Locus of Control and Self-Efficacy as Means of Tackling Police Corruption in Nigeria
| DOI | 10.1350/ijps.2009.11.1.113 |
| Author | Les Johnston,Amos Oyesoji Aremu,Francis Pakes |
| Date | 01 March 2009 |
| Published date | 01 March 2009 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
Locus of control and self-efficacy as means
of tackling police corruption in Nigeria
Amos Oyesoji Aremu†, Francis Pakes‡and Les Johnston§
†Department of Guidance & Counselling, University of Ibadan, Nigeria.
Email: oyesojiaremu@yahoo.com
‡(Corresponding author) Institute of Criminal Justice Studies (ICJS), University of
Portsmouth, Ravelin House, Museum Road, Portsmouth, PO1 2QQ, UK.
Tel: + 44 (0)23 9284 3933; Fax: + 44 (0)23 9284 3939; email: francis.pakes@port.ac.uk
§Institute of Criminal Justice Studies (ICJS), University of Portsmouth, Ravelin House,
Museum Road, Portsmouth, PO1 2QQ, UK. Tel: + 44 (0)23 9284 3933;
Fax: + 44 (0)23 9284 3939; email: les.johnston@port.ac.uk
Received 18 December 2007; accepted 6 March 2008
Keywords: police corruption, Nigeria, locus of control, self-efficacy
Amos Aremu
Phd is Senior Lecturer in the
Department of Guidance & Counselling, Uni-
versity of Ibadan, Nigeria. As recipient of the
Commonwealth Fellowship in 2007 he was a
Visiting Research Fellow at the Institute of Crim-
inal Justice Studies, University of Portsmouth,
UK. His principal research interest is police
behaviour in Nigeria. He has published extens-
ively in both local and international journals. At
the time of authoring this article he was a
Visiting Scholar at the University of Portsmouth.
Francis Pakes
is a Reader in Comparative Crim-
inology at the University of Portsmouth, UK. His
research includes crime and justice in the
Netherlands and issues in mental health and
criminal justice. He has written and edited five
books. His first, ‘Comparative Criminal Justice’
was published in 2004 by Willan Publishing.
Les Johnston
is a Professor of Criminology at
the University of Portsmouth. He has research
interests in security governance, public, com-
mercial and citizen-based policing, risk and
security and social and political theory.
A
BSTRACT
The study investigated the effect of two
existential-phenomenological counselling tech-
niques (locus of control and self-efficacy) on the
reduction of police corruption-facilitating attitudes
in Nigeria. Three hundred police personnel from
three State Police Commands participated in the
study. These participants who ranged in age
between 26 and 53 (Mean = 35.4) were
allocated into one of two experimental conditions
or a non-treatment control groups and as well
matched into commissioned and non-
commissioned groups. Participants treated with
locus of control and self-efficacy (both involved six
weekly sessions) showed significant reduction in a
post-test corruption measure. Participants in the
self-efficacy condition demonstrated a higher level
of change than their counterparts in the locus of
control condition. These findings and their impli-
cations for integrity-based policing are discussed.
INTRODUCTION
There is a long-standing problem of cor-
ruption in Nigeria. It is not a secret that the
Nigerian police are seen to be particularly
corrupt. Transparency International (TI) has
consistently ranked Nigeria as one of the
most corrupt countries in the world. From
that, we might assume that the high levels
of corruption within the Nigerian police
are a reflection of a wider problem in
society. However, the situation is worse
International Journal of Police Science & Management Volume 11 Number 1
International Journal of Police
Science and Management,
Vol. 11 No. 1, 2009, pp. 97–107.
DOI: 10.1350/ijps.2009.11.1.113
Page 97
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