Umeå universitets logga

Social changes, associated shifts in police work, and cultural variations raise interesting questions about the ideal police applicant. These issues were explored by investigating key 'suitability' criteria for applicants to join the Swedish National Police and the Catalan Police in Spain. First, criteria and selection procedures in official documents were examined. Next, focus group sessions were carried out with selection practitioners about different criteria. Results indicate several similarities between the organizations in formal criteria and selection procedures, notably an emphasis on peace-making and problem-solving abilities. However, differences were found in areas such as loyalty towards the organization and differences that correspond to different organizational images. The views from the selection practitioners mostly align with the official documents but different outcomes are possible due to different interpretations of how a given construct should manifest itself in actual performance. Practical implications from this study could prove valuable for improving selection practices.

The purpose of this paper is to identify an appropriate conceptual model of empathy from the perspective of police work. This paper draws on the existing literature from two areas of research: (a) the literature describing the characteristics of the ideal police officer from a general perspective, as well as in a specifically Swedish context and (b) the literature analysing empathy as a theoretical construct. It is found that theoretical interdisciplinary approaches in the fields of social psychology and social cognitive neuroscience are relevant. The suggested conceptual model of empathy appropriate for the policing profession incorporates the typically antagonistic nature of police?citizen contacts, personal traits as expressed in interpersonal relations, and the social and cultural context. Because of the diversity and multicultural nature of modern societies, the values guiding police?citizen encounters are given special attention and related to the empathy research tradition. The proposed conceptual model of empathy aims at guiding future research in police?citizen interaction and, ultimately, supporting police practices regarding recruitment, career advancement and fieldwork.

The purpose of this study was to adapt and develop a multidimensional measure of interpersonal empathy, the Empathy Assessment Index (EAI). The EAI is a self-report measure developed in the US that is applicable in most contexts where empathy is considered a relevant construct. The focus of this work is on professions dealing with complex interpersonal situations, such as the police or other professions that can be categorized as street-level bureaucrats. The added value of the EAI relative to previous measures of interpersonal empathy stems from its incorporation of subconstructs such as self-other awareness (SOA) and emotion regulation (ER) to augment the cognitive dimension of empathy. The Swedish version of the EAI was administered to a sample of 330 participants, most of whom were police recruits. An exploratory factor analysis identified a four-factor structure, which was supported by a confirmatory factor analysis. The factors identified in the analysis were affective response, SOA, perspective taking (PT), and ER. Evidence for the scale?s concurrent validity was established in relation to the empathic concern and PT subscales from the Interpersonal Reactivity Index. The adapted version of the EAI will be used in further studies within the police context.