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Angry Aggression Among Police Officers

Clemson University

Thomas J. Bernard

The Pennsylvania State University

This article uses angry aggression theory to explain police use of extralegal force. As applied to police behavior, angry aggression theory argues that the chronic stress of police work along with the inability to respond to the actual sources of that stress increase both the perception of threats and the aggressiveness of responses to perceived threats. In addition, social isolation of police officers increases their tendency to displace aggression onto visible and vulnerable targets in the immediate environment. The theory does not assert that these tendencies are necessarily actualized. Indeed, cognitive structuring techniques and stress-reduction policies can prevent such actualization.

Key Words: police • abuse of force • police behavior • excessive force

Police Quarterly, Vol. 6, No. 1, 3-21 (2003)
DOI: 10.1177/1098611102250365


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