Police in a Time of Change, Second Edition

• NCJ Number: 103240
• Author(s): J J Broderick
• Date Published: 1987
• Length: 287 pages
• Sale Source: Waveland Press, Inc.
• Publication Type: Issue Overview
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This supplementary text for undergraduate courses in criminal justice presents a sociological perspective of police work and organization.

Abstract

A review of the literature on police occupational socialization describes the characteristics of four police working personalities: 'enforcers,' 'idealists,' 'realists,' and 'optimists.' 'Enforcers' have a low emphasis on due process of law and a high emphasis on the need for social order; 'idealists' have high emphases on both due process and social control; 'realists' have low emphases on due process and social order; and 'optimists' have a high emphasis on due process and a low emphasis on social order. A discussion of the social setting in which the various police personalities operate considers the police group (chief, commanding officers, recruits, and detectives and specialists) from a sociological perspective, relationships between the police group and citizens, and relationships between the police group and actual or potential deviants. The remainder of the book discusses recent changes in police personnel and organization and the ways in which the changes can be managed Discussion questions, 143-item bibliography, and subject index.