NCJ Number
207683
Journal
Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies and Management Volume: 27 Issue: 3 Dated: 2004 Pages: 320-340
Editor(s)
Lawrence F. Travis III
Date Published
2004
Length
21 pages
Annotation
This study explored how peer retaliation, viewed from a police culture context, is used as a social mechanism of control and conformity in order to preserve broad cultural features.
Abstract
Building on previous research, this study examined the presentation of police work, specifically retaliation among officers as seen from inside the police culture, a non-adversarial and less crime prone population. The study objectives were to determine how officers rationalized peer retaliation and to identify types of retaliation that officers imposed on their peers. The data used were part of a larger project on police-citizen violence which were collected in 1999 from a Southwestern police department consisting of approximately 600 officers. Three focus groups were conducted with a total of 18 officers with varied experience ranging from 3 to 25 years of service. The results showed that rationality of peer retaliation was based on morality and deterrence, while types of retaliation sanctioned against peers were based on ostracism and no cover. Notes, references