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ABSTRACT
The purpose of this article is to offer a useful approach for improving cultural competence among public administrators by examining differences in public service value congruence across racial lines. Instruments that assess the degree of fit between the values of citizens and public administrators may be helpful, as one tool among an array of tools, for improving the cultural competence of public administrators. Along these lines, this article reports the results of a study that utilized an original survey instrument to measure differences across racial lines in public service value congruence between citizens and police officers, its effects on citizen perceptions of police-community relations, and the implications that these differences have for the development of cultural competence.
Key words: Public Service Values, Cultural Competence, Citizens, Police, Value Congruence
INTRODUCTION
This article explores the relationship between cultural competence and citizen-administrator value congruence. Specifically, it examines the degree and effect of public service value congruence between police officers and the communities that they serve, with a particular focus on differences across racial lines. The term 'value congruence' refers to the extent to which an individual's values are congruent with the values that they encounter in their environment. Because values represent preferences, standards, and expectations of human conduct that guide our behavior and form the basis of our attitudes, they are directly relevant to the study and development of cultural competence. As Cross (1988) puts it, "Cultural competence is a set of congruent behaviors, attitudes, and policies that come together in a system, agency or professional and enable that system, agency or professional to work effectively in crosscultural situations" (p. 1).
In the context of police-community relations, public service value congruence represents the degree of fit between the expectations that citizens have about how police officers should carry out their work, and their actual experiences with police officers. This article reports the results of research that used an original survey instrument, the Citizen-Administrator Value Congruence Survey (C-AVCS), to measure public service value congruence, and the effects that congruence (or lack thereof) has on police-community relations. Findings from a study completed in spring 2016 indicated that, overall, greater value congruence between citizens and police officers is strongly associated with increased levels of citizen trust, perceptions of legitimacy,...