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Sketch of the Policeman's "Working Personality" (From Criminal Justice System: Politics and Policies, Seventh Edition, P 116-133, 1998, George F. Cole and Marc G. Gertz, eds. -- See NCJ-185991)

NCJ Number
185997
Author(s)
Jerome H. Skolnick
Date Published
1998
Length
18 pages
Annotation
Because their role contains the two important variables of danger and authority, police officers develop a distinctive view of the world and their "working personality" affects the actions police officers take.
Abstract
The process by which the police officer's working personality is developed relates to the danger and the authority associated with the police officer's role. The element of danger seems to make the police officer especially attentive to signs indicating a potential for violence and lawbreaking. As a result, the police officer is generally a suspicious person. Further, the character of the police work makes the police officer less desirable as a friend since norms of friendship implicate others in the police officer's work. The element of authority reinforces the element of danger in isolating the police officer. Typically, the police officer is required to enforce laws representing morality, such as those prohibiting drunkenness and traffic laws. In these situations, the police officer directs citizens whose typical response denies recognition of authority and stresses the obligation of the police officer to respond to danger. The police officer's view of the world is discussed in relation to conditions under which the police may be threatened. Consideration is also paid to the social isolation of the police, police solidarity and danger, social isolation and authority, and correlates of social isolation. 33 notes and 2 tables