LOCUS OF CONTROL AND EMPLOYMENT IN LAW ENFORCEMENT

The study explored the effects of locus of control (LOC) on the selection of and continuation in law enforcement careers, and examined the effects of employment in law enforcement on LOC. Four hypotheses were investigated. (1) Law enforcement dropouts will be significantly different on a measure of LOC from law enforcement officers who continue in service. (2) Law enforcement officers will be significantly different from the control group on a measure of LOC prior to their acceptance of employment in law enforcement. (3) Law enforcement officers will not be significantly different from the control group prior to their acceptance of employment in law enforcement, but will become significantly different from the general population after they have been employed in law enforcement. (4) Changes observed in LOC scores of law enforcement officers will be a reflection of a change that occurs in the population and not reflective of a process that is unique to persons employed in law enforcement.;The second analysis was a repeated measures ANOVA of the LOC scores gathered during the senior year in high school and on follow-up seven years later (1979) for the 57 experienced male law enforcement officers and a random sample of 130 age and sex mates who served as a control group. Results failed to support hypotheses two or three. No significant difference between the experienced law enforcement officers and the control group was detected.;The repeated measures analysis of variance supported hypothesis four. A significant external shift in LOC scores was observed in both the experienced law enforcement group and in the control group. The finding suggests that LOC scores may vary with the maturation or development.;Two analyses were performed. The first analysis compared the LOC scores gathered during the senior year in high school (1972) of the 57 experienced male law enforcement officers to the 145 male law enforcement dropouts. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) of the LOC scores did not support hypothesis one. No significant difference was found.