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E-book Trusting the Police : Comparisons across Eastern and Western Europe

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Penilaian

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Police are a prominent topic in the media. Either they are described pos-itively, such as when successfully apprehending a criminal, or they were portrayed critically, due to inappropriate behavior, for example. Images depicting discreditable behavior by officers, such as fighting back peaceful demonstrators and protesters, shed a negative light on the police and throw their role into question. Such situations, but also generally inadequate be-havior and behavior perceived as unfair, affect police trustworthiness. In addition, in Switzerland, the media and the public closely observe police behavior. Moreover, a declining respect for officials in general is reported. Such critical opinions are contrasted by high rates of trust in the police in Western Europe and in Switzerland in particular. This leads to the question: What contributes to trust in the police and how are attitudes toward them shaped?This book elaborates on opinions of the police, people’s trust in and attitudes toward them. It considers encounters with the police and ana-lyzes the role of social trust, i.e., people’s individual trust in unknown fel-low citizens. Before discussing theoretical considerations, I should like to highlight the relevance of the topic. Firstly, research has shown that trust in an institution is closely linked to the perception of its legitimacy. Sec-ondly, trust and legitimacy themselves lead to better compliance with the law. Legal rules and decisions aimed at influencing the actions of those toward whom they are directed are only effective if they are obeyed (Hough et al. 2010). Hence, elaboration on the mechanism used to promote trust in the police and their perception as a legitimate institution is important. Furthermore, as everyday life has become more complex and uncertain in modern societies, resources and strategies on the institutional side have become increasingly necessary. In order to use them effectively, authorities need to be able to gain voluntary acceptance for most of their decisions and therefore rely heavily on legitimacy (Misztal 1996: 245). Several studies confirm that attitudes toward institutional trustworthiness are central to a willingness to accept decisions within political settings (cf. Tyler 1998). After all, institutional trust is linked to individual trust. Some authors see institutions as a source of trust between actors, which makes them objects of trust too (Freitag 2003; Robbins 2011). In their view, institutions play an important role in the absence of specific information about the trustee and form reliable commitments and mutual expectations of good will. Stable institutions encourage citizens to take small risks to learn who is trust-worthy and how to distinguish them from those who are not. Once insti-tutions are put in place, they are counted upon, because they are durable and can be taken for granted (Offe 1999: 66). This suggests that the police can be seen as guardians of security in a society, enabling people to trust strangers more easily. Despite this fact, and in relatively secure societies in the West, not everyone has a positive perception of the police. According to Hardin (2006), trust has three dimensions: how individuals choose to trust, at whom they direct their trust, and in which circumstances they exercise their trust. In other words, trust is a three-pronged relationship.

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Ketersediaan

Informasi Detail

Judul Seri

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No. Panggil

363.23 STA t

Penerbit

Germany : transcript Verlag., 2017

Deskripsi Fisik

201 hlm

Bahasa

English

ISBN/ISSN

9783839437827

Klasifikasi

363.23

Tipe Isi

text

Tipe Media

computer

Tipe Pembawa

online resource

Edisi

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Subjek

Police Functions

Info Detail Spesifik

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Pernyataan Tanggungjawab

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Versi lain/terkait

Lampiran Berkas

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