Towards an Organizational Folklore of Policing

The Storied Nature of Policing and the Police Use of Storytelling

Bibliographic Data

ID8930500
AuthorsRobert Smith (0000-0002-8593-1298, Robert Gordon University, corresponding author), Sarah Pedersen (0000-0001-8017-4227, Robert Gordon University), Simon Burnett (0000-0003-1239-5612, Robert Gordon University)
Year2014
Volume125
Issue2
Pages218-237
Publication date2014-05-04
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueFolklore (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0015-587X • E-ISSN: 1469-8315
PublisherRoutledge (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/0015587x.2014.913853
OpenAlexW2069495975
LanguageEN
Citations received14
References cited49

For police officers, much of the working day consists of telling stories about everyday policing and events. Although the study of narrative and storytelling in organizational contexts is an expanding area of research, the same cannot be said of the study of narrative and storytelling in a police context, which remains an under-researched, although not unexplored, subject of study. Using the work of management-narrative theorists such as David Boje and Yiannis Gabriel as a starting point, this article considers policing organizations and agencies as storytelling organizations. This is achieved through a literature review of the ‘storied’ nature of policing and the police use of storytelling in an organizational context. Thus, this reflective article contributes to the developing literature in the field by reviewing and mapping the literature, highlighting potential areas for future research

Archaeology · Art · Context (archaeology · Field (mathematics · Folklore · Literature · Narrative · Political science · Public relations · Sociology · Storytelling · Anthropology · History · Management and Organizational Studies · Policing Practices and Perceptions · Sport and Mega-Event Impacts