NCJ Number
146473
Date Published
1994
Length
211 pages
Annotation
This theory of the evolution of the police function maintains that the modern form of police function is linked to economic specialization and differential access to resources which characterize a class-based, rather than a kinship-based, society.
Abstract
The authors' unique contribution to the theoretical literature is to explore the incremental changes in the police function associated with the transition from a kinship-based to a class-dominated structure, through historical and cross- cultural analyses, and to outline the implications of these changes for modern police-community relations. This book lays out four interdependent propositions. The first is that specialized police agencies are generally found only in societies politically organized as States. Second, the origin of the specialized police function is related to the division of society into separate classes with conflicting interest. Third, the crucial factor in determining the modern specialized police function was the transformation of the social control mechanism from an integral part of the community structure to a tool of the emerging dominant class. Finally, the authors contend that the ruling class creates the police to preserve its control over access to resources, over the political apparatus, and over the labor force.