Date of Conferral

2021

Degree

Doctor of Psychology (Psy.D.)

School

Criminal Justice

Advisor

David N. DiBari

Abstract

A police officer’s ability to use conflict resolution is a skill that starts with the training environment of the police academy. This study sought to determine if the paramilitary training environment is affected the students’ ability to use discretion in stressful situations or is promoting threat elimination. This ability to communicate under stress is important as it affected the relationships between communities’ law enforcement agencies. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to investigate whether the paramilitary police academy training environment affects the students’ ability to use verbal conflict resolution skills in place of aggressive physical control methods. This study used the crossing streams theory to capture the student perception of the basic law enforcement academy paramilitary training environment and how that environment affects the students. Several methods for data collection were used in this research study such as interviews with 16 students, records review, and group discussions. Interviews were documented, recorded, transcribed and analyzed through NVivo software to discover an emerging theme. The theme captured from the participants suggested that the training environment does not promote force and aggression as a control tactic during policing operations. The current study’s findings illustrate that the paramilitary training environment does not promote aggressive tactics. It is recommended that practitioners in both law enforcement practice and law enforcement training facilities cooperate to provide effective training to police recruits especially with regards to issues concerning reasonable use of force. This research reflects that more research on police training culture and environments needs to be conducted to help bridge community and agency relations through communication using hard data. This implications from continued research will benefit all involved and lead to positive social change.

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