Application of Buddhist Principles to Promote Political Culture of Police Officers under the Administrative Division, Police General Hospital

Abstract

The purposes of this research article were 1) to study the level of political culture among police officers; 2) to compare the level of political culture among police officers under the Administrative Division, Police General Hospital based on personal factors; and 3) to propose guidelines for applying Buddhist principles to promote the political culture of police officers under the Administrative Division, Police General Hospital. This research employed a mixed-methods approach, combining quantitative research with data collected from a sample of 155 people, calculated using Taro Yamane's formula. The instrument used was a questionnaire with an IOC value of 0.788, and data was analyzed using descriptive statistics including frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation, and t-test/f-test. Qualitative research involved in-depth interviews with 15 key informants, and descriptive content analysis was used to analyze the data. The research findings revealed that 1) police officers had a high overall level of political culture ( = 3.90, S.D.= 0.07);
2) a comparison of the level of political culture among police officers showed that officers with different personal factors had different overall levels of political culture, thus accepting all hypotheses; 3) the application of Buddhist principles to promote the political culture of police officers using Sangahavatthu found that the political culture of police officers was characterized by clear hierarchical structures and strict adherence to orders from superiors. This can be achieved by applying Buddhist principles emphasizing equality, understanding, and compassion to develop and improve the work culture. These principles included 1) Dana: giving to allocate positions and resources equally; 2) Piyavaca: kind speech which reduced feelings of “citizen” (subservience) and promoted constructive participation within the organization; 3) Atthacariya: good conduct setting a good example within the police force, which helped improve behavior and work processes in a constructive and efficient way; and 4) Samanatta: equality allocating resources and opportunities without regard to political relationships or individuals.