Jean Steyn

Exploring the public parameter of police integrity

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the contribution of the public component of Klockars’ and Kutnjak‐Ivkovics organizational theory of police integrity to the understanding of police integrity.Design/methodology/approach – The study employs a modified survey derived from “The Measurement of Police Integrity,” instrument developed by Klockars et al. Participants are constituted by a convenience sample of first‐year social studies students at the University of KwaZulu‐Natal (n=186) and 160 South African Police Service (SAPS) non‐commissioned officers throughout Gauteng Province, Republic of South Africa.Findings – Overall, the data present a mixed picture of integrity in the SAPS. The current study is certainly suggestive that the SAPS faces serious challenges to establishing and sustaining integrity and that based on either absolutist or normative criteria, the organization falls below desired levels of professional integrity. However, there are also indications that a significant proportio...

‘Venus versus Mars’: An Attitudinal Comparison Made at the Start of South African Police Service Basic Training

The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, Act 108 of 1996, demands a fundamental reassessment and transformation of the nature and style of policing in South Africa. Based on a representative sample (N=1453) of newcomers in the South African Police Service, this article compares the presence of police culture thematic attitudes of male and female newcomers upon their arrival for basic training. The results indicate that female newcomers arrive for training with stronger attitudes in support of police culture solidarity, isolation and cynicism compared with their male counterparts who militate against the effective adoption of a community policing philosophy in South Africa.

Nurturing isolation in the South African police service A comparison of male and female recruits

Purpose – The article aims to report on an examination of South African Police Service (SAPS) recruits for indicators evincing the presence of the police culture theme of isolation. The research also seeks to determine if the presence of isolation as characteristic of SAPS recruits is gender neutral as well as whether indicators of social isolation change over the period of basic recruit training as well as during the first period of encounter, field training.Design/methodology/approach – Using a survey format, the research employs a quasi‐experimental pre‐test/post‐test repeated measures research (longitudinal) design: a pre‐test at the beginning of SAPS recruit basic training; post‐test at the end of the SAPS basic training; and a second post‐test upon completion field training.Findings – Although there is significant variance among the police recruits, overall there are indicators of police isolation already present among the recruits upon arrival at the police training colleges. These indicators becam...

Lilac? ‘Ten years of blue nurtured nature’

Abstract The paper seeks to determine whether indicators evincing attitudes of police culture themes of solidarity, isolation and cynicism amongst SAPS officials are gender neutral as well as change in relation to Van Maanen’s and Manning’s stages of police culture socialisation. Using a survey format, the researcher employed a longitudinal design. The study established that SAPS cadets that commenced their basic training at the six SAPS basic training institutes in January 2005, entered the organisation with predispositions in furtherance of solidarity, isolation and cynicism. The period of ‘college/academy training’ (January to June 2005) did not significantly counteract these tendencies, neither the subsequent ‘field training’ (July to December 2005). Nine years on, and these attitudes intensified. The study further found that for the duration of the project (10 years), female trainees and their conversion to fully-fledged police officials had mostly stronger values exhibiting solidarity, isolation and cynicism, compared to their male counterparts.