them to reconcile inconsistencies in their self-
concepts and social identity, and thus strengthen and
defend them.
Formal and informal lessons during the field-training
period cause rookie and incumbent officers to become
more alike. Rookies conform to police norms or
shared rules of conduct that establish in-the-box
behaviors that most officers in most police situations
accept and expect. Rookies accept a degree of confor-
mity to these norms because they want to feel included
and accepted by their peers. They learn quickly that
there is a price to pay for acting outside the box. For
example, a rookie officer responds with incumbent
officers to a service call for disorderly conduct. The
incumbent officers endorse values of toughness,
aggressiveness, and respect. When the officers arrive,
a male suspect becomes verbally abusive toward the
rookie. While the rookie officer has a range of verbal
skills available to manage this kind of behavior, the
officer fears “losing face” and the consequences of
outside-the-box behaviors, such as being labeled a
“wimp” or “not a real cop.” The rookie mixes his or
her response choice with ideals of enforcing the law
or preserving group norms. Because the incumbent
officers endorse toughness, aggressiveness, and
respect, the rookie becomes tough and aggressive and
uses a forceful response to earn respect where none is
necessary. In this way, the rookie meets the expecta-
tions of incumbent officers.
Rookie officers learn that police calls for service
can be tense and uncertain: Calls sometimes evolve
rapidly. Once rookies graduate from their field-train-
ing period, they find themselves in a new role, having
a degree of autonomy in handling police calls for ser-
vice, holding a police worldview of danger, having
broad discretionary power, and asserting authority to
carry out police objectives. To meet the demands of
police service, initial changes in their psychological
makeup often occur. Rookies develop different per-
sonal work-style attitudes that reflect in part their
experience and organizational and occupational prac-
tices. The content and structure of their attitudes might
reflect a professional, tough-cop, clean-beat crime-
fighter, problem-solver, or avoider style of policing.
For example, the rookie officer who assumes a tough-
cop perspective believes that citizens are hostile to the
police, holds a police worldview of danger, and car-
ries out an aggressive style of policing to keep safe.
Initial changes in rookies’ work-style attitudes suggest
that they are recognizing and responding to the role
demands of a police officer. Although some rookies’work-style attitudes might remain stable throughout
their career, others might modify them to cope with
changing policing strategies, job functions, calls for
service, and subjective outlooks.Frank J. GalloSee alsoPolice Decision Making; Police Decision Making
and Domestic Violence; Police Psychology; Police
Selection; Police Training and EvaluationFurther Readings
Chappell, A. T., Lanza-Kaduce, L., & Johnston, D. H. (2005).
Law enforcement training: Changes and challenges. In
R. G. Dunham & G. P. Alpert (Eds.),Critical issues in
policing: Contemporary readings (5th ed., pp. 71–88).
Long Grove, IL: Waveland.
Van Maanen, J. (1973). Observations on the making of
policemen. Human Organization, 32,407–418.
Worden, R. E. (1995). Police officers’ belief systems:
A framework for analysis. American Journal of Police,
14 (1), 49–81.POLICEPSYCHOLOGISTS
Over the past four decades, a rapidly growing spe-
cialty area of psychology has been that of psycholo-
gists working within the realm of law enforcement.
Police psychologists are involved in the selection of
employees; fitness-for-duty evaluations; various ther-
apeutic programs, both individual and group; the
evaluation, treatment, and referral of substance abuse,
domestic violence, and gambling; the development and
facilitation of various training initiatives; and research
and consultation. On a more operational level, police
psychologists respond to crisis situations including
officer-involved shootings, significant traumatic events,
suicide interventions, and crisis and hostage negotiations.
A functional dichotomy within police psychology is
that of actual primary roles for the psychologist. Major
metropolitan police departments will most likely
employ multiple staff police psychologists. Generally
speaking, the in-house staff psychologist is involved in
day-to-day undertakings within the department, thereby
compelling an immersion of his or her professional
activities directly within the police environment. This
constant exposure to the police culture allows for a
more rapid and complete acceptance by departmental
police officers, civilian support staff, and the senior-levelPolice Psychologists——— 575P-Cutler (Encyc)-45463.qxd 11/18/2007 12:43 PM Page 575