PICP HIV/AIDS Behavioural Research
Behavioural Research being undertaken by the Secretariat.
In 2009 the PICP Secretariat conducted the first ever ‘For police by police behavioural research project’. The research is designed to ask questions about the participant’s knowledge, attitude and behaviour on the following key themes; policing, alcohol, drugs, Human Rights, HIV and their personal relationships. We ask questions as diverse as why they joined the police to their knowlede on how HIV is transmitted. The first two police jurisdictions to take part in the research were the Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary and the Samoa Police Force. Over 900 sworn men and women police officers have been involved in the research to date
The reason we are undertaking such research is to provide the Police Commissioners accurate data with which to identify priorities for planning effective policies, intervention and prevention programmes and what resources may be required based on evidence of need. It is also an opportunity for sworn police officers to answer questions in an honest but totally confidential manner, thus highlighting to the Police Executive what their staff truly believe and the knowledge they have as police officers. The project team can guarantee confidentiality to the participants as all questions and answers are collected using specifically programmed laptops, with the questions both in English and the specific country’s language. We have also provided audio files so the questions can be read to the participant to aid understanding. We have received excellent feedback from participants using the computers, we have been told how easy they are to use, even by people who have never seen or touched a computer before.
The research also allows the PICP to enable comparison between Police and other populations to measure if Police have an increased risks based on the work they do within communities and on overseas missions/deployment. Thus allowing Police in the Pacific to have their own data and not be included in the Military data as often is the case. Police will also be able to measure progress and changes in attitude and behaviour within their sworn police staff by using this information as ‘baseline’ data.
The PICP research will also be of benefit to those countries who have undertaken the survey, in applying for funding to donors. The police service will be able to apply for funding based on evidence of need and will be able to show what the funding achieved by repeating the survey questions and looking for changes in the data.
The research will again be conducted in 2010 in the Marshall Islands and Vanuatu Police Forces. We will then be in an excellent position to write up the results, present them to the Police Commissioners concerned and also make some of the data available to also highlight some of the excellent staff we have within our Pacific Police Services.
Samoa Police participating in the behavioural research survey
Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary participating in the behavioural research survey
