A Replication of the Specter of Authoritarianism among Criminal Justice Majors: Does Race Matter?

Authoritarian personality types possess characteristics that are especially troubling if found among criminal justice (CJ) professionals. Recent research found significantly higher Right-Wing Authoritarianism (RWA) scores in male college students majoring in CJ than in male nonmajors as well as sign...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of criminal justice education 2013-09, Vol.24 (3), p.402-416
Main Authors: Parsons-Pollard, Nicolle, Wagner, Kenneth
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
African Americans
Authoritarianism
College students
Criminal justice
Personality
White people
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Authoritarian personality types possess characteristics that are especially troubling if found among criminal justice (CJ) professionals. Recent research found significantly higher Right-Wing Authoritarianism (RWA) scores in male college students majoring in CJ than in male nonmajors as well as significantly higher scores among lower division students than their upper division counterparts. However, the results of that study were limited because the sample was predominantly Caucasian. Given the growth in African-American CJ professionals and the special salience of race, it is important to examine whether the findings can be generalized to African-Americans. In order to explore that issue the current study replicates that research with a largely African-American sample drawn from a historically black college/university (HBCU). Results indicate that, unlike the findings in the original study, CJ majors at the HBCU did not have statistically higher RWA scores. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
ISSN:1051-1253
1745-9117
DOI:10.1080/10511253.2013.782052