Nature of policing

who gives interactionist approaches to the nature of policing

• Cicourel

• Reiner - police discretion

• police culture - canteen

• Davis

• Clarke

what did Cicourel talk about

• organisational policies

• background expectancies

what did Cicourel say about organisational policies

different organisational policies were pursued by the police in the two cities

• one was formally organised with key procedures and all delinquencies recorded

• the other was informally organised, tolerated some levels of corruption - not all acts recorded

what did Cicourel say about background expectancies

police officers have different background expectancies

• the informally organised city’s officers thought they were expected to act more tolerantly with juveniles

• the formally organised city was less tolerant so more offenders were processed

what did Reiner say

there are 3 types of police discretion

• individualistic

• cultural

• structural

what is the individualistic level of police discretion

specific officers have specific concerns, opinions and interests

what is the cultural level of police discretion

canteen culture

the views of a whole groups of police officers becomes the norm which creates a culture

what is the structural level of police discretion

marxists argue the police are upholding the capitalist structure of society so they focus on street crime and burglary

who else talked about canteen culture

Holdaway

black people viewed negatively

what does a racist canteen culture lead to

more afro-caribbean people being stopped and searched

what did the Scarman report say

showed racist individuals within the police, who could be removed

what did the Macpherson Inquiry suggest

there is institutional racism within the police force

what did Davis say

in Los Angeles there is a growing gap between the rich and the poor

it is the police’s job to separate the rich and the poor

what did Clarke talk about

situational crime prevention

right realist approach

people choose to commit crime

favours people making themselves harder targets of crime

how many prisoners in custody are unemployed

55%

according to Morgan and Russel

what do left realists say about crime

poor people are most likely to be victims of crime so police should protect them most

establishing a positive relationship with police and community is the most important in reducing crime

who is a left realist

Jock Young

what didi Jock Young say

crime can only be tackled by addressing inequality

police should allocate time more efficiently

policing the crisis - collapse of consensus policing causes rise in crime

who are examples of Marxists

• Gilroy

• Althusser

• Hall et al

• criminalisation and racialisation

• Scraton

what is Gilroy’s idea

Empire strikes back

black criminality as a form of resistance

what did Althusser say

police are part of the ideological state apparatus which controls through oppressive methods

we are socialised into capitalist ideology by education system, media, family…

what does Scraton say

police are an occupying force on working class communities

explains animosity between them both

what does Hall et al say

police deal with those on the margins of society