An examination of police cadets’ perceptions of corruption
| Author | Idris Guclu,Nebi Cetinkaya,M Murat Ozer |
| DOI | 10.1177/1461355720911944 |
| Published date | 01 September 2020 |
| Date | 01 September 2020 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Article
An examination of police cadets’
perceptions of corruption
Nebi Cetinkaya
Yozgat Police Department, Turkey
Idris Guclu
Karabuk Police Department, Turkey
M Murat Ozer
University of Cincinnati, USA
Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to examine police cadets’ perceptions of the seriousness of police corruption. This study
attempts to explore and delineate a variety of factors that may influence police cadets’ perceptions about some basic types
of corruption. A comparison between future supervisors’ and line officers’ perceptions of specific aspects of corruption is
lacking. A quantitative research design was used for data collection. The results of this study indicated that there were
significant differences in police cadets’ perceptions of the seriousness of corruption based on their parents’ education
level, occupation, and income. In addition, the findings revealed that cadets’ soc iodemographic background, such as
parents’ education level and type of occupation, as well as the cadet’s organizational affiliations, such as their
respective police training school, had significant effects on their perceptions of seriousness involving corruption
scenarios. This study provided important and useful information for policy-makers and leadership cadres responsible
for police training.
Keywords
Police cadets, corruption, perceptions of seriousness, police integrity, Turkey
Submitted 27 Dec 2018, Revise received 15 Jan 2020, accepted 13 Feb 2020
Introduction
Corruption has been a part of society since the beginning of
known history. It has been a subject of inquiry for a wide
range of disciplines. Despite a tremendous amount of accu-
mulated scholarship, corruption as a phenomenon still gen-
erates heated debate (Bucak, 2012; Klockars and Kutnjak
Ivkovic´, 2004; Sarikaya, 2015). Likewise, police corrup-
tion remains one of the most contested topics in criminal
justice literature. For instance, according to McElreath
et al. (2013), police corruption has been one of the more
important problems in the USA for a long time. Corruption
also infects all levels of the American justice system
(Punch, 2000, 2003). Transparency International (2010)
confirmed that over 30 countries have suffered institutional
police corruption at some point in their history.
A literature review presented considerable recent
research on police corruption (Beck and Lee, 2002; Klock-
ars et al., 2004; Quah, 2014; Wilson et al., 2008). There is
no doubt that successful corruption control measures
require solid academic research backed up by sound theo-
retical foundations (Klockars et al., 2000). Therefore, the
primary aim of this study is to delineate between two police
training organizations—a police academy and police voca-
tional schools (PVS) —the antecedents of police cadets’
perceptions of petty corruption in terms of the seriousness
Corresponding author:
Idris Guclu, Turan Gunes Blv. 74-6, 06500, Cankaya/Ankara, Turkey.
Email: idrisguclu@yahoo.com
International Journalof
Police Science & Management
2020, Vol. 22(3) 221–231
ªThe Author(s) 2020
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DOI: 10.1177/1461355720911944
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