Jerome's policeman's working personality and criminology concepts

Criminology Examples

Policeman's working personality

An example of the "Policeman's working personality" might be when a policeman hears that another member of the force planted evidence to secure the conviction of a known criminal. Rather than question his colleague's behavior, the policeman tacitly approves of the action, as clearly the criminal deserved to be punished, if not for the specific crime he was convicted for during the trial, than for another crime the criminal surely committed in the past.

Generalized punishment

Rather than inflict generalized punishment such as incarceration upon juvenile offenders, it is better to attempt to stress the rehabilitative function of justice by forcing them to make amends for their crimes, like cleaning up areas they have defaced.

Prisonization

The process of becoming socialized into the life of a prison often makes minor offenders even worse, as they grow hardened and learn from the crimes of others and grow embittered with a system that forces them to endure abuse at the hands of other prisoners.

Crimes of economic domination

Although they might not realize it, some criminologists might argue that affluent Americans are unconsciously perpetrating crimes of economic domination upon the underclass, even while these wealthier Americans fear that they will become the victims of violent crimes if they wander into certain areas of the city. However, the more affluent Americans do not see their wealth as a crime, but as a justifiable reward regardless of the historical circumstances behind how such wealth was acquired.

Criminalizing girls' survival

Girls, who have become part of the sex trade to survive economically, or out of fear of a dominant male figure like a 'pimp,' ironically are more likely to become convicted and labeled as criminals than the men who use their bodies to make money through the sex trade.

The function of the police

Ideally, the function of the police should be proactive, as a presence in the community to deter crime, rather than to punish crime, and merely increasing the visible presence of police in a crime-ridden neighborhood can have a positive deterrent effect.

Order-maintenance

Intensified policing of disorder or incivilities took place during the aftermath of 9/11 regarding potential terrorist threats.

Inmate code

An inmate code is a social system that often results in the brutal treatment of certain prisoners in a sexually, physically, and emotionally fashion. This brutal treatment can occur because of the crimes the inmates have committed, their new or low ranking on the inmate social hierarchy, or because of the perception that they are a weaker member of the prison population, due to age, sexual preference, or 'toughness.'

Pathology of power

Even an ordinary person, when placed in the role of a prison guard can exhibit the pathology or tendency to abuse of power, if not subject to rules on how to treat inmates, such as when during a fraternity hazing a brother might force an underage recruit to drink alcohol to excess, an action he would not feel motivated to try had he not been placed in a dominant position over the new member.

Chivalry hypothesis

Female delinquency and crime statistics are lower and will be detected less frequently because men are more reluctant to report that they are the victims of crimes perpetrated by women. The shame of domestic abuse of a man would be far greater and less apt to be believed, the victim might assume.

Question

Compare and contrast the way social structures and social forces shape policemen and prisoners, citing specific examples from the articles you read in Classics. How are these groups similar? Different? How do they resemble, and differ from, other types of people?'

One of the most frightening examples of how perverse a prison culture can become is evident in the example of "Interpersonal Dynamics in a Simulated Prison," as noted by Craig Haney, Curtis Banks, and Philip Zimbardo, who describe an experiment that illustrated that simply placing persons in the role of prison guards caused these persons to abuse their power. These persons were aware that the individuals whom they were overseeing were innocent and that the authoritarian roles were temporary and assumed, and part of an experiment. How much more open to abuse might the attempt to make use of the power given by the role of policeman, after proceeding through the education of the everyday patrolman, and becoming inculcated in the norms of police culture, where every person is a potential suspect, as delineated in the "Sketch of the Policeman's Working Personality" of Jerome H. Skolnick.

In a prison, or on the streets, both the police and criminals live in a state of constant suspicion and fear of their lives. This fear is intensified in the close quarters of prisons. Also, as noted in "Police Control of Juveniles" of Donald J. Black and Albert J. Reiss, Jr. both groups use techniques of fear and intimidation to deal with such a hostile environment. The police use their authority to intimidate prisoners or potential convicts on the street, while convicts use their potential menace and the real or threatened use of violence to assert authority against one another.

The process of "prisonization" and "policization" thus both involve the entry of the individual into a unique subculture, different from those ordinary persons inhabit. Like all human beings, there is a desire for survival, group approval, and esteem, all of which are met, according to the dictates of prison life, by obeying the rules of the social hierarchy. Prisoners are continually watched and monitored for deviant behavior, and these prisoners watch the police to find attempts to circumvent the system. Prisoners also monitor one another for violations of the inmate code, and the police monitor one another for deviating from the model of the so-called policeman's working personality, a personality marked by cynicism towards the persons the police oversee, and a fear of seeming weak.

In prison, formally and informally, small community infractions become the subject of punishment, as a way of making the enforcement of the law felt within the inmate community or within a high-crime area. Simply increasing the visible presence of police in high crime areas, as was done in Kansas City, reduced the rates of crime in a way that also confirms the academic Michel Foucault's notion of making authority visible is one of the best ways to ensure conformity to a rule of conduct, without even necessarily using that authority to inflict physical punishment. Conversely, prisoners also make their authority felt by making reference to their outside crimes, bulking up by lifting weights, as well as demanding actual shows of deference from weaker prisoner. Like the police, they establish a code of inmate conduct and a hierarchy to make sure that certain prisoners stay on top and they use implied as well as overt means to do so.

However, another caveat to this depressing picture might be that many convicts and policemen are able to change, and that the function of prison and policing in society can assume a more rehabilitative or preventative role, if policemen and convicts are properly educated as to how this may be accomplished. Although the culture of both the police and the criminal may take the form of a distinct subculture, like all human beings, the justice system and the norms of the system can change, with proper guidance and awareness.