Marc Alain

Can ethics survive the shock of the job? Quebec's police recruits confront reality

Previous research has shown how skills acquired in different settings are gradually transformed into work strategies (McNamara 1967, Van Maanen 1973, 1974, 1977, Fielding 1988, Chan 2003). Other research has looked at the complex question of ethics and policing (Kappeler et al. 1998, Klokars et al. 2004). However, very few attempts have been made to understand how these two aspects, professional skills and ethical standpoints, gradually merge. We look at one particular aspect in the professional socialisation processes of young police officers – how new police officers deal with the ethical dilemmas they encounter. This paper presents the results obtained from a follow-up cohort study of 316 police recruits after their third year as newly sworn officers throughout Quebecs police forces.

Continuous training as a subject of negotiations in public and private policing

Purpose – This paper aims to explore and document how the question of continuous training/education is presently being dealt with in the area of public services and private security providers and trying to assess best and wrong practices of discussions and negotiations regarding this same question.Design/methodology/approach – This research relied on content analysis of all 65 working agreements that have been negotiated in both the police and the private sectors in the province of Quebec within the last few years. In‐depth interviews were also conducted among 91 representatives of both employers and employees in order to explore more deeply the different contexts into which negotiations and discussions took place about the question of continuous training/education provisions.Findings – What clearly emerged from interviews conducted with police organization representatives, employees and employers alike, is that a confrontational attitude rather than a more collaborative standpoint is the norm in negotiat...

Les facteurs de perméabilité aux valeurs traditionnelles du métier de policier. Bilan et leçons d'une expérience de six années de suivi de socialisation professionnelle d'une cohorte de recrues au Québec

Cet article presente les donnees de la quatrieme et derniere passation d’un questionnaire sur la socialisation professionnelle des recrues policieres quebecoises, un questionnaire essentiellement inspire de celui developpe par Monjardet lors de son etude pionniere dite de la « cohorte ». Outre a presenter les evolutions d’attitude des repondants d’une passation a l’autre et de tenter de comprendre les facteurs explicatifs quant au developpement de certains positionnements ethiques pas necessairement au diapason de ce que l’on attend globalement de la police au Quebec, nous presentons egalement une comparaison sommaire de ces developpements avec ceux qu’avaient notes Monjardet dans le cas de sa propre etude. Nous proposons, en guise de conclusion, que le metier de policier, de technique qu’il a tres longtemps ete, tend a se professionnaliser de plus en plus sans que la formation specifique, elle, suive la meme tendance.

Impact Evaluation of an Addiction Intervention Program in a Quebec Prison

Objectives This study evaluates the effects of a prison-based addiction intervention program. The evaluation is based on a multidimensional data collection that draws a portrait of the respondents’ substance use, and of their psychological/emotional, social, and judicial spheres. It measures the changes, or lack thereof, in substance use; the psychological/emotional, social, and judicial spheres; as well as the post-treatment services used. Method A quasi-experimental repeated measures design (0, 6 weeks, and 6 months) was used. Effects of the program were identified by comparing the results obtained by a group of inmates who had participated in the program (n = 80; experimental group) with those of another group who had received no intervention (n = 70; control group). Results The preliminary results suggested a certain treatment effect related to impulsivity and psychological distress. Conclusion Although the preliminary results were promising, the experimental and control groups did not differ significantly when more robust analyses were used.