My best day will be my last day!’
Appreciating appreciative inquiry in police research
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 12363471 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Layla Skinns (0000-0003-2919-1181, School of Law, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK, corresponding author), Andrew Wooff (0000-0002-4600-3886, Edinburgh Napier University), Amy Sprawson (School of Law, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK) |
| Year | 2021 |
| Volume | 32 |
| Issue | 6 |
| Pages | 731-747 |
| Publication date | 2021-10-03 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Policing & Society (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1043-9463 • E-ISSN: 1477-2728 |
| Publisher | Taylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/10439463.2021.1984471 |
| OpenAlex | W3207181330 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 3 |
| References cited | 42 |
Appreciative Inquiry is a methodology originating from organisational psychology, though it has since been used in criminal justice research including police studies. It is used to identify the actual and potential strengths of an individual or an institution, with a view to building on these strengths in the future. The primary purpose of this paper is to assess the value of Appreciative Inquiry for police research, where its use is potentially confounded by aspects of police culture. Drawing on an ESRC-funded study, the ‘good’ police custody study, we critically examine the role of Appreciative Inquiry in enabling access and data collection through appreciatively-informed interviews, examining this from the perspective of the police, the policed and police researchers. We also illustrate how Appreciative Inquiry contributed to the theorisation process and to the development of theoretically-informed recommendations and organisational reforms, matters that are neglected in other police and criminal justice research. We conclude that certain aspects of police culture hinder its use, for example, the cynicism of frontline police officers, whilst the storytelling features of police culture and growing collaboration between police and researchers help overcome these barriers. Appreciative Inquiry must still be used reflexively in police research, recognising for example the tendency towards naïve optimism and its impacts on vulnerable participants. Nonetheless, in light of Appreciative Inquiry dovetailing with growing expectations that the police and academics should work more closely together, there are grounds for appreciating Appreciative Inquiry as an important part of a diverse police research agenda in the future
Appreciative Inquiry · Criminal justice · Criminology · Cynicism · Economic Justice · Organizational culture · Pedagogy · Political science · Public relations · Sociology · Emergency and Acute Care Studies · Interpreting and Communication in Healthcare · Law · Policing Practices and Perceptions · Psychology
Social psychology at the crossroads
The Politics of the Police
"How Can You Do It?"
Police (canteen) sub-culture. An appreciation
Men and their work
Developing and Maintaining Police-Researcher Partnerships to Facilitate Research Use
Prisons and the Problem of Order
Knowledge mobilisation and the social sciences
Doing ‘strengths-based’ research
The rise of impact in academia
Appreciative Inquiry and Relationships in Prison
Tripping Over Molehills
Pain in police detention
A Southern policing perspective and appreciative inquiry
Safeguarding the rights of suspects in police custody
Helping Victims of Crime
Storytelling at the Police Station
Designing and Conducting Mixed Methods Research
Culture as Figurative Action
Yarning and appreciative inquiry
Artifice or integrity in the marketization of research impact? Investigating the moral economy of (pathways to) impact statements within research funding proposals in the UK and Australia
The promise of appreciative inquiry as an interview tool for field research
Status, gender and geography
The Police Station
| Unique citing works | 3 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1 |
| Citation span | 2023 - 2026 (4) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 2 |