Police Socialization Essay

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Experience I decided I wanted to interview two officers to get a little more variety as well as seeing if there is a difference in perspective, values, and attitudes between a female and male police officer from two different cities. I interviewed Officer Brian (who did not feel comfortable giving his last name) and Officer Mariola Grobelak. Brian has been a part of Peel Regional Police for a year and half now and was previously a guard at a correctional facility. I felt like he did not feel comfortable sharing where he worked exactly so I did not push for more details. As I walked into the police station I was greeted with two officers and one cadet. The goal of the questions I asked was not only to have some insight into his day to day …show more content…

Socialization is defined as “a continuing process whereby an individual acquires a personal identity and learns the norms, values, behaviour, and social skills appropriate to his or her social position” (Dictionary.com, 2015). In relation to police officers, police socialization refers to teaching police officers what is right and wrong, how to deal with situations, and how to behave altogether. Van Maanen came up with four stages of police socialization (Curwen, 2015). The four stages are: entry – why someone decides to become an officer; introduction – applicants attend a police academy and learn the skills and techniques of being an officer; encounter – they are put out into the community and learn what is expected of them, this is also where they are evaluated on their performance with inconsistent criteria; and metamorphosis – this is where their beliefs, values, and outlook change from when they first started out as an officer (Curwen, 2015). The criteria they are evaluated on is inconsistent because the qualities desirable for a good police officer change all the time (Pozzulo, 2015). There is debate around whether socialization develops personality or whether the job attracts people with a certain personality (Curwen, 2015). Personally, I think people with similar personalities want to become police officers. In my opinion, I think socialization doesn’t necessarily develop personality it just changes someone’s perspective on things and not their values and

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