Social Constructions of Violence Against the Police (From Qualitative Research in Criminology, P 62-75, 1999, Fiona Brookman, Lesley Noaks, et al., eds. -- See NCJ-180934)

• NCJ Number: 180936
• Author(s): Mike Levi; Lesley Noaks
• Date Published: 1999
• Length: 14 pages
• Sale Source: Ashgate
• Publication Format: Article
• Language: English
• Country: United Kingdom

Annotation

This paper examines the social construction of one part of “the crime problem”: assaults against the police.

Abstract

It draws upon qualitative research conducted in a single police force area, supplemented by observations in other areas. It also addresses how the issue of police directed violence was constructed nationally, including the influence of the media on both local and national constructions. The article reviews the emergence of assaults against the police as a social problem and seeks to highlight the frequently inescapable relationship between research and policy. Violence towards the police is increasingly portrayed as a modern phenomenon caused by the recent general decline in standards of everyday life. Local press coverage of violence involving the police shows that it is generally supportive of their role in doing order-maintaining “dirty work” on behalf of “society as a whole.” The style of coverage is far more negative about assaults against the police than about those by the police. While media attention may confirm the impression that there is a growing problem, it remains debatable whether the police face any more violence in carrying out their duties than they did in the past. Note, references