Rasa Dobrzinskiene
Mykolas Romeris University, Lithuania
E-mail:
rasa.dobrzinskiene@mruni.eu
Giedre Pauriene
Mykolas Romeris University, Lithuania
E-mail:
pauriene@mruni.eu
Iryna Kushnir
Fedkovych Chernivtsi National University, Ukraine
E-mail: i.kushnir@chnu.edu.ua
Dimitri Grytsyshen
Zhytomyr Polytechnic State University, Ukraine
E-mail:
gritsishen-do@mail.ru
Kostiantyn Malyshev
Zhytomyr Polytechnic State University, Ukraine
E-mail:
malyshev.kostiantyn@tutanota.com
Submission: 8/8/2021
Revision: 9/13/2021
Accept: 9/26/2021
ABSTRACT
Aspects of choosing a profession and career planning are closely related to the description of the features of the image of the profession, otherwise known as the image of the profession. The choice of profession is an essential part of life, which has a significant influence upon the person and their further occupation. Furthermore, the choice of profession and job is related to the satisfaction of financial, social and personal needs. Therefore, it is very important that the choice of profession is as accurate as possible and that the profession evokes a strong feeling of vocation. A career develops accordingly, if a person is satisfied with the job and one’s current expectations meet the current situation, then the career development is successful and thrives as individually sought. For a career to follow a successful developing process it is vital to meticulously systematize the characteristics of a particular profession that would help to decide whether
one wants to choose it not. Due to these reasons whilst researching the police officer’s image it is crucial to assess the point of view of current police officers in regard to the officer’s image. Correspondingly, the purpose of the article is evoked - to reveal the perception of police officers of the image of their profession. To achieve it, the concept of choosing a profession is discussed, emphasizing the importance of vocation and the path of professional development - career; the change in the attitude of police officers about the image of their profession and its factors are determined. The hypotheses are confirmed disparately. After an empirical study, the first hypothesis - the average of the respondents' assessment of the current attitude towards the characteristics of the police officer profession is statistically significantly different from the attitude before choosing this profession - was confirmed. The second hypothesis was only partly confirmed. It was revealed that the average assessment of the characteristics of the police profession for both men and women decreases depending on the degree of the police officer.
Keywords: police officer; profession’s image; choice of profession; profession’s characteristics; factors contributing in the choice of profession
1.
INTRODUCTION
Choosing a profession is a challenge for many young people. Despite all
the doubts and the difficulties of choosing a profession, many young people
choose one or another further career path. The process of learning and
acquiring a certain profession is determined by the social and psychological
needs of the personality.
After
all, work is always associated with the essential satisfaction of human and
social needs, it is like one’s duty, necessity, condition of well-being, part
of an individual biography. Though, it is vital to find a profession that you
truly like, to find a proper and enjoyable job environment, and to determine
the place of your professional activity in your life.
Scientists
conducting research in a field of factors leading to a professions choice have
noticed that these factors are related with one’s age, gender, general and
special abilities, professional interests, professional experience or degree,
and their parents’ education level. (Beresnevičienė, 2003).
Often
professions are chosen by imitating already familiar professions that are
visible or encountered in life. Besides, socio-economic factors also play a
major role (Benesch, 2002). It is critical, whether the choice of profession is
successful because the future occupation, point of view, and satisfaction in
one’s occupation depends on that. Furthermore, all this determines their work
productivity and their desire to plan a career, which is often a certain goal
of the employee, viz. a driving force for self-realization in the workplace.
Youth
choses police officer’s profession for various reasons: some are interested in
the activity itself; others are often attracted by external non-essential characteristics
of the profession (attractive working conditions or environment, beautiful
clothes, elements of romance) or the attractiveness of the educational
institution (Braendle & Grundmann, 2020).
Accordingly,
a research has been conducted, which seeks to find out what is the current
formed police officer’s
image in Lithuania from the Lithuanian police officers’ point of view. They can
present their assessments in relation to factors of choosing a profession and
pursuing a career, and assess their current positions accordingly. Profession’s
image is a list of profession’s characteristics, which helps to reveal the
specifics of the profession and characteristics applicable to a certain
profession. Therefore, the image creation of the profession of police officers
and its evaluation through the eyes of police officers themselves is an
important aspect in the analysis of the characteristics of the profession.
Research
object – police officer’s profession’s image.
Research
methods –
theoretical: analysis and synthesis of
scientific literature, logical and analytical methods for the analyses of the
main problems related to the choice of profession and future career. The
summarization method provided an opportunity to refine the most important
results and thoughts. The questionnaire method was used to collect data from
the empirical quantitative study; Such parametric analysis methods were used
for data analysis using SPSS program: paired student-t test and multiple linear
regression, which is applied in order to reveal the dependence of the
investigated phenomenon on several other independent variables.
Hypotheses:
1.
The average of the respondents' assessment of
the current attitude towards the characteristics of the police officer
profession differs statistically significantly from the attitude before
choosing this profession.
2.
The assessment of the characteristics of the
profession depends statistically significantly on the official's length of
service, age and the police rank.
Article’s
purpose – to reveal police officers’
perception of their professional image.
To achieve this, the following tasks are set:
1. To discuss the concept of choosing a
profession, emphasizing the importance of vocation and the path of professional
development - career.
2. To determine the change in the attitude of
police officers to the picture of their profession and its factors.
2.
LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1.
The
choice of profession
The choice of profession – the most
important choice, which determines the rest of a young person’s life. However,
according to some scientists, the choice of profession is a multiple act and
long-term process (Jovaiša, 2001).
Studies have shown that most people
change professions at least twice in their lives. The choice of occupation
depends on the socio-economic situation, which includes three interrelated and
overlapping variables: economic situation,
which is determined by income; social
status dependent on education; employment
status assessed by profession. Most people define their position and
significance in society according to their profession, so self-awareness as
well as self-esteem depend on it.
A profession reflects not only
individual job functions or skills, but also a lifestyle and environment
(McMahon & Patton, 2018).
A profession is a combination of
human activities based on relevant knowledge, skills, abilities and skills,
which provides a precondition for satisfaction, material provision and active
participation in the structures of public life (Laužackas, 2005).
Perception of the meaning of work
depends both on the characteristics of the person and on the nature of the work
itself. Work can satisfy various needs: financial, social, personal, because
the profession defines a person's position in society, his value system, norms
of behavior, life aspirations, etc.
Work is defined as “a positive,
work-related state of mind characterized by drive, dedication, and
assimilation” (Schaufeli et al., 2002).
The
problem of choosing a
profession has been constantly researched from a long time ago. Plato in one of
his most notorious literature pieces “Republic” discussed the natural
differences between people, which determine the nature of their professional
activity.
Today,
various theories are used to solve the problem of choosing a profession:
development, self-awareness (Super, 1990), typologies (McMahon & Patton, 2018), social learning
(Mitchell & Krumboltz, 1990), professional aspirations (Gottfredson, 1981),
adaptation to work (Swanson & Schneider, 2020).
Nowadays, these theories are
combined into a single theory of convergence, even though their diversity is
being advocated (Jovaiša, 2001). The choice of profession is determined by the
interplay of many variables. Some of them include the characteristics of the
individual, and some include the environment features.
According to Augienės (2018),
the choice of one’s profession is influenced by one’s personality and its
traits; intelligence; skills; health; innate physical characteristics; gender;
values; provisions (based on a system of values); interest; propensity
(internal personality need for a particular activity); familiarity with oneself
(perceiving your own image); needs (first reference source for choosing a
profession); motives (incentives for professional activity). The environment:
family, school, friends, and living environment may be factors of environmental
influence.
` An equally important factor
influencing professional choice is the professional vocation, which expresses a
person's experiences arising from contact with a certain activity and based on
internal attitudes (Laužackas,
2005).
Professional vocation is closely
related to professional self-determination. If the vocation is felt for a
certain profession, then the situation of professional self-determination is
resolved easier and faster, because the young person decides whether or not to
choose a profession, relying on his or her vocation. Inevitably, various
internal and external factors also act at that time.
The choice of professional activity
is correct only when the subjective value of the pursued profession is
reconciled with objective personal powers (Pukelis, 2007).
To work according to the vocation is
a real blessing, because the work is easy and good, the greatest stress does
not cause fatigue, the fruits of work are great, your colleagues enjoy you and
you always feel their sincere support for your achievements. (Jovaiša, 2001).
If the choice of profession is determined not by internal but by external
factors (honor, income), then a person usually has to force himself to work
exclusively by willpower. A professional vocation is an integral part of a
broader and more comprehensive professional orientation in terms of the
relationship between a person and a profession. It is often assumed that
professional orientation is the most important part of a professional vocation,
which includes a person's motivation (professional interests, provisions,
attitudes, beliefs, etc.).
Professional suitability, which
includes a person's psychological and physical abilities as well as individual
character traits, is seen here as another important part of a professional
vocation. According to many researchers, professional vocation is formed and
revealed mostly during late adolescence (Pukelis, 2008).
Different professions have different
requirements. Before choosing one or another profession, it is worth
considering and properly assessing the following aspects: health status,
physical fitness, talents, interests and hobbies, temperament and character
traits, as well as employment prospects (Braendle & Grundmann, 2020).
One of the main elements of human
self-realization is the choice of profession, and at the same time the
realization of one's abilities. Everyone has the freedom and right to choose a
profession, but it should be remembered that it is chosen not only because of
high prestige in society, or high income, but also because of self-realization,
fulfilment, disclosure of one's abilities.
2.2.
The concept of career
Career preparation is the planning
of your life by performing meaningful functions in various areas of activity.
Career is closely linked to the successful choice of a profession that suits
you. Career education does not always require basic education, experience or
skills, as well as the personal ability to find the right job for oneself, and
to be able to adapt to changing circumstances as market needs change. Having
learned all this, one can successfully climb the career planning stages.
In a general sense, a career is a
path of professional development, constantly setting new goals, challenges, and
achieving new positive results (Greenhaus & Callanan, 2006). In general,
the concept of career is broad and diverse. A career is generally defined as a
successful activity, a success in life, a type of activity.
Career consists of external (high
salary, qualification) and internal (satisfaction, self-realization) benefits.
In other words, it is an individual improvement in the direction of a
successfully chosen activity and a positive evaluation of it from both a
personal and a social point of view. However, the concept of working career is
often perceived differently by the employees themselves than in the scientific
literature. A career is usually imagined as a rapid and successful rise in
position.
However, according to Wadhwa and
Guthrie (2018), a career is not just a rise in position. They call a career a
process that is not led by an organization but rather by an individual. Thus,
such a concept of career includes an individual's experience in various fields
- education, education, work activities, and so on. Therefore, a career
continues throughout an individual’s working life. The decision on career
success is an individual one in all cases. If an individual is satisfied with
his or her job, no one can claim that his or her career is unsuccessful.
Career can also be described as the
development of employee positions in the company. Although a career is usually
associated with vertical worker growth, it can also involve horizontal
movement. As the level of employee demands rises, it is becoming increasingly
important (Sakalas & Salcius, 1997). However, a career is also called a
natural rise in the ladder of service as one develops oneself (Sakalas &
Šilingienė, 2000).
It is a rapid, successful rise in
service, associated with rising salary, higher status, and prestige (Mitchell
& Krumboltz, 1990). In addition, a career can also be finding a job you
enjoy working on (Super, 1990).
In any case, a successful
professional career is possible only when a person realises himself, when the
profession meets the person's interests and hobbies (Kirkpatrick & Mortimer,
2002).
The same as with choosing a
profession, career formation is influenced by psychological and organizational
factors. If an individual has made the right choice of profession, has a
professional vocation, he or she has more opportunities to experience the satisfaction
of pursuing a career.
Such satisfaction increases an
individual's self-confidence and emerges as a motivating factor for work
(Sakalas & Salcius, 1997). In addition, it must be borne in mind that the
understanding of each person's career is individual and certainly not everyone
wants and aspires to occupy high management positions. Meanwhile, the task of
the organization is to fully support employees seeking a career, provide the
necessary information and training.
The microclimate of the organization
must be such as to encourage employees to move forward, to keep moving and to
strive for something new and undiscovered on a daily basis. A good climate in
the work environment is even able to outweigh the desire to earn a high salary
(Grecco et al., 2021).
Especially in this case, the
important role is of the manager, who should accordingly support job
satisfaction rather than ruin it (Samad et al. 2021).
The work environment is also
important because comfort in the workplace, lighting, cleanliness increase
employee job satisfaction (Le-Hoang et al., 2020), because it shows the
organization’s respect and concern for its employee.
However, only the employees
themselves remain responsible for the ultimate success of their careers. Every
young person must understand the basic attitudes: to be able to take
responsibility for themselves and plan for their future; be able to use market
information; to be able to react in a timely manner
and to adapt flexibly to changing labor market conditions.
2.3.
Profession’s characteristics
description or profession’s image
Aspects of career choice and career
at work are closely related to the picture of the profession, which reveals the
characteristics of each profession. When analyzing specific professions as
objects of educational research, it is necessary to single out as many
parameters that describe them as possible. The more information is available
about each of the professions studied, the more its characteristics or
characteristics are collected, the more detailed the description of
the characteristics of the profession is created.
By
systematizing those features, it is possible to create a description of the
features of the profession, also called an
image of the profession. The image of the profession is used not only in
comparative research of professions, classification of professions, but is
especially important when conducting research of professions related to the
development of professional preparation programs.
The
image of a profession is made up of most of the characteristics of the
profession in order to assess in more detail its compliance with the
expectations of those who choose it. Accordingly, characteristic of the
profession of police officers are collected, systematized, analyzed.
The German scientist Scheer (2010) along with the
participants of the research formed the characteristics of the profession of a
police officer and modelled the picture of this profession by identifying the
measurement elements used in the research. Similarly, this article attempts to
look at the picture of the profession of Lithuanian police officers.
3.
DATA AND METHODOLOGY
3.1.
Research
methodology
For the analysis of
empirical data such parametric analysis methods were in use: paired student-t
test was used to compare differences in the attitudes of the same group of
respondents towards the characteristics of the profession before and after its
acquisition; quantitative variables (data distributed according to the regular
distribution order); multiple linear regression is applied to reveal the
dependence of the investigated phenomenon on several independent variables
(continuous or categorical). The conduction of this analysis seeks to reveal an
answer to this inquiry: Does the
assessment of the characteristics of the profession depend on the police
officer's length of service, age and degree?
The
operationalization of the object took place in several stages:
a) The measurement elements of the
study are based on German scientist C.A. Scheer’s conducted research results,
during which in order to prepare the police officer’s profession’s
characteristics list, research subjects were given these questions: "How
do you imagine yourself working as a police officer?", "Why would you
want to become a police officer?" or "Why don't you want to become a
police officer?"
Phenomenologically, the different
activities seem completely different and have nothing to do with each other.
According to this approach, German scientist C.A. Scheer along with research
participants developed ideas, and essentially formed police officer’s
profession’s characteristics. Therefore, identifying the measurement elements
used in the study. In this case, they were strolling on the path of empiricism
without one definite theory. In our case, the research also may be considered
empiricist because it is not based on one definite theory.
b) The next step in the
operationalization of the object is a survey for a group of 28 future
Lithuanian police officers, who during the internship already got acquainted
with this profession in more detail. Respondents were asked to write down the
characteristics of the police profession and their responses were put in
comparison with the German scientist’s C.A. Scheer’s formed list of the
profession’s characteristics. Essential divergences were not present.
Later, during a discussion with
police officers with more than five years of service and with a police rank of
chief inspector, or higher, the lists of characteristics of the profession of
police officers were compared again and the most relevant and more pivotal
characteristics were emphasized. In comparison with the German scientist’s C.A.
Scheer’s profession’s characteristics list these characteristics were
renounced: "Professional inaction", "Competence for
everything", "Mass events", "Responsibility", "Specialization".
Profession’s attributes such as
"Professional inaction" and "Mass events" are indispensable
for the police officers who have gone through a German law enforcement
preparation because one of their functions is to be within one’s control to
quickly respond and arrive at the whereabouts where an unexpected incident has
taken place. The police officers are in constant readiness, waiting, which they
call "Professional inaction". Besides, they perform other operations:
ensure order and safety during demonstrations and other events, look about for
missing individuals.
Profession’s attribute emphasized by
Germans "Competence for everything" may be associated with the fact
that in Germany a significant level of competence is expected from a police
officer in all fields of social life, even in those, for which he does not hold
responsibility. Germany has formed a very clear authority of a police officer
in a community, however, such authority of the community in Lithuania is yet to
be formed.
"Specialization" as a
characteristic emphasizing the narrow content of professional activity, is not
common for Lithuanian police officers. Concerning the attribute
"Responsibility" there was a long elaborate discussion until a final
conclusion was inferred that if we include responsibility as a profession’s
characteristic, then we would also be obliged to include other professional
ethics principles of a police officer like respect for people and the state,
justice, honesty, altruism, exemplary, etc. because responsibility is one of
the named ethics principles itself. It has been decided that the research
questionnaire will encompass 24 police officer’s profession attributes.
The first block of questions was
intended to determine how police officers comprehend and perceive their own
profession’s picture. This question may be put more concisely: What were the considered characteristics of
this profession before choosing this profession? What are the considered
characteristics of the profession right now, viz. during this research? However,
it is not enough to find out from the respondents' point of view what
characteristics of the profession are characteristic of the profession of a
police officer.
Table 1: 24 police officer’s profession’s
characteristics in the research questionnaire
Nr. |
Research
measurement element – Profession’s attribute |
1. |
Patrol on foot, by car |
2. |
Respect in society |
3. |
Shift work |
4. |
Traffic supervision |
5. |
Teamwork/cooperation |
6. |
Risk, danger |
7. |
Implementation of law and
order |
8. |
Action, tension |
9. |
High wages |
10. |
Taking care of the country's
internal security |
11. |
Working with "special" equipment |
12. |
Office work, work with
documents |
13. |
Possession of power |
14. |
Occupational safety |
15. |
Help others |
16. |
Sports |
17. |
Career opportunities |
18. |
Working with various people |
19. |
Fight against crime |
20. |
Uniform |
21. |
Absents of monotony, variety of work tasks |
22. |
Special rights |
23. |
Firearm |
24. |
Good physical and
psychological preparation |
Source: analyzed by the authors
The questionnaire is made out of
several blocks.
It is also necessary to find out
whether these characteristics are appealing to the respondents, and to find out
whether these characteristics are not evoking any feeling of dissatisfaction in
their chosen profession. Therefore, the second block of questions seeks to find
an answer to these questions: What do you
think of the individual’s characteristics of the profession assessed on a scale
from “very like” to “very dislike”? In the third block of questions
respondents submitted their demographic characteristics (time of service, age,
gender, police rank).
3.2.
Collected
empirical data
Since the research problem is
connected with professional expectations, the subjects for the research are
police officers – students, who every year during internships are directly
acquainted with professional activities. Furthermore, part-time study officers
with longer professional experience and, of course, graduates of our faculty
working in the police throughout Lithuania were also interviewed.
Efforts were made to distribute an
approximately equal number of questionnaires among groups of respondents with
different professional backgrounds in order to collect the most accurate data
possible. It should be noted that the training and future study time of future
police officers is included in the length of service in the internal service,
but only immediately after starting the service, therefore in this study the
length of service of future full-time police officers is zero, as it is not
clear whether another professional path will be chosen.
The sample for this study was based
on a nonprobability convenience sampling. Therefore, based on the data obtained
in this study, it is possible to judge for the whole of the Republic of
Lithuania, and to draw a conclusion that this is the opinion of all police
officers in the Republic of Lithuania.
According to the data of the
Lithuanian Department of Statistics, the number of police officers in Lithuania
in 2020 was 7,849 (Crime and Law Enforcement Activities, 2020).
Thus, the sample size in order to
summarize the survey results for the whole general population with a sample
error of 5% (Rupšienė, Rutkienė, 2015), based on the Paniotto
formula, would be
N
With the direct participation of the
researchers in the survey, 207 questionnaires were distributed, all of which
returned, but only 202 were processed, and five questionnaires were rejected as
potentially invalid. Personal acquaintances of the faculty were also contacted
and asked to fill in the questionnaire by e-mail form. In this way, 168
questionnaires were received. Thus, in total of 375 officials participated in
the investigation (N=375).
In this research, the ethical
aspects of the application of the written survey (questionnaire) method, such
as voluntary participation, anonymity, were taken into account. The principles
of research ethics identified by Kardelis (2017) were also followed: 1) explain
to the participants where and for what purpose you will use the information
obtained during the research; 2) Remember that people who have agreed to
participate in the survey are doing you a favor. During the distribution of the
questionnaires, the respondents were contacted and the questions were answered.
Police officers were also explained why such an inquiry is being conducted and
what its purpose is.
For the validity of the content of
the measuring instrument, which shows whether the selected measuring elements
form the whole content of the phenomenon, viz. whether the selected 24
characteristics of the profession cover the whole picture of the profession,
several stages of operationalization were performed. Typically, the content of
a research instrument is validated by experts.
In our case, this validation took
place in the third phase of the operationalization of the facility with the
participation of police officers with more than five years of service and with
the rank of inspector or higher police ranks.
Since the measurement elements of
the study are the German scientist’s C.A. Scheer’s results of a research to
compile a list of characteristics of a police officer's profession, it is
likely that the research instrument has content validity.
The validity of a
construct determines whether a field described by a theoretical concept can be
examined by a truly conceived study.
When specific features are assessed
in the study and abstract theoretical constructs are not used, according to
Bungard (2018), the validity of the construct is not very important. It has to
do with the extent to which the measurement meets theoretical expectations. In
our case, the research instrument has no theoretical validity.
Using
correlation analysis, a reliability analysis of the research instrument was
conducted. The Cronbach alpha of all generalised factors is greater than 0.6
(see Table 2), viz. the internal reliability of the test is sufficient and good
to allow such a scale to be used in statistical analysis.
Table 2: Research instrument Cronbach alpha
|
The current approach
to the characteristics of the profession |
Previous approach to
the characteristics of the profession (before choosing a profession) |
Evaluation of
professional traits as like / dislike |
Questionnaire question groups |
A.1-A.24 |
B.1-B.24 |
C.1-C.24 |
Cronbach
alpha |
0,695 |
0,787 |
0,824 |
4.
RESEARCH RESULTS
After testing the hypothesis: the average of the respondents' assessment
of the current attitude towards the characteristics of the police officer
profession differs statistically significantly from the attitude before
choosing this profession; the result described below was obtained.
Applying the paired Student-t test, we see that p = 0.000 <α (see Table 4). In
our case, the average difference in the respondents' assessment of the current
attitude towards the characteristics of the police officer profession is lower
than the difference in the attitude before choosing this profession, viz.
60.5690 <62.8793 (see Table 3).
Table 3: Paired student-t test analysis and descriptive statistics
|
Average difference |
Number of cases |
Standard deviation |
Standard error |
|
|
The current approach |
60,5690 |
375 |
5,41532 |
,50280 |
The previous approach |
62,8793 |
375 |
7,16532 |
,66528 |
Table 4: Paired student-t test analysis results |
||||
|
Number of
cases |
Correlation |
Criterion p value |
|
|
The current
& previous approach |
375 |
0,482 |
0,000 |
The hypothesis that the average
assessment of the respondents' current attitude towards the characteristics of
the police officer profession differs statistically significantly from the
attitude before choosing this profession was confirmed. It turned out that the
average assessment of the respondents' current attitude towards the
characteristics of the police officer profession is statistically significantly
lower than the attitude before choosing this profession.
A two-factor analysis of variance
was used to support the hypothesis that the assessment of occupational
characteristics was statistically significantly dependent on an officer’s
length of service, age, and current police rank. The variances in the
populations did not differ statistically significantly (p = 0.092). Analyzing
the examination of the effects of factors, it can be seen that the
statistically significant averages of the assessment of occupational
characteristics are in the groups of respondents with different police ranks (p
= 0.000), and in the gender groups the differences in the averages are not
significant (p = 0.602). There is also no statistically significant
relationship between gender and police rank (p = 0, 877).
The Scheffe criterion shows that there is a statistically significant
difference between those without a rank and those with an inspector’s rank (p =
0.02) and those without a rank and a senior inspector or with an even higher
rank (p = 0.01). Examining the magnitude of the difference between the group
means, we see that having an inspector’s, chief inspector’s or an even higher
rank is statistically significantly less likely to like the characteristics of
his profession than future officials who do not yet have a rank.
The results of the questionnaire
show the average assessment of the characteristics of the profession depending
on the gender of the respondents and their police rank. It can be observed that
the average assessment of the occupational characteristics of both men and
women decreases depending on their police rank.
5.
CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Aspects of choosing a profession and
career planning are closely related to the description of the characteristics
of the image of the profession, otherwise known as the image of the profession.
Therefore, if the feeling of vocation is present, it is very important that the
choice of profession is as precise as possible. If job satisfaction is felt and
job expectations coincide with the current situation, then a successful
individually pursued career is developing. In order to develop a successful or
fulfilling career, it is necessary to carefully systematize the characteristics
of a particular profession, this will help you decide whether to choose that
specific profession or not.
After an empirical study, the first
hypothesis - the average of the respondents' assessment of the current attitude
towards the characteristics of the police officer profession is statistically
significantly different from the attitude before choosing this profession - was
confirmed.
The second hypothesis was partially
confirmed. It was revealed that the average assessment of the characteristics
of the police profession for both men and women decreases depending on their
police rank. An inspector’s, chief inspector's or even higher ranks
statistically significantly less value the police profession’s characteristics
as likeable than student officers who do not yet have a rank.
This shows that when choosing a
profession, it is important to have lists of characteristics of the profession
prepared in advance, which would help young people to choose a profession as
precisely and clearly as possible, so that there would be no such differences
in attitudes later on. Programs should also be developed to improve the
knowledge about professions before they are chosen.
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