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Ethical Climate Theory, Whistle-blowing, and the Code of Silence in Police Agencies in the State of Georgia

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  • Gary Rothwell
  • J. Baldwin

Abstract

This article reports the findings from a study that investigates the relationship between ethical climates and police whistle-blowing on five forms of misconduct in the State of Georgia. The results indicate that a friendship or team climate generally explains willingness to blow the whistle, but not the actual frequency of blowing the whistle. Instead, supervisory status, a control variable investigated in previous studies, is the most consistent predictor of both willingness to blow the whistle and frequency of blowing the whistle. Contrary to popular belief, the results also generally indicate that police are more inclined than civilian employees to blow the whistle in Georgia – in other words, they are less inclined to maintain a code of silence. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media, Inc. 2007

Suggested Citation

  • Gary Rothwell & J. Baldwin, 2007. "Ethical Climate Theory, Whistle-blowing, and the Code of Silence in Police Agencies in the State of Georgia," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 70(4), pages 341-361, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jbuset:v:70:y:2007:i:4:p:341-361
    DOI: 10.1007/s10551-006-9114-5
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    Cited by:

    1. Taylor, Olivia Elizabeth Vere & Philpot, Richard & Fitton, Oliver & Walkington, Zoë & Levine, Mark, 2024. "Police whistleblowing: A systematic review of the likelihood (and the barriers and facilitators) of the willingness of police officers to report the misconduct of fellow officers," Journal of Criminal Justice, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
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    5. Kaptein, S.P., 2009. "From Inaction to External Whistleblowing: The Influence of the Ethical Culture of Organizations on Employee Responses to Observed Wrongdoing," ERIM Report Series Research in Management ERS-2009-047-ORG, Erasmus Research Institute of Management (ERIM), ERIM is the joint research institute of the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University and the Erasmus School of Economics (ESE) at Erasmus University Rotterdam.
    6. P. Cassematis & R. Wortley, 2013. "Prediction of Whistleblowing or Non-reporting Observation: The Role of Personal and Situational Factors," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 117(3), pages 615-634, October.
    7. Chu-Mei Liu & Chou-Kang Chiu, 2020. "Modeling turnover intention and job performance: the moderation of perceived benevolent climate," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 14(3), pages 611-631, June.
    8. Muhammad Hariz Hamid & Zaleha Othman, 2015. "Whistleblowing and Voicing Dissent in Organizations," International Journal of Management Sciences, Research Academy of Social Sciences, vol. 6(1), pages 8-15.
    9. Elka Johansson & Peter Carey, 2016. "Detecting Fraud: The Role of the Anonymous Reporting Channel," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 139(2), pages 391-409, December.
    10. Yan Liu & Shuming Zhao & Rui Li & Lulu Zhou & Feng Tian, 2018. "The relationship between organizational identification and internal whistle-blowing: the joint moderating effects of perceived ethical climate and proactive personality," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 12(1), pages 113-134, January.
    11. Michael Knoll & Rolf Dick, 2013. "Do I Hear the Whistle…? A First Attempt to Measure Four Forms of Employee Silence and Their Correlates," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 113(2), pages 349-362, March.
    12. Trevor M. Spoelma & Nitya Chawla & Aleksander P. J. Ellis, 2021. "If You Can’t Join ‘Em, Report ‘Em: A Model of Ostracism and Whistleblowing in Teams," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 173(2), pages 345-363, October.
    13. Lu-Ming Tseng, 2019. "How Implicit Ethics Institutionalization Affects Ethical Selling Intention: The Case of Taiwan’s Life Insurance Salespeople," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 158(3), pages 727-742, September.
    14. Said, Jamaliah & Alam, Md. Mahmudul & Mohamed, Dar Irna Bt & Rafidi, Marhamah, 2019. "Does Job Satisfaction, Fair Treatment, and Cooperativeness Influence the Whistleblowing Practice in Malaysian Government Linked Companies?," SocArXiv vd2eh, Center for Open Science.
    15. Syahrul Ahmar Ahmad Author_Email: syahrul.ahmar@johor.uitm.edu.my & Malcolm Smith & Zubaidah Ismail & Rahimah Mohamed Yunos, 2011. "Internal Whistleblowing Intentions: Influence Of Internal Auditors’ Demographic And Individual Factors," Annual Summit on Business and Entrepreneurial Studies (ASBES 2011) Proceeding 2011-051-155, Conference Master Resources.
    16. Assad Tavakoli & Tanya Gibbs & Meysam Manesh, 2024. "The interplay of ethical decision making and legal frameworks for whistleblowing: the UAE example," International Journal of Disclosure and Governance, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 21(3), pages 447-461, September.
    17. Olayinka Erin & Omololu Adex Bamigboye, 2020. "Does whistleblowing framework influence earnings management? An empirical investigation," International Journal of Disclosure and Governance, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 17(2), pages 111-122, September.
    18. Hildreth, John Angus D. & Gino, Francesca & Bazerman, Max, 2016. "Blind loyalty? When group loyalty makes us see evil or engage in it," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 16-36.
    19. Eugene D. Jaffe & Nonna Kushnirovich & Alexandr Tsimerman, 2018. "The Impact of Acculturation on Immigrants’ Business Ethics Attitudes," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 147(4), pages 821-834, February.

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