Theses and Dissertations from DePaul University

Date of Award

Spring 2026

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Educational Leadership

College

College of Education

First Advisor

Christopher McCullough

Abstract

Contemporary U.S. police reform policies rely on officer training as a primary mechanism to address issues of law enforcement legitimacy and accountability. Yet, despite legitimacy-based curricula such as procedural justice, research indicates that this training struggles to produce durable changes in police practice. This qualitative study used a phenomenological approach to examine officers’ perceptions of mandated reform-oriented training. Drawing on Bourdieu’s theory of practice, the study conceptualized police training as a sociological process shaped by habitus, forms of capital, and the policing field. Data were collected from six officers in a large urban police department to examine how they internalize, assign value to, and navigate annual mandated training. The findings indicate that although officers readily complied with institutional requirements, they selectively engaged with training content, assessed its value based on perceived real-world practicality, and navigated the structures of their field by balancing compliance strategies with the risks inherent in the realities of police work. These findings suggest that a socio-informed training framework that aligns mandated reform-oriented training with officers’ habitus, systems of valuation, and the navigation of field constraints may improve the likelihood that the intended learning outcomes of police curricula are embodied as meaningful professional practice rather than reduced to rote procedural compliance.

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