Document Type
Dissertation
Degree
Doctor of Education (EdD)
Major/Program
Adult Education and Human Resource Development
First Advisor's Name
Tonette S. Rocco
First Advisor's Committee Title
Committee Chair
Second Advisor's Name
Dawn Addy
Third Advisor's Name
Hilary Landorf
Fourth Advisor's Name
Thomas G. Reio, Jr
Fifth Advisor's Name
Joan Wynne
Keywords
Black Males, Critical Race Theory, EEOC, Human Resource Development, Law Enforcement, Police Officer, Racial Profiling, Recruitment, Retention, Career Development
Date of Defense
3-27-2013
Abstract
This phenomenological study explored Black male law enforcement officers’ perspectives of how racial profiling shaped their decisions to explore and commit to a law enforcement career. Criterion and snow ball sampling was used to obtain the 17 participants for this study. Super’s (1990) archway model was used as the theoretical framework. The archway model “is designed to bring out the segmented but unified and developmental nature of career development, to highlight the segments, and to make their origin clear” (Super, 1990, p. 201).
Interview data were analyzed using inductive, deductive, and comparative analyses. Three themes emerged from the inductive analysis of the data: (a) color and/or race does matter, (b) putting on the badge, and (c) too black to be blue and too blue to be black.
The deductive analysis used a priori coding that was based on Super’s (1990) archway model. The deductive analysis revealed the participants’ career exploration was influenced by their knowledge of racial profiling and how others view them. The comparative analysis between the inductive themes and deductive findings found the theme “color and/or race does matter” was present in the relationships between and within all segments of Super’s (1990) model. The comparative analysis also revealed an expanded notion of self-concept for Black males – marginalized and/or oppressed individuals.
Self-concepts, “such as self-efficacy, self-esteem, and role self-concepts, being combinations of traits ascribed to oneself” (Super, 1990, p. 202) do not completely address the self-concept of marginalized and/or oppressed individuals. The self-concept of marginalized and/or oppressed individuals is self-efficacy, self-esteem, traits ascribed to oneself expanded by their awareness of how others view them. (DuBois, 1995; Freire, 1970; Sheared, 1990; Super, 1990; Young, 1990). Ultimately, self-concept is utilized to make career and life decisions.
Current human resource policies and practices do not take into consideration that negative police contact could be the result of racial profiling. Current human resource hiring guidelines penalize individuals who have had negative police contact. Therefore, racial profiling is a discriminatory act that can effectively circumvent U.S. Equal Employment Opportunities Commission laws and serve as a boundary mechanism to employment (Rocco & Gallagher, 2004).
Identifier
FI13042505
Recommended Citation
Salters, Gregory A., "A Phenomenological Exploration of Black Male Law Enforcement Officers' Perspectives of Racial Profiling and Their Law Enforcement Career Exploration and Commitment" (2013). FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 877.
https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd/877
Included in
African American Studies Commons, Civil Rights and Discrimination Commons, Constitutional Law Commons, Criminology and Criminal Justice Commons, Human Resources Management Commons, Industrial and Organizational Psychology Commons, Labor and Employment Law Commons, Labor Relations Commons, Law and Psychology Commons, Law Enforcement and Corrections Commons, Legal History Commons, Organizational Behavior and Theory Commons, Personality and Social Contexts Commons, Urban Studies and Planning Commons
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