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Authoritarianism and the Criminal Justice Student: A Test of the Predispositional Model

Department of Criminal Justice, Shippensburg University, Shippensburg, PA 17257

John J. O'Neill

Wayne State University, Law School, Detroit, MI 48202

Advocates of the "pre-dispositional" model of authoritarianism suggest that professions such as law enforcement attract a disproportionate number of persons with authoritarian personalities. As a test of the model, researchers have in previous studies compared authoritarianism levels between criminal justice students and their non-criminal justice counterparts on the assumption that student populations provide a representative sampling of the personalities that aspire to enter the profession. While adhering to that perspective, this study had as its primary purpose testing of the pre-dispositional model within a sample of criminal justice students. According to the model, levels of authoritarianism should be associated with a student's sex, occupational goal, class standing and the type of institution the student attends. Data for the study consisted of a sample of students enrolled at two mid-western universities. Results indicated little support for the pre-dispositional model as none of the variables accounted for more than a small percentage of the variation in levels of authoritarianism. Implications of the findings with respect to academics and practitioners within the field of criminal justice are discussed and suggest that the issue of authoritarianism among student populations may well have run its course.

Criminal Justice Review, Vol. 10, No. 1, 33-40 (1985)
DOI: 10.1177/073401688501000105


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