A Study of Cadets' Motivation to Become Police Officers in China

While a substantial amount of research has examined the motivation for individuals to become police officers, very little is known about why Chinese citizens choose this profession. Using survey data collected from cadets in a Chinese police college, this study attempts to answer three questions: (1) who are the people that decide to become police cadets in China; (2) what are the factors that motivate cadets to choose the police profession, and (3) how do personal characteristics influence cadets' motivations to join the force? The results indicate that Chinese cadets in the sample are largely single, young males from middle-class families. They tended to have some college education while their parents were likely to have attained a lower educational level. Job security and benefits, the opportunity to help people, the desire to enforce the law, and parental influences were important factors that motivated police cadets at this institution to join the force. Cadets' background characteristics only weakly influenced the decision. Implications for policy and future research are discussed.