PUBLIC IMAGES OF THE POLICE IN NORTHERN IRELAND

• NCJ Number: 144656
• Journal: Policing and Society Volume: 3 Issue: 3 Dated: (1993) Pages: 163-176
• Author(s): J D Brewer
• Date Published: 1993
• Length: 14 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Survey
• Language: English
• Country: Switzerland
• Note: An earlier version of this article was presented at the annual conference of the American Society of Criminology, San Francisco, CA, November 20-23, 1991.

Annotation

The author continues a critique of the divided society model of policing, focusing on the issue of public images of the police in Northern Ireland, and offering survey data to substantiate his argument.

Abstract

Characteristically, in divided societies, public attitudes toward police tend to polarize along communal lines. Results of a 1990 survey among 896 residents of Northern Ireland suggest that although religion is the primary basis for social division, it alone does not structure people's values and attitudes. The Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC), with its simplistic approach to mediating conflict, perpetuates conflict and overlooks common factors in how Catholics and Protestants view police as well as intracommunal fragmentation¦albeit, the views of some subgroups are more significant to the dynamics of policing than are those of others. For example, the Nationalists, the working class, and the young, who hold the most negative views toward the RUC, are important beyond their numerical representation within the Catholic community. 11 tables and 21 references