S. Hakan Can, William Holt and Helen M. Hendy
When patrol officers experience poor job satisfaction and make the decision to leave their profession, their departments face the cost of recruiting and training new officers. The…
Abstract
Purpose
When patrol officers experience poor job satisfaction and make the decision to leave their profession, their departments face the cost of recruiting and training new officers. The purpose of this paper is to develop a new measure that could be used by police departments to identify specific dimensions of job satisfaction in their officers so that appropriate interventions could be made before officers reach the point of ending their employment.
Design/methodology/approach
To enhance widespread applicability of the new measure, the 221 study participants were from convenience samples of patrol officers in the USA and Turkey (95.9 percent male; mean age=29.4 years; mean service=5.9 years). Officers completed anonymous surveys to report individual and departmental demographics, to give satisfaction ratings for a variety of aspects of their work environment, and to report other psychosocial variables that might be used to assess validity of job satisfaction dimensions.
Findings
Exploratory factor analysis produced the 14-item Patrol Officer Job Satisfaction Scale (POJSS) with three dimensions: supervisor fairness, peer comradery, occupational pride. The three POJSS dimensions showed acceptable goodness-of-fit, internal reliability, and test-retest reliability. Multiple regression analyses demonstrated no significant associations between nine individual and department demographics (gender, age, marital status, education, service years, weekly work hours, nation, city location, number of officers) and any of the three POJSS dimensions.
Research limitations/implications
One limitation of the present study was that it included only convenience samples of patrol officers from the USA and Turkey. Future research could conduct confirmatory factor analyses on more diverse and representative samples of patrol officers from various international locations to determine if they also perceive the same three POJSS dimensions of job satisfaction (supervisor fairness, peer comradery, occupational pride).
Practical implications
Police departments could use the POJSS as an assessment tool to identify any problems of poor job satisfaction in their patrol officers so they could provide targeted improvements. For example, if patrol officers report low ratings for supportive peers, some scholars have recommended the formation of officer support groups (Johnson, 2012; Pienaar et al., 2007; Rhoades and Eisenberger, 2002; Scott, 2004; Stamper and Johlke, 2003; Toch, 2002; Walker et al., 2006).
Social implications
If patrol officers report low ratings for supervisor fairness, peer comradery, and occupational pride, police departments could arrange leadership seminars, hold “Clear the Air” meetings or anonymous surveys to allow patrol officers to identify specific improvements they suggest to improve these components of job satisfaction.
Originality/value
Research on police officer job satisfaction has been increasing in recent decades, but is still relatively sparse when compared to the study of employee job satisfaction in the private sector and other areas of government. Recent research on police job satisfaction has typically included law enforcement officers with a wide range of ranks, rather than focusing solely on patrol officers. Also, the few studies that focus on job satisfaction in patrol officers used either secondary data (Ingram and Lee, 2015) or re-evaluated data over eight-year old (Johnson, 2012). Especially with the recent turbulent events seen between community members and their front-line police officers (including in the USA and Turkey), available research may have missed the most important dimensions of job satisfaction for present patrol officers supporting the measure's widespread relevance.
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Lorna Rixon, Shashivadan P. Hirani, Martin Cartwright, Michelle Beynon, Abi Selva, Caroline Sanders and Stanton P. Newman
The widespread deployment of telehealth (TH) has been conducted in the absence of any clear understanding of how acceptable these devices are to patients. One potential limitation…
Abstract
Purpose
The widespread deployment of telehealth (TH) has been conducted in the absence of any clear understanding of how acceptable these devices are to patients. One potential limitation of the widespread deployment of TH is that patients may refuse. Moreover an understanding of the reasons for refusing to use TH devices will provide an understanding of the barriers.
Design/methodology/approach
This investigation from the Whole Systems Demonstrator (WSD) programme, a pragmatic cluster randomised controlled trial into the effectiveness of TH, examined reasons for patients in the intervention cohort of the trial refusing TH, and the potential barriers to its deployment.
Findings
Active rejection of the TH intervention was the most frequent reason for withdrawal. After examination of trial-related, health, socio-demographic, cognitive, emotional and behavioural factors, patients diagnosed with diabetes, as opposed to heart failure or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and patients’ beliefs about the acceptability of the intervention predicted whether or not they withdrew from the trial because of the intervention.
Originality/value
Beliefs that the TH intervention resulted in increased accessibility to care, satisfaction with equipment and fewer concerns about the privacy, safety and discomfort associated with using TH equipment predicted continued participation in the WSD trial. Findings suggest that potentially modifiable beliefs about TH predict those more likely to reject the intervention. These findings have important implications for understanding individual differences in the acceptance of TH and subsequent success in mainstreaming TH in healthcare services.
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Tom Schultheiss, Lorraine Hartline, Phyllis Rosenstock, Jean Mandeberg and Sue Stern
The following classified, annotated list of titles is intended to provide reference librarians with a current checklist of new reference books, and is designed to supplement the…
Abstract
The following classified, annotated list of titles is intended to provide reference librarians with a current checklist of new reference books, and is designed to supplement the RSR review column, “Recent Reference Books,” by Frances Neel Cheney. “Reference Books in Print” includes all additional books received prior to the inclusion deadline established for this issue. Appearance in this column does not preclude a later review in RSR. Publishers are urged to send a copy of all new reference books directly to RSR as soon as published, for immediate listing in “Reference Books in Print.” Reference books with imprints older than two years will not be included (with the exception of current reprints or older books newly acquired for distribution by another publisher). The column shall also occasionally include library science or other library related publications of other than a reference character.
The Seminar on Library Interior Layout and Design organised by IFLA's Section on Library Buildings and Equipment, and attended by people from over twenty‐two countries, was held…
Abstract
The Seminar on Library Interior Layout and Design organised by IFLA's Section on Library Buildings and Equipment, and attended by people from over twenty‐two countries, was held at Frederiksdal, Denmark, in June 1980. This present article neither reports on the Seminar's proceedings, as it is hoped to publish the papers in due course, nor describes fully the Danish public libraries seen, but rather uses the Seminar's theme and the library visits as a point of departure for considering some aspects of the interior layout—the landscape—of public libraries. Brief details of the new Danish public libraries visited are given in a table at the end of the article.
After great Wars, the years that follow are always times of disquiet and uncertainty; the country is shabby and exhausted, but beneath it, there is hope, expectancy, nay…
Abstract
After great Wars, the years that follow are always times of disquiet and uncertainty; the country is shabby and exhausted, but beneath it, there is hope, expectancy, nay! certainty, that better times are coming. Perhaps the golden promise of the fifties and sixties failed to mature, but we entered the seventies with most people confident that the country would turn the corner; it did but unfortunately not the right one! Not inappropriate they have been dubbed the “striking seventies”. The process was not one of recovery but of slow, relentless deterioration. One way of knowing how your country is going is to visit others. At first, prices were cheaper that at home; the £ went farther and was readily acceptabble, but year by year, it seemed that prices were rising, but it was in truth the £ falling in value; no longer so easily changed. Most thinking Continentals had only a sneer for “decadent England”. Kinsmen from overseas wanted to think well of us but simply could not understand what was happening.
Helen St Clair-Thompson and Carla Chivers
It is well established that there are several benefits of taking a placement year, for example, higher academic attainment, the acquisition of transferable skills and enhanced…
Abstract
Purpose
It is well established that there are several benefits of taking a placement year, for example, higher academic attainment, the acquisition of transferable skills and enhanced employability. It is therefore important to understand why students choose to take or not to take a placement. The paper aims to discuss this issue.
Design/methodology/approach
In the current study, 159 first year students studying psychology were asked about their perceptions of the advantages and disadvantages of taking a psychology professional placement year. Their responses were analysed using thematic analysis, and the number of participants who provided information relating to each main theme was also tabulated.
Findings
Students perceived the main benefits of placements as relating to career certainty, future prospects, experience, knowledge and skills. In contrast, they perceived the main disadvantages as practical disadvantages, social/emotional disadvantages, difficulty, and there being no guaranteed benefit of a placement.
Practical implications
The results are discussed in terms of their potential to inform practices for developing and enhancing psychology placements within higher education. For example, providing further empirical evidence of the benefits of placements may help staff in higher education to further promote placement years.
Originality/value
The study contributes to the knowledge of perceived advantages and disadvantages of taking a placement in psychology. Placements in psychology are likely to be very beneficial for employability, but are often only available on a voluntary basis.
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Olugbenga Timo Oladinrin, Wadu Mesthrige Jayantha and Lekan Damilola Ojo
Most global business organisations have begun to explore and embrace new work practices (NWPs) in reorganising their workplace strategies to enhance performance and face intense…
Abstract
Purpose
Most global business organisations have begun to explore and embrace new work practices (NWPs) in reorganising their workplace strategies to enhance performance and face intense competition in the global market. This study aims to examine whether or not NWPs are being implemented in office occupying firms in Hong Kong and explore the drivers of the NWPs.
Design/methodology/approach
A total of 16 NWPs and 20 drivers were identified through the extant literature review and assessed through a questionnaire survey conducted in the finance, insurance, real estate and business (FIREB) service firms. Based on a comprehensive questionnaire survey, a quantitative approach was used to discover the occurrence of the NWPs in those firms and the driving factors. Based on the questionnaires retrieved, descriptive and inferential statistical analysis was conducted. The relationships between the NWPs occurrence and the driving factors were also investigated to draw necessary inferences.
Findings
The results showed that all of the 16 NWPs identified from the literature are happening in Hong Kong FIREB firms. The results of the analysis also indicated that virtual collaboration positively drive the occurrence of NWPs in FIREB firms. Interestingly, innovation in business was shown as such that does not necessarily necessitate stringent hiring strategy.
Practical implications
This research may be of practical value for workplace strategists to make better, more careful forecasts of future workplace trends to ensure resource utilisation and improve space usage patterns and employee productivity.
Originality/value
This paper presents comprehensive overview of drivers that designers, developers, investors, facility managers and planners can use to provide sustainable NWPs. The study will enrich the growing body of international literature on implementing NWPs in global business organisations.