Police Culture(s): Some Definitional, Contextual and Analytical Considerations

Abstract

This chapter will explore the use of oral histories in furthering our understanding of police cultures by expanding upon three main themes. First, the oral history approach challenges us in terms of the need to differentiate between police organizational influences and the influences of wider society. Second, the approach highlights the difficulties associated with assuming a degree of universality between police cultures. Third, the approach allows one to build upon the work of Shearing and Ericson (1991) and Waddington (1999) in drawing out further dimensions of the problematic relationship between language and behaviour in the context of police narratives.