Proud to belong: the impact of ethics training on police officers

Working paper

We investigate whether ethics and integrity training can improve values, attitudes and behavior of police officers. We conducted a field experiment in Ghana, where we randomly selected traffic police officers to participate in a training program informed by theoretical work on the role of identity and motivation in organizations. The training was designed to re-activate intrinsic motivations to serve the public, and to create a new shared identity of “Agent of Change,” aimed at inducing a collective shift in attitudes and behaviors. Data generated by a survey and an incentivized cheating game conducted 20 months later, show that the program positively affected officers’ values and beliefs regarding on-the-job unethical behavior and improved their attitudes toward citizens. Moreover, the program significantly lowered officers’ propensity to behave unethically, as measured by their willingness to cheat in the incentivized game.

Authors: Harris, D; Borcan, O; Serra, D; Telli, H; Schettini, B

• Publication status: Published
• Publisher: University of Oxford
• Series: CSAE Working Paper Series
• Place of publication: Oxford
• Publication date: 2022-06-01
• Paper number: 2022_05
• Language: English
• Keywords: ethics training; experiment; police