Introspective Projection
Prototypical Representations of Policing in the Service of Rule of Law
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6072009 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Gordon Sammut (0000-0001-5923-9946, University of Malta, corresponding author), Rebekah Mifsud (0000-0002-7184-2462, University of Malta), Noellie Brockdorff (0000-0001-5439-0890, University of Malta) |
| Year | 2023 |
| Volume | 57 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 344-359 |
| Publication date | 2023-03-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Integrative Psychological and Behavioral Science (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1932-4502 • E-ISSN: 1936-3567 |
| Publisher | Springer Science and Business Media LLC (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1007/s12124-021-09632-w |
| PMID | 34401991 |
| OpenAlex | W3193911821 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 19 |
Mass protests that have taken place over the past decade in various Western democracies have called into question the role of police in society, as officers have employed measures to contain rallies protesting for or against various issues. A number of these protests have resorted to violent means, resisting the police or protesting directly against their role and methods. The present study sought to investigate the prototypical representations of the police that lay citizens use to forge or desist identification with police officers. Social identification enables citizens to consider the police as ingroup members, facilitating respect for their authority. Conversely, identifying the police as outgroup precipitates resistance. The study involved 41 in-depth interviews carried out with citizens of Malta between May and June 2020. Thematic Networks Analysis revealed various points of consensus as well as a number of controversial themes. In particular, respondents demonstrated sceptical attitudes regarding policing on the beat for fear of overfamiliarity, rooted in introspective attributions projected at the police as merely human. Moreover, respondents expressed support for technological innovations that overcome natural psychological tendencies. The findings of this study suggest that seeking increasing trust in the police may be a red herring for policymakers. Rather, efforts should be directed at developing inter-objective systems, (e.g. body-cams), that overcome individual psychological propensities
Attribution · Criminology · Epistemology · Identification (biology · Ingroups and outgroups · Introspection · Political science · Qualitative research · Skepticism · Social science · Sociology · Thematic analysis · Crime Patterns and Interventions · Crime, Deviance, and Social Control · Policing Practices and Perceptions · Psychology · Social Psychology
Social psychology.
Shared intentionality
Modernity and self-identity
Suicide
Modernity and Self-Identity
A Social Identity Theory of Leadership
Interobjectivity
On Interobjectivity
Mass action and mundane reality
Contextualising the crowd in contemporary social science
The spiral of conflict
There’s no such thing as a good Arab
It's Only Other People Who Make Me Feel Black
Thematic networks
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |