Joining Forces: Police Training, Socialization and Occupational Competence

This book provides a detailed picture of the training of police recruits in Britain at the time, based on a five-year study. It explores the recruits' impressions and experiences, and how their attitudes to the force and their own roles change as they become familiar with the work and the occupational culture. The author is a well-known researcher in the police world, and his findings inform debate and will be of keen interest to students and researchers in the field.

Format: Hardback
Length: 228 pages
Publication date: 31 March 2023
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd

The police, their methods, and their relationships with the community have been the subject of much criticism and debate in the 1980s. While there were few books available on police training, it was widely recognized that training lay at the heart of many initiatives for police reform. Originally published in 1988, this book, based on a five-year study, provides a detailed picture of the training of police recruits in Britain at the time.

The results themselves take center stage in the book, which addresses questions fundamental to any working group: what kind of people join; whether they think the job changes them; their evaluation of the training and their officers; their thoughts on new policies such as equal opportunities and community policing.

A direct connection is made between the recruits' impressions and experiences and their growing conception of what makes for good policing. The book traces how their attitudes to the force and their own roles change as they become familiar with the work and the occupational culture. The formal and informal socialization process is a crucial influence on the standards of competence that lie behind every contact between police and public and is central to our understanding of how the police operate.

The author is a well-known researcher in the police world, both here and in the USA. He relates his findings throughout to the North American experience, which provides valuable points of comparison. The important new material he presents informs debate and will still be of keen interest to students and researchers in the field.

Weight: 600g
Dimension: 216 x 138 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781032424163