Assessing the Efficacy of Field Training Officersâ•Ž Organizational
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Grand Valley State University ScholarWorks@GVSU Masters Theses Graduate Research and Creative Practice 11-20-2007 Assessing the Efficacy of Field Training Officers’ Organizational Maturity and Their ecD ision to Utilize Communicative Competencies Michael White Grand Valley State University Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarworks.gvsu.edu/theses Recommended Citation White, Michael, "Assessing the Efficacy of Field Training Officers’ Organizational Maturity and Their eD cision to Utilize Communicative Competencies" (2007). Masters Theses. 677. http://scholarworks.gvsu.edu/theses/677 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate Research and Creative Practice at ScholarWorks@GVSU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Masters Theses by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks@GVSU. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Assessing the Efficacy 1 Running head: ASSESSING THE EFFICACY OF FIELD TRAINING OFFICERS’ ORGANIZATIONAL MATURITY Assessing the Efficacy of Field Training Officers’ Organizational Maturity and Their Decision to Utilize Communicative Competencies A thesis submitted to the Criminal Justice Department of Grand ValleyState University In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Criminal Justice November 20, 2007 By Michael White Thesis Committee; Dr. Brian Johnson; Chair Dr. Frank Hughes Dr. Debra Ross Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Assessing the Efficacy 2 Table of Contents Table of Contents .......................................................................................................................2 Chapter One ............................................................................................................................... 5 Introduction to the Study .......................................................................................................... 5 Statement of the Problem ..........................................................................................................7 Background Of The Problem ....................................................................................................8 Purpos of the Study ..................................................................................................................10 Conceptual Support for the Study ...........................................................................................11 Limitations .............................................................................................................................. 16 Research Design.......................................................................................................................18 Definition of Terms ................................................................................................................. 20 Significance of Study .............................................................................................................. 21 Chapter Two / Literature Review.......................................................................................... 24 Professionalism ........................................................................................................................24 Police Citizen Encounters ................................................................... 31 Education / Training ................................................................................................................ 37 Use of Force.............................................................................................................................40 Chapter 3 Methodology..........................................................................................................44 Description of Research Design ......................................................... 44 Dependent Variable / Professional Verbal Communication ................................................45 Dependent Variable / Professional Non-Verbal Communication ....................................... 46 Independent Variable / Organizational Maturity ..................................................................47 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. 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Assessing the Efficacy 3 Hypothesis / Research Questions ........................................................................................... 49 Efficacy of Organizational Maturity / Verbal Skills .............................................................50 Efficacy of Organizational Maturity / Non-Verbal Skillls .................................................. 50 Target Population.....................................................................................................................51 Sampling Procedure .................................................................................................................53 Kalamazoo County ...................................................................................................................55 Kalamazoo County Sheriffs Department ...............................................................................56 Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety ...............................................................................56 Portage Police Department.....................................................................................................57 Kalamazoo Township Police Department .............................................................................57 Western Michigan University Police Department ................................................................58 Sample Population ...................................................................................................................58 Instrumentation ........................................................................................................................61 Data Collection Procedures .....................................................................................................68 Data Analysis ...........................................................................................................................70 Chapter 4 Findings ...................................................................................................................72 Chapter 5 Conclusions ............................................................................................................ 89 Summary.................................................................................................................................. 89 Findings .....................................................................................................................................72 Limitations ............................................................................................................................... 92 Issues Regarding External Validity ....................................................................................... 98 Issues Regarding Internal Validity ......................................................................................... 99 Implications .............................................................................................................................105 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. 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Assessing the Efficacy 4 Future Implications for Law enforcement Managers ..........................................................105 Future Implications for Trainers .......................................................................................... 109 Conclusions ............................................................................................................................ 110 References .............................................................................................................................. 112 Appendix A Footnotes .......................................................................................................... 121 Appendix B Letters of Authorization .................................................................................. 123 Appendix C HRRC Application ...........................................................................................128 Appendix D GVSU HRCC Approval Letter .......................................................................131 Appendix E Cover Letter to Survey Questions ................................................................... 132 Appendix F Survey Questions / Questionnaire ................................................................... 134 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ABSTRACT Title of the Project: Assessing the Efficacy of Police Officers’ Organizational Maturity and the Decision to Utilize Communicative Competencies Summary of the Project: The focus of this study was the examination of communication issues in the field of law enforcement in order determine what effect if any, an officers’ organizational maturity has on their decision to utilize verbal and or non-verbal communications when performing their job, especially when interacting with citizens. The scope of this study is limited, as the research is only concerned with the opinions of patrol officers regarding their ability to effectively communicate verbally and non verbally. In order to obtain patrol officer perspectives regarding