NCJ Number
78797
Editor(s)
T Clark
Date Published
1981
Length
29 pages
Annotation
This kit contains materials for use in a game designed to help young people, especially adolescents, better understand the police officer's role and perceptions in modern American society and to encourage young people to have positive contacts with the police.
Abstract
The game consists of a series of activities which can be combined in various ways to accommodate varying time schedules and interests. Suggestions are given for using the game in schedules of 1 to 5 days in length. Editorial cartoons and factual anecdotes and articles are provided for placement on bulletin boards and for use as a basis for discussion. A role playing game entails the use of 12 hypothetical police calls which enable students to experience some of the situations common to the police officer's job. Class members role play different incidents in small groups during each of the game's three rounds. An exercise involving an attitude survey and discussion is designed to encourage student discussion of how they feel about the police, reasons for their feelings, and changes in attitudes produced by the role playing exercises. Another recommended activity is designed to test the hypothesis that both positive and negative police contacts are significantly linked to attitudes toward the police. A field work assignment contains three exercises in which students go outside the classroom to gather additional information. Other activities focus on the conflict between maintaining law and order and preserving constitutional rights, the nature of police interrogations, and the definition of 'law and order.' Forms, visual aids, and related materials are provided.