Core values of the former police officers convicted of corruption crimes

The problem of corruption is one of the oldest ones, and it has not lost its relevance to this day. It is relevant all over the world and affects primarily public servants in the position of power. One of the most important state systems is law enforcement and the problem of corruption in its ranks is of significant importance and has not been resolved almost all over the world. Most often, this problem is considered in the legal and criminological spheres, but it has not received a final solution. In recent years, there has been a tendency to consider this problem from the standpoint of psychology and deviantology, and separate studies of the psychological causes of corrupt behavior have been conducted. A theoretical analysis of the most relevant scientific works on the psychology of corrupt behavior of police officers made it possible to identify the most significant personal qualities that contribute to corrupt behavior, among which the motivation and values of the individual are most often mentioned. In order to confirm the importance of the individual values in the formation of corrupt behavior, we conducted an empirical study of the terminal values and core values of both current employees of the State traffic inspectorate and former employees imprisoned for committing corruption crimes under Art. 290 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (taking a bribe) and Art. 286 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (abuse of power). To prove our hypothesis, we carried out a comparative analysis of indicators of terminal values and core values between the chosen samples. Based on the results of the analysis, we were able to confirm the significant influence of the individual values on the manifestation of corrupt behavior. The analysis revealed that the persons who committed corruption crimes preferred material values, personal and family values, the desire to stand out and be independent. The obtained research results can be used by the professional psychologists in the candidates selection in the law enforcement and in the organization of psychological support and prevention of corrupt behavior among the police officers.