1. How do Croatian police officers perceive certain characteristics of police management?Ksenija Butorac, Ante Orlović, Mislav Stjepan Žebec, 2016, original scientific article Abstract: Purpose:
To explore the importance and existence of Croatian police managers’ relevant characteristics from the perspective of police officers, and in relation to several police officers’ demographic and professional characteristics.
Design/Methods/Approach:
A convenience sample of 132 Croatian police officers (104 males) who attended a study programme in criminal investigation (average age 31.5 years) was examined by means of a questionnaire that – within Katz’s skill theory of successful management – assesses the perceived importance and the perceived existence of technical/expert, social and strategic knowledge/skills, as well as the most representative characteristics of current police managers.
Findings:
A dominant perception of the highest level of importance for all three categories of managerial knowledge/skills was detected, while possession of the said skills was mainly assessed to be at the medium level. The largest difference was found between the perceived importance and the perceived possession of social skills. Social skills were also perceived to be significantly more important than the other ones, while police managers were perceived to most frequently possess expert skills. Out of 12 offered police manager characteristics, the most frequently selected were negative ones. Finally, there were no significant and systematic effects of demographic and professional factors on the perceived importance and perceived possession of any of the three knowledge/skills categories.
Research Limitations / Implications:
A larger and more representative sample would ensure the study’s greater external validity and statistical power. Additional management skill items are needed in the questionnaire to improve the construct validity (besides including other relevant factors and questions useful for interpreting the trends detected).
Practical Implications:
Within the research limitations, the findings suggest possible changes to the education system, staff assessment and police officers’ promotion.
Originality/Value:
This is the first police management research in Croatia and probably the first generally within the framework of Katz’s skill theory of successful management.
Keywords: police officers, perception, police management, categories of knowledge or skills
Published in DKUM: 16.05.2020; Views: 1174; Downloads: 42
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2. Developmental differentiation and binding of mental processes with g through the life-spanAndreas Demetriou, George Spanoudis, Smaragda Kazi, Antigoni Mougi, Mislav Stjepan Žebec, Elena Kazali, Hudson Golino, Karin Bakračevič, Michael Shayer, 2017, original scientific article Abstract: Integration/differentiation of mental processes is major mechanism of development. Developmental theories ascribe intellectual development to it. In psychometric theory, Spearman’s law of diminishing returns postulates that increasing g allows increasing differentiation of cognitive abilities, because increased mental power allows variable investment in domain-specific learning. Empirical evidence has been inconsistent so far, with some studies supporting and others contradicting this mechanism. This state of affairs is due to a developmental phenomenon: Both differentiation and strengthening of relations between specific processes and g may happen but these changes are phase-specific and ability-specific, depending upon the developmental priorities in the formation of g in each phase. We present eight studies covering the age span from 4 to 85 years in support of this phenomenon. Using new powerful modeling methods we showed that differentiation and binding of mental processes in g occurs in cycles. Specific processes intertwine with g at the beginning of cycles when they are integrated into it; when well established, these processes may vary with increasing g, reflecting its higher flexibility. Representational knowledge, inductive inference and awareness of it, and grasp of logical constraints framing inference are the major markers of g, first intertwining with in their respective cycles and differentiating later during the periods of 2–6, 7–11, and 11–20 years, respectively. The implications of these findings for an overarching cognitive developmental/differential theory of human mind are discussed.
Keywords: intelligence, cognitive development, individual differences, integration, differentiation, awareness
Published in DKUM: 21.06.2017; Views: 1094; Downloads: 388
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