Chinese Police Cadets’ Attitudes Toward Domestic Violence: A Pretest/Posttest Design

Abstract

Since the Domestic Violence (DV) Law was passed in China in 2015, knowledge of this mandate has been relatively unexplored. Data from 401 police cadets attending Zhejiang Police College in Hangzhou, China, are analyzed. A pretest/posttest design was used to assess changes in attitudes toward DV after a 30-minute lecture on DV. The influence of gender, whether the cadet views DV as a priority for law enforcement, and knowledge of services are examined. Findings demonstrate the utility of the training while recognizing cadets with prior knowledge of DV may have resisted the training. Given entrance into law enforcement is more likely for individuals who attend a police college in China, implications include incorporating a DV course at police colleges.

Keywords

China domestic violence assessment attitudes gender differences police

Domestic violence (DV) is a public health crisis that affects individuals across the globe (World Health Organization [WHO], 2017). In an effort to address DV, countries have passed legislation to prevent and respond to this form of violence. The Domestic Violence Law of the People’s Republic of China was passed in 2015 and went into effect in 2016. This law not only provided the first legal definition of DV in China, but the amendments passed shortly thereafter extended legal aid to victims, enabled courts to revoke or appoint guardianship in cases of DV involving children, allowed victims to apply for protection orders, and included nonfamily members (e.g., dating partners) as potential victims of DV (Leggett, 2016). Nevertheless, since the passing of this law in China, the implementation and knowledge of this mandate among those who will soon be tasked with the enforcement of the law has been relatively unexplored.

As we elaborate below, China has historically been a collective and patriarchal society that encourages privacy around DV incidents (Tang, 2003; Xu et al., 2005). As such, individuals who attend a police educational institution in the nation may enter the institution with engrained views on the dynamics of DV and gender roles. Indeed, extant research reports that police enter police academies or trainings with established attitudes and beliefs (Buerger, 1998) and that Chinese police officers in particular tend to hold traditional views of women and often approve of wife abuse (Tam & Tang, 2005). Despite this, prior research has demonstrated that training, which can incorporate a pretest/posttest design, can have an effect on police officers’ attitudes and behaviors (Franklin et al., 2019; Patterson, 2004; Smith et al., 2016) and that it may be possible to change police officers’ attitudes with training.

The current study uses a pretest/posttest design to examine Chinese police cadets’ attitudes toward DV before and after an informative lecture on DV and the recently passed legislation in China. Because male and female officers have been shown to have different attitudes toward DV (Gover et al., 2011; Gracia et al., 2011; Stalans & Finn, 2000; Tam & Tang, 2005), we also assess gender differences in regard to attitudes toward DV and changes in those attitudes between pretest and posttest scores. Finally, we examine the predictors of changes in attitudes toward DV.

DV in China

Public awareness of DV in China first occurred during the 1995 United Nations’ Conference on Women, which took place in Beijing, China, and lead to the creation of the first DV-focused nongovernmental organization in China (Sun et al., 2012). Since the beginning of the 21st century, the Chinese public, government, media, and scholars have devoted increased attention to DV (Y. Cao et al., 2014; Leung, 2014; Li, 2015; Sun et al., 2012). As of 2016, DV was criminalized in China when the first anti-DV law went into effect to offer protections to victims of DV in China (Anti-Domestic Violence Law in China, 2015). Generally, DV encompasses ongoing or repeated physical violence, sexual violence, emotional/verbal abuse, or economic abuse (DeKeseredy & MacLeod, 1997). DV is a complex societal issue with multifaceted causes (Flood & Pease, 2009; Heise, 1998).

Cross-national estimates indicate that one in three women will experience physical and/or sexual violence by an intimate partner or non-partner sexual victimization at some point during their lifetime (WHO, 2017). According to a review of empirical literature on the prevalence of DV in China, the average lifetime prevalence of male-on-female DV was 19.7% (Tang & Lai, 2008), though estimates have ranged from 8.5% to 43% (Chan et al., 2008; Guo et al., 2004; Parish et al., 2004; Xu et al., 2005). The most common form of DV reported among Chinese victims was psychological abuse (Tang & Lai, 2008). Research suggests that rates of sexual abuse, and particularly child sexual abuse, are low in China when compared to other nations (Finkelhor et al., 2013; Ji et al., 2013). Despite these rates of violence and the existence of shelter and support services across the country, Chinese victims seldom use these services (Chen, 2004; Dong, 2016; Jiang & Lambert, 2009). It is likely the Chinese cultural context has an effect on the experience and reporting of DV in China.

Compared to individualized Western cultures, Chinese culture, and Asian culture more generally, is collective (Ren et al., 2016). A goal of collective societies is to maintain harmony to avoid conflict. Furthermore, Chinese cultural heritage is strongly influenced by Confucian teachings, which set standards for individual behaviors and interactions to create social harmony (Cao & Hou, 2001; Qu et al., 2018). Within Chinese society then, individuals focus on group or communal interests instead of individual concerns while operating within rigid and assigned (gender) roles and rules for behaviors (Jiang & Lambert, 2009; Qu et al., 2018).

Within this collective and Confucian society across China, patriarchal family structures are typical (Y. Cao et al., 2014; Chan et al., 2008; Xu et al., 2005). Chinese women tend to be responsible for family-related activities while Chinese men are in charge of economic responsibilities and social affairs (Y. Cao et al., 2014; Chan et al., 2008; Dong, 2016; Thurston et al., 2016). Chinese society has a guiding moral principle of the “three obedience of women” where Chinese women are expected to obey their father when they are unmarried, their husband when they are married, and their son when they are widowed (Leung, 2014; Tang et al., 2000).

Because of the traditional, patriarchal, and collectivist norms within Chinese society, many individuals, generally, and police officers, specifically, in the country view DV as a “private” issue (Liu, 2003; Ren et al., 2016; Sun et al., 2012; Tang, 2003). Research has proposed that Chinese victims of DV may not want outsiders to know about the abuse because it could bring shame to and ruin the reputation of the perpetrator and victim (Xu et al., 2001). Asian women view their contact or involvement with the justice system as a shame brought to the entire family’s reputation (Hanna, 1996). As we elaborate in the following section, it is important to note that police do not necessarily have more problematic views of victims than the public. It is that police, who are in a position of authority, have similar views as the public (Brown et al., 2007; O’Neal & Hayes, 2019). Together, this larger cultural context likely has a direct effect on police cadets and officers’ attitudes toward DV, which may in turn affect how police respond to and investigate incidents of DV.

Police Officers’ Attitudes Toward DV

The police subculture tends to emphasize and reinforce masculine and feminine gender roles (Belknap, 1995; Tam & Tang, 2005). While attitudes do not necessarily cause behaviors, they do correlate (Glasman & Albarracín, 2006). Therefore, police attitudes toward DV are important to consider as they may influence how the police respond to and investigate a DV incident (Belknap, 1995; Robinson & Chandek, 2000). Scholarly research has shown that an American officer’s justification of DV was associated with the officer’s decision to arrest the victim (Saunders, 1995; Stith, 1990). Even more important to consider may be police cadets’ attitudes, as they are the future of policing (Qu et al., 2018).

Within China, families and community leaders typically support the decisions of police officers because the police are believed to be a neutral agency that can resolve problems according to moral considerations (Jiao, 2001). When handling disputes, including disputes between intimate partners and family members, a Chinese police officer’s primary duty is to intervene, provide education, and conduct mediation (He & Hang Ng, 2013; Jiao, 2001). Prior research has demonstrated that police officers typically rely on traditional values as a first choice when handling conflicts, including neighborhood disputes (Jiao, 2001; Liu, 2003). Indeed, the desired outcome among incidents of DV in China is for the case not to proceed to the court system. Typical phrases regarding the role of Chinese police officers when it comes to cases of DV include “We would rather demolish a temple instead of destroying a marriage” and “Even an upright official finds it hard to settle a family quarrel” (Dong, 2016). These euphemisms demonstrate the ideals surrounding DV held by many Chinese citizens and police officers.

A small number of studies have examined the attitudes of Chinese police officers toward DV, and only one study has examined attitudes toward dating violence among Chinese police cadets. When compared to Chinese social workers, Chinese police officers were more likely to support DV myths and to have restrictive definitions of violence against women, physical wife abuse, and psychological wife abuse (Tam & Tang, 2005; Tang & Cheung, 1997). Consistent with research on American police officers (Saunders & Size, 1986), Tang (2003) reported that liberal attitudes toward women’s role in society among Chinese police officers were associated with greater responsibility attributed to the abuser and less responsibility attributed to the victim. Wang et al. (2019) reported that extralegal factors influence decision-making in a hypothetical DV case among Chinese police officers. More specifically, Chinese officers who held more traditional views of women in Chinese society were more likely to recommend putting the victim into custody and less likely to recommend mediation, which is the typical response to DV in China (He & Hang Ng, 2013; Jiao, 2001). Attitudes toward DV were also negatively associated with putting the male suspect into custody and mediation. Among Chinese police cadets, gender-role preferences, perceptions on dating, and policing strategies were associated with attitudes toward dating violence (Qu et al., 2018). This body of work demonstrates that police, and police cadets in particular, may enter the police force with well-established attitudes and beliefs.

Police Response to DV and Police Training

The training police officers receive and how often officers respond to DV calls are also important to consider. Wang and colleagues (2019) reported a backlash effect by which Chinese officers who responded to a female-related (i.e., trafficking, domestic abuse, and family desertion) crime were more likely to recommend putting the victim into custody. Relatedly, Tam and Tang (2005) found that even though Chinese police officers mostly handle cases with severely abused DV victims, these officers felt the time spent on DV calls was a waste because most women choose not to prosecute their husbands. This can lead police officers to not fully investigate DV cases, especially cases with minor physical injury or psychological abuse.

Given the law against DV was only recently passed in China, it is likely police officers or cadets have not received training on the topic. The overall goal of the current study was to determine whether a training on DV could influence police cadets’ attitudes toward DV. Indeed, prior research has demonstrated the utility of this methodological design with police officers (Berking et al., 2010; McGurk et al., 1993). Extant scholarship has also demonstrated the effectiveness of police trainings on improving officer attitudes that center on child abuse (Patterson, 2004), trauma misperceptions (Franklin et al., 2019), and campus sexual assault (Smith et al., 2016). Findings from this line of research indicates that officers showed significant improvement in skills from pretest to posttest or after the implementation of a specialized training. If officers demonstrate a significant gain in knowledge of DV following the lecture, direction is provided for officer trainings in police educational institutions across China. This should have implications for police responses to DV in China.

Current Study

The current study examines the change in attitudes toward DV between a pretest and a posttest in a sample of Chinese police cadets. Overall, change in attitudes toward DV as a scalar measure as well as change on individual items used to create the scale were estimated. This was because certain individual items were directly addressed during the 30-minute informative lecture. Second, gender differences in the change in attitudes toward DV were assessed. Finally, predictors of the change in attitudes toward DV, including measures on whether the cadet knew about DV services or whether the cadet viewed DV as a priority for law enforcement, were investigated.

Method

Data for the current study were collected from police cadets at Zhejiang Police College in Hangzhou, China. Hangzhou is located in Eastern China, about 2 hours from Shanghai. In 2016, the G20 Summit was hosted in the city. As of 2019, the population of Hangzhou’s urban area is over seven-million people and is expected to steadily increase (Population Stat, 2017–2019).

China has three different types of police educational institutions—national-level colleges, provincial-level colleges, and police academies and training centers at the local level (Kim & Gerber, 2019). Provincial-level police colleges provide 4-year degree programs. Graduates of these programs tend to be assigned to a public security agency in their province. Zhejiang Police College is a provincial-level college that has more than 4,000 full-time students and hosts trainings for Chinese police officers and police officers from other nations. The college is spread out across two campuses. In addition, Zhejiang Police College participates in a dual-degree program at the research team’s home institution. It is through this partnership that Zhejiang Police College contacted the U.S.-based institution to conduct research on DV in China.

A sample of students (N = 427) was selected by the police college to participate in the data collection effort. Data collection took place during a 1-week period in September 2018 across four data administrations. Participants received no incentive and were told they did not have to fill out the survey but would be required to stay in the room if they choose not to participate. Cadets were instructed not to provide their name or ID number on the survey. The survey instrument was translated into Mandarin by a native-speaking graduate student who was a member of the research team.

To begin, the police cadets completed the first half of the paper-and-pencil survey, which captured demographics, attitudes toward DV, and perpetration and victimization experiences of violence in an intimate relationship. The cadets then received a 30-minute lecture in Mandarin on DV, including the definition, prevalence, consequences of the different forms of DV (e.g., child abuse, elder abuse, intimate partner violence), and the legislation that was recently passed in China to address DV. The lecture was given by a female graduate student member of the research team who was Chinese and fluent in Mandarin. Following the lecture, the cadets immediately completed the posttest portion of the survey that repeated the questions capturing attitudes toward DV. The posttest portion of the survey also included a series of questions assessing whether the respondent witnessed DV during their childhood or whether they experienced child abuse. Overall, the data collection process lasted approximately 1 hour.

Measures

Dependent variables

Pretest score

Cadets responded to 23 items designed to capture their initial attitudes toward DV prior to receiving a lecture on DV (Toon et al., 2005). Response categories for each item were based on a Likert-type scale, which ranged from 0% = 0 (disagree) to 100% = 10 (agree) (Cronbach’s α = .66). The pretest score was created by summing together all responses. Five items, as indicated with the superscript “a” in Table 1, were reverse coded.

Table 1.

Average on Pretest and Posttest by Item on Scale Used to Capture Attitudes Toward Domestic Violence.

Variable	Pretest		Posttest		t	df
Variable	M	SD	M	SD	t	df
Domestic violence is best handled as a private family matter	3.28	3.05	2.74	2.74	3.73***	400
Many domestic violence victims could easily leave their relationships, but do not	6.00	2.85	5.77	3.05	1.40	400
Women are just as likely as men to engage in domestic violence^a	1.87	2.27	1.97	2.36	−0.86	400
Once women leave an abusive partner, they are safe	2.45	2.22	1.87	2.14	4.82***	400
Arresting the abusive partner will make the situation worse, not better	5.42	2.54	5.97	2.59	−3.98***	400
Domestic violence only happens in poor families	1.53	2.00	1.31	1.93	2.27*	400
Domestic violence only occurs among the uneducated	1.31	1.97	1.14	1.86	1.90	400
If the victim doesn’t leave her abuser, the situation must be tolerable	2.41	2.38	2.23	2.21	1.53	400
Victims provoke their partners’ violence	1.19	1.53	1.34	1.66	−1.88	400
Most of the time, domestic violence is not really that serious	3.02	2.30	2.85	2.23	1.43	400
Domestic violence doesn’t happen in my community	4.37	3.27	3.97	3.32	3.17**	400
Domestic violence is just a momentary loss of temper	2.04	2.15	1.74	1.87	2.98**	400
If the abusive partner is truly sorry and promises not to do it again, then the abuse is going to stop	3.05	2.70	2.68	2.49	3.30**	400
A wife should move out of the house if the husband hits her	4.81	2.75	5.04	2.75	−1.66	400
A man is never justified in hitting his wife^a	3.76	3.75	3.61	3.66	0.96	400
A husband should have the right to discipline his wife when it is necessary	3.81	3.21	3.02	2.87	6.19***	400
A man’s home is his castle	0.87	1.54	0.85	1.66	0.44	400
A man should be arrested if he hits his wife^a	4.56	2.96	4.22	2.93	2.76**	400
A man is entitled to sex with his wife whenever he wants it	1.40	2.10	0.76	1.50	8.18***	400
Wife beating is grounds for divorce^a	2.92	2.79	3.17	2.89	−1.93	400
Some women seem to ask for beatings from their husbands	1.49	1.89	1.27	1.57	2.58*	400
Abusive behavior between dating partners usually ends when they get married	1.44	1.91	1.27	1.73	1.91	400
Domestic violence is a criminal offense^a	1.75	2.44	1.46	2.09	2.41*	400
Overall score on attitudes toward domestic violence	64.75	21.36	60.26	22.14	5.89***	400

Item was reverse coded.

p < .05. **p < .01. ***p < .001.

Posttest score

The same items on the attitudes toward DV scale (Toon et al., 2005) were presented to respondents following the lecture on DV. Responses to all 23 items were summed to reflect the respondent’s overall attitudes toward DV following the lecture (Cronbach’s α = 0.71). See Table 1 for a list of all measures included in the scale as well as the means, standard deviations, and change in scores by item from pretest to posttest.

Change in attitudes toward DV between pretest and posttest

Respondents’ pretest score was subtracted from their posttest score to capture their overall change in attitudes toward DV following the lecture. This measure was then standardized for multivariate analyses for ease of interpretation. To standardize the measure, pretest and posttest scores were first standardized. The standardized pretest score was subtracted from the standardized posttest score.

Independent variables

Gender

Respondent gender was included as a binary measure (0 = female, 1 = male). The majority of cadets were male (85.50% of respondents). Descriptive statistics for the dependent and independent variables can be found in Table 2.

Table 2.

Descriptive Statistics (N = 401).

Variable	M/%	SD	Minimum	Maximum
Dependent variable
Changes in attitudes toward DV	−4.49	15.27	−55.00	67.00
Standardized change in attitudes toward DV	0.00	1.00	−2.33	3.23
Independent variables
Standardized pretest score on attitudes toward DV	0.00	1.00	−2.47	3.05
Needs training on DV	1.75	0.48	0.00	2.00
Knows DV services	1.63	0.90	0.00	4.00
Male respondents	85.50%	—	—	—
Age	19.81	0.83	18.00	23.00
DV is a problem in China	3.01	0.80	1.00	5.00
DV priority for law enforcement	3.82	0.35	1.00	5.00
Had training on DV	14.00%	—	—	—

Note. DV = Domestic Violence.

Needs training on DV

This summative measure captured whether respondents believed they needed training on the laws that could be used in DV cases or protection measures for victims and witnesses in DV cases. The majority of respondents reported they needed training (M = 1.75; SD = 0.48).

Knows DV services

This scalar measure captured the number of different DV services cadets were familiar with (M = 1.63; SD = 0.90). Services included shelter/safe house, legal services, health care, local nongovernmental organization, religious support, or other.

DV is a problem in China

This Likert-type scale measure (1 = not a problem to 5 = very serious problem) captured how respondents rate DV as a problem in China (M = 3.01; SD = 0.80).

DV priority for law enforcement

This Likert-type scale measure captured whether respondents believed addressing DV was a priority for law enforcement where 1 = not a priority and 5 = very high priority (M = 3.82; SD = 0.90).

Had training on DV

This binary measure captured whether respondents had any training on DV where 1 = had training on DV. The majority of respondents (86.00%) did not have training.

Age

Cadet’s age was included as a continuous measure (M = 19.81; SD = 0.83).

Analytic Plan

A paired-sample t test was conducted to compare pretest and posttest scores. A pretest/posttest design allows for the measurement of change between a start point and an end point with some element between the two points. To capture this change between the two points in time, the outcome of interest must be measured and obtained before some treatment or training. Following the introduction of the training, a posttest of the same measure was obtained. It is within this framework that the current study examined whether cadets’ attitudes toward DV were improved by an informative lecture on the topic. Second, pretest scores and posttest scores for each of the items in the scale were also compared with paired-samples t tests. This more nuanced analysis allowed us to identify the key “takeaways” of the lecture. Independent-sample t tests were conducted to examine gender differences in pretest scores, posttest scores, and overall changes in attitudes toward DV between the pretest and posttest. Finally, a multivariate OLS (ordinary least squares) regression was estimated to identify predictors of the change in attitudes toward DV between the pretest and posttest. Missing data were listwise deleted resulting in a final sample size of 401 cadets. High response rates are typical among Chinese samples (Qu et al., 2018).

Results

There was a significant decrease in attitudes toward DV from the pretest (M = 64.75, SD = 21.36) to the posttest (M = 60.26, SD = 22.14), t(400) = 5.89, p ≤ .001. In other words, the Chinese police cadets had less supportive attitudes toward DV in the posttest than they did in the pretest. Table 1 indicates there was a significant change in scores from pretest to posttest for 13 of the items. The largest change in scores between the pretest and the posttest were seen for “A husband should have the right to discipline his wife when it is necessary” (mean difference = 0.79) and “A man is entitled to sex with his wife whenever he wants it” (mean difference = 0.64). Notably, there was a significant difference between the pretest and the posttest for the item which stated, “Domestic violence is a criminal offense,” pretest M = 1.75, SD = 2.44; posttest M = 1.46, SD = 2.09; t(400) = 2.41, p ≤ .05.

Findings from the independent-sample t test can be found in Table 3. For the pretest, there was a significant difference between the male and female cadets on their pretest scores, female cadets M = 53.24, SD = 17.93; male cadets M = 66.70, SD = 21.31; t(86.64) = 5.14, p ≤ .001. There was a significant difference between male and female cadets on the posttest, female cadets M = 49.91, SD = 20.63; male cadets M = 62.01, SD = 21.93; t(80.39) = 4.09, p ≤ .001. Overall, female cadets reported less supportive attitudes toward DV than male cadets on the pretest and posttest. There was not a significant difference between the female and male cadets and the overall change in attitudes toward DV, female cadets M = 3.33, SD = 12.97; male cadets M = 4.69, SD = 15.64; t(399) = 0.63, p ≥ .05.

Table 3.

Independent-Sample t tests of Gender and Attitudes Toward DV (N = 401).

Outcome Measures	Gender	n	M	SD	t score	df	Significance (2-tailed)
Pretest	Female	58	53.24	17.93	5.14	86.64	<.001
Pretest	Male	343	66.70	21.31	5.14	86.64	<.001
Posttest	Female	58	49.91	20.92	4.09	80.39	<.001
Posttest	Male	343	62.01	21.93	4.09	80.39	<.001
Changes in attitudes toward DV	Female	58	3.33	12.97	0.63	399	0.53
Changes in attitudes toward DV	Male	343	4.69	15.64	0.63	399	0.53

Note. DV = domestic violence.

Results from the multivariate model that estimates the overall change in cadets’ attitudes toward DV can be found in Table 4. The results from the OLS model indicated that a one standard deviation increase in the standardized score for cadets’ pretest attitudes toward DV corresponded to a 0.36 standard deviation decrease in the gain of knowledge or more supportive attitudes toward DV. A one standard deviation increase in knowing about services for DV was associated with a 0.09 standard deviation decrease in the gain of knowledge or more supportive attitudes toward DV. Similarly, a one standard deviation increase in how much of a priority addressing DV was for law enforcement was associated with a 0.10 standard deviation decrease in the gain of knowledge or more supportive attitudes toward DV. Finally, there was a 0.12 standard deviation increase in the gain of knowledge, or less supportive attitudes toward DV, for each one standard deviation increase in age.

Table 4.

OLS Regression Analysis for Police Cadets’ Change in Attitudes Toward DV Between Pretest and Posttest (N = 401).

Variables	Coefficient	SE	β
Standardized pretest score on attitudes toward DV	−0.26***	0.04	−.36
Needs training on DV	0.12	0.07	.08
Knows DV services	−0.07*	0.04	−.09
Male respondents	0.05	0.10	.02
DV is a problem in China	−0.01	0.04	−.01
DV priority for law enforcement	−0.08*	0.04	−.10
Had training on DV	0.07	0.10	.03
Age	0.10**	0.04	.12
Constant	−1.85*	0.82
Model statistics
F value	9.23***
R²	.16

Note. OLS = ordinary least squares; DV = domestic violence.

p < .05. **p < .01. ***p < .001.

Discussion

Using a pretest/posttest design, the current study demonstrated the potential of an informative lecture on DV on Chinese police cadets’ attitudes toward DV while highlighting areas of consideration to achieve the full-benefit of such trainings. There are five points that merit further discussion. First, identification of the main “takeaways” of the lecture are discussed to help refine the lecture. Second, the lack of significant differences between male and female cadets on the change in attitudes between the pretest and posttest is addressed. Third, it is important to understand the counterintuitive finding that those who knew about DV services or believed addressing DV should be a priority for law enforcement had more problematic attitudes toward DV following the lecture. Fourth, pretest attitudes were predictive of the change in attitudes following the lecture. Finally, implications for future trainings on DV in Chinese police educational institutions are discussed and contextualized based on these broader findings.

The Chinese police cadets had less supportive attitudes toward DV following the lecture on DV. Identifying the specific items that showed a significant change between the pretest and the posttest highlights the main ideas cadets learned from the lecture. There was a significant change between the pretest and posttest for the item “Domestic violence is a criminal offense.” One goal of the lecture was to teach the cadets that DV is now a crime in China. This finding demonstrates the potential that a lecture on DV has in transmitting key ideas and knowledge. An interesting finding that emerged was with the item “A man is entitled to sex with his wife whenever he wants it.” Prior to administering the survey, the researchers were encouraged not to include items on sexual violence. This recommendation was likely because of the stigma attached to sexual violence in China (Finkelhor et al., 2013) and the low prevalence of sexual abuse in China when compared to other nations (Ji et al., 2013). It was promising then that cadets had less supportive attitudes toward this item in the posttest than in the pretest. This further demonstrates the potential utility of a brief training for Chinese cadets in changing attitudes.

Findings from the bivariate analyses assessing change in attitudes by survey item also help to refine the direction of future trainings. It is well-documented that students’ attention diminishes during lectures (Bunce et al., 2010) and that 10 to 15 min is the ideal attention span (Davis, 1993). Knowing which part of the lecture was most effective in changing attitudes can help streamline the lecture, should it be implemented on a national-level at all police educational institutions, as is recommended below.

Second, female cadets reported less supportive attitudes toward DV than male cadets in both the pretest and posttest. This is not surprising and is expected based on prior research (Gover et al., 2011; Gracia et al., 2011; Stalans & Finn, 2000; Tam & Tang, 2005). On the other hand, it was expected that male cadets would have a larger change in attitudes between the pretest and posttest given the gaps in knowledge about DV they might have had before the lecture when compared to female cadets. However, significant differences did not emerge between the female and male cadets on the change in attitudes toward DV measure. A 30-minute lecture on DV may not have been sufficient to change their attitudes when compared to female cadets. Gender roles have been entrenched in Chinese society for over 2,000 years (L. Cao & Hou, 2001; Qu et al., 2018). It may be difficult to begin changing these views. One avenue that has shown promise in Western research is to have a victim of DV speak about their experience. Scholarly work has shown that exposure to groups can have an effect on attitudes (Foubert & Perry, 2007). Another potential explanation of this nonsignificant finding is that both the male and female cadets gained important knowledge from the lecture, regardless of their gender.

A counterintuitive finding emerged from the multivariate results. Among those who thought they knew about services for DV and those who believed addressing DV was a priority for law enforcement, they reported more supportive or problematic attitudes toward DV following the lecture. It is likely that these respondents resisted the training and may be tied to the broader police subculture. Scholars have highlighted the critical role of the police subculture in understanding officers’ attitudes and behaviors (O’Neal & Hayes, 2020). Relatedly, prior research indicates that police officers may resist as women gain a larger presence in the police department (Prokos & Padavic, 2002). Because DV is a gender-based crime (Morgan & Oudekerk, 2019), cadets and officers committed to the police subculture may have resisted the broader takeaways of the training—victims should be able report DV and that when victims of DV do report, they should be treated with dignity and respect.

Relatedly, cross-national research has examined the integration of female police officers and the process by which this occurs. Female officers in an Arab Muslim-majority country, also marked by patriarchal norms, preferred gender segregation of duties and believed full integration was not appropriate given the broader cultural context (Strobl, 2008). Yet, prior research with Chinese police cadets suggests there is support for full gender integration in police tasks (Kim & Gerber, 2019). Culture, in conjunction with baseline knowledge, clearly play a pivotal role.

Based on this third point, it may be beneficial for future trainings on DV, especially within Chinese police colleges, to first assess respondents’ baseline knowledge. Respondents can then be split into two groups—one group that has some knowledge of DV and one that does not have any knowledge of DV. The lectures can be tailored to the respondents’ level of knowledge so that it is most beneficial while beginning to challenge components of the police subculture within broader cultural and social norms. We echo the directions for future research raised by Wu and Makin (2019)—training must be explicit in (un)acceptable behavior, consider officer experiences, and interview officers to understand their thought processes.

Fourth, American scholars have asserted that police recruits do not enter basic training, which is similar to the police college in China, without existing attitudes about police work (Buerger, 1998). Indeed, pretest attitudes toward DV were predictive of the change in the cadets’ attitudes toward DV following the lecture. Consistent with extant research (Haarr, 2001), findings from the current study recognize changing attitudes during a specialized training may be a difficult endeavor as attitudes tend to be stable. Nevertheless, this should be weighed against the body of evidence that has demonstrated long-term change in attitudes post-training among police officers (LaMotte et al., 2010), including a training on child abuse (Patterson, 2004).

Taken together, the training improved attitudes toward DV and provides direction for future iterations of trainings on DV for Chinese police cadets. In evaluations of how officers interact with the public (Rosenbaum & Lawrence, 2017) and trainings on sexual assault (Lonsway et al., 2001), scholars have asserted that the training can influence officer behavior, potentially leading to a more victim-centered response, even if the officer’s attitudes do not change. This prior research raises important questions about the use of scripts, reinforced with role-playing, and/or behavioral simulations during police trainings as important starting points for cadets and officers (Lonsway et al., 2001). Because of the unique cultural and national context of China, cadets in the current sample might not have ever heard of DV or knew it was illegal. It may be possible then to see attitudinal and behavioral shifts in the response to DV within samples of Chinese police cadets and officers as knowledge of the law in China expands and behavioral simulations are incorporated into police trainings. The structure of police training in China has implications for the implementation of such programming. Police officers in China typically attend a regional school or tactical training and courses on criminal justice before enlisting in a local police force. The centralization of these schools may assist in the transmission of information about the recently passed legislation on DV.

Nevertheless, there are limitations to the study design that merit mention. A control group was not included but has been for prior research that uses the pretest/posttest design with police officers (Berking et al., 2010; LaMotte et al., 2010 McGurk et al., 1993). Future research should examine changes in pretest and posttest scores among groups that did and did not receive the lecture or among groups that received two different lectures. Given the survey was relatively brief and only 30 minutes passed between the pretest and posttest, long-term changes in attitudes cannot be assessed. Attitudinal changes may not lead to changes in behavior and/or may not be stable over time (Franklin et al., 2019). It is recommended that follow-up assessments are included in a longitudinal research design. This will also hopefully address concern about a potential Hawthorne effect. In spite of this concern, descriptive statistics demonstrate there was variation in the overall change in attitudes and not every cadet answered in the “expected” direction. Furthermore, the lecture was given by a Chinese female graduate student member of the research team who spoke Mandarin. This was important to the validity of the research design as it ensured the translation of materials. Should the training be implemented it would be important to consider who provides the training as the trainer’s gender and the relationship between the trainer and trainee has been shown to effect training outcomes. Officers may respond to training on sensitive topics, such as DV, by females with inappropriate looks, comments, and criticism (Huisman et al., 2005). When these actions occur during a training, the officers are unlikely to pay attention and retain information (Huisman et al., 2005). Mobley and Payne (1992) suggest that socioeconomic status, gender, race, and sexuality all may influence the receptiveness of the audience to the training. Although this reflects the attitudes seen in American trainings, due to the more patriarchal norms of Chinese society, these actions can be expected and may indeed be exacerbated. It is therefore vital that future implementations of DV training in China consider these important points.

China passed a law in 2015 that criminalized DV and provided direction for those tasked with the enforcement of the mandate. The findings from the current study highlight the potential benefits of an informational training program for Chinese police cadets aimed at improving their attitudes toward DV. The structure of the Chinese police college system may aid in the implementation of such trainings and dissemination of knowledge about this legislation.

Footnotes

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Lisa Muftić.

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This project was funded by the EURECA Center at Sam Houston State University, the Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology at Sam Houston State University, the Associate Dean for Research and Program Development, and Criminal Justice International Initiatives.

ORCID iDs

Brittany E. Hayes

Eric J. Connolly

Xinting Wang

Author Biographies

Brittany E. Hayes, Ph.D. is an assistant professor in the School of Criminal Justice at the University of Cincinnati. Her research focuses on victimization and perceptions of crime. Her work has been published in the American Sociological Review and the Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency. She is the 2019 recipient of the Division on Women and Crime New Scholar Award from the American Society of Criminology and 2018 recipient of the Outstanding Paper Award from the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences.

Eric J. Connolly, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology at Sam Houston State University. He is a biosocial developmental criminologist who studies the interplay between genetic and environmental factors on antisocial behavior across the life course. His research has appeared in journals such as Criminology, Child Development, Developmental Psychology, Journal of Adolescent Health, Journal of Quantitative Criminology, and Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency.

Xinting Wang is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology at Sam Houston State University. Her research interests include policing, juvenile delinquency, comparative study, and quantitative research.

Makayla Mason is an undergraduate student in the Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology at Sam Houston State University. She is an Elliott T. Bowers Honors College Student, a Smith-Hutson Scholar, and a Raven Scholar. She has written reports for the Crime Victims Institute. Her research interests include victimology and biosocial criminology. She is the 2019 recipient of the EURECA Fast Award for best presentation of funded research from the SHSU Undergraduate Research Symposium.

Camille Ingham is an undergraduate student at Sam Houston State University. She has previously published technical reports with the Crime Victims’ Institute at Sam Houston State University. Her research interests include comparative criminology, victimology, and violence against women.

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