add to the explanation of school disorder.

Police Officer Job Satisfaction and Community Perceptions: Implications for Community-Oriented Policing

Much of the current interest in community-oriented policing seeks to overcome tension between police officers and community residents, as a symbolic component of this new policing strategy. Similarly, many community-oriented policing programs seek to improve individual police officer attachment to the police occupation, generally by improving job satisfaction through some form of job enlargement or job enrichment. The current analysis examines a sample of 210 Philadelphia police officers participating in a program of police and community education as to components of job satisfaction and attachment, and their effects on perceptions of the quality of community and police interaction. Assessments of job satisfaction using job diagnostic instruments are examined in relation to perceptions of community conflict and support for the police, and greater police and community interaction. The implications of these findings for community-oriented policing are then discussed.

Applying Tittle’s control balance theory to police deviance

The work of scholars who study police deviance has yet to result in the development of a substantive theory with which to frame their collective efforts. Recently, Tittle advanced a general theory of deviance that may help to fill this gap. The central premise of Tittle’s control balance theory is that the amount of control to which one is subject relative to the amount of control one can exercise (the control ratio) affects both the probability of deviance as well as the specific form of deviance. Examines the utility of control balance as a new theoretical orientation in police deviance research. Presents a framework for conceptualizing control balance within the special context of police deviance and, using data collected specifically for the purpose of operationalizing the control ratio, provides an empirical test. The data are drawn from a survey administered to 499 Philadelphia police officers. Scenario methodology was used to investigate the effects of officer control ratios on the probability of reporting a fellow officer who covers up an incident in which another officer was discovered driving while intoxicated (off duty), and second physically abuses a suspect in custody. Consistent with predictions derived from Tittle’s theory, results indicated that officers with control deficits are more likely to report fellow officers who engage in the behaviors portrayed in the scenarios. Future research directions are discussed.

Evaluating Women On Patrol: A Critique of Contemporary Wisdom

This article provides an empirical analysis and a qualitative assessment of the major evaluations of policewomens performance: A number of problems common to research on women are identified. In particular, there is a tendency to emphasize situations and characteristics associated with a male stereotype. Also, policewomen are often evaluated on criteria unrelated to police performance and in situations unrepresentative of police work. Other difficulties with evaluations of policewomen include a failure to control for Type 1 error for multiple tests; a disregard for variance in the consideration of female-male differences; disregard for workplace variation as a possible explanation of female-male differences; and the lack of methods to identify frequent tasks, important tasks, and good performance. The types of problems that characterize the research on policewomen should be avoided in evaluations of people in any jobs that are dominated by one gender group.

Patterns of entry, professional identity, and attitudes toward crime-related education: A study of criminal justice and criminology faculty

Abstract In the field of crime-related education, examination of the characteristics of teaching, research, and institutional differences has recently been a concern. This study examines full-time faculty ( N =929) and their patterns of entry, including academic degree held, academic major, past academic and agency experience, and type of institution; and the extent to which differing methods of access are associated with attitudes toward research, scholarship, agency practice, academic collegiality, and orientation toward crime-related study. Dual paradigms seem to exist in crime-related education: one centering on teaching, field practice, and professionalism; the other on research, scholarship, and the more traditional values of academe.

Discretion and gender disproportionality in police disciplinary systems

Police supervisor decision making with regard to disciplinary action has received scant empirical study in general, and has yet to be examined across gender. In this paper, we use official departmental disciplinary data from the Philadelphia Police Department for the period 1991‐1998 to study the extent to which gender parity exists in the formal disciplinary system. Three questions are investigated: (1) Is there an observable gender disproportionality in the police discipline punishment rates? (2) Is any observed gender disproportionality attributable to gender discrimination in the police disciplinary process or some earlier decision stage? (3) If any observed disproportionality is not attributable to the police disciplinary process, does the aggregate finding mask variation within offense categories? Three findings emanate from our effort. First, the results suggest that there is a minimal observed gender disproportionality. Second, with roughly 100 per cent of the observed gender disproportionality attributable to differential involvement in charging, it appears that the observed disparity can not be attached to the police disciplinary process. Third, the aggregate analysis masks offense‐specific variation in the percentage disproportionality unexplained by differential involvement in charging. Implications for police disciplinary practices and directions for future research are addressed.

Assessing the Interrelationships between Perceptions of Impact and Job Satisfaction: A Comparison of Traditional and Community-Oriented Policing Officers

The relationship between officer involvement in community policing and job satisfaction is poorly understood and in need of greater empirical articulation. Using data collected as part of a federally funded community policing program in Philadelphia, this article analyzes the relationships between assignment to a traditional or community policing role, officer perceptions of impact, and three dimensions of job satisfaction. Structural equation modeling is used to explore the causal relationships between these constructs. A series of structural models suggest that, in general, the path leading to job satisfaction is very similar for traditional and community-oriented police officers. In addition, the results suggest that perceived job impact is largely determined by job satisfaction such that officers who are more satisfied with their job are more likely to perceive that they are having an impact, a finding that was invariant across officer patrol type (motorized or community). The implications for improved service delivery through assignment to community policing roles are discussed.

MERGING PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SECURITY FOR COLLECTIVE BENEFIT: PHILADELPHIA'S CENTER CITY DISTRICT

Gives historical background to the new interest in “showcasing” inner cities of the USA. Focuses on Philadelphia as an example of government‐business alliance. Notes the former negative attitudes of public and private police toward each other and contrasts this with the growing understanding of their complementary roles.

Community Policing and the Rule of Law

Over the course of American history, much has been made of the distinction between “government by laws” and “government by men.” Different times and circumstances have evoked calls for more of one and less of the other, to rectify what reformers perceived as the faults of the current imbalance between the two. When government seems too corrupt, inefficient, or unequal in its treatment of the governed, stronger laws and more rules and regulations are called for. When government seems too unresponsive, inflexible, and ineffective, the call is to lighten the burden of rigid laws and allow citizens to govern themselves as exigencies dictate.

Does Community Policing Generate Greater Numbers and Different Types of Citizen Complaints than Traditional Policing

Recent policing literature suggests that community policing and problem solving will generate additional ethical dilemmas at the officer and organizational levels. As a result, several scholars have argued that police agencies might see an increase in the generation of citizen complaints. Using official departmental complaints data collected for all graduates of a recent Philadelphia Police Academy class, the authors examine the effects of role assignment (i.e., community vs. traditional policing) and other individual-level variables on complaint generation for a period of 3.5 years after graduation. The authors test the hypotheses that the proportion of officers assigned to community policing roles and traditional policing roles who have generated (a) citizen complaints, (b) different types of complaints, and (c) multiple complaints is equal. The results suggest that both groups generate complaints in equivalent proportions. The authors then shift to individual-level predictors of complaint generation in the same cohort of officers. Logistic regression results indicate that several individual-level variables are significantly related to complaint generation, whereas role assignment is not. Implications for police policy and future research directions are discussed.