Recent Book: Police Administration
| Published date | 01 April 1976 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0032258X7604900225 |
| Date | 01 April 1976 |
| Subject Matter | Recent Book |
work, and social statistics. Instead of
regarding criminals as a distinct
section of the population, they fo-
cussed on the social processes by
which some people rather than others
came to be defined as deviants. They
claimed that the action of labelling
youngsters as deviants often committed
them to deviant careers. Dr. Ericson's
first book furnishes a concise descrip-
tion and evaluation of the work of the
labelling analysts; particularly valu-
able is his discussion of the implica-
tions for criminal law and punishment
of this new school. Though they
appear as critics of established views
their arguments favour an emphasis
upon the responsibility of offenders.
They stress justice rather
than
treat-
ment, and endorse the public contest
of the courtroom as preferable to the
private discretion of the qualified
official.
The title of his second book is
misleading if not perverse. It reports
the findings of a study of forty-six
boys sentenced to six month'sdetention
at the Whatton Centre in 1972. Dr.
Ericson kept in touch with them
during their sentence and after their
release. He found that contrary to the
predictions of the labelling analysts,
the experience did not exacerbate
their deviant tendencies. Some it
straightened out. Others continued on
the erratic and slightly crooked course
along which they had earlier been
travelling. The boys did not find that
the police picked on them more
readily because of their record. As one
said "The coppers
don't
care unless
they know you done a
job".
Any
reader having studied the new crimi-
nology and learned its jargon, who
wants to see how it stands up to test,
should try to obtain Dr. Ericson's two
books. The thoroughness of his
approach makes him a dependable
witness.
MICHAEL
BANTON
POLICE
ADMINISTRATION
JOHN
P.
KENNEY,
PhD, Professor Department of Criminal Justice. California
State University: Charles C. Thomas. $12.50.
The major challenge for the author
of a text book is to capture and retain
the interest of his reader. When the
book is about America and policing
that country the challenge is greater.
In my view, the author has not been
successful.
It is difficult and tedious to read.
Difficult in trying to unravel that
which could be said shortly and to the
point; tedious in the frequently un-
successful search for the relevant and
practical.
The first section deals with police
administration in local and central
Government settings. The complicated
relationships at Federal, State, and
local levels is set out clearly. An
obvious area of interest is the compari-
son with the development of policing
in this country, but that aspect is dealt
with only briefly.
In
the discussion of the police role
in society as a law enforcement and
peacekeeping agency occurs an ex-
ample of the obscurely verbose.
"Egan Bittner suggests that the role
of
the police is best understood as a
mechanism for the distribution
of
non-
negotiable coercive force employed in
accordance with the dictates
of
an
intuitive grasp
of
situationalexigencies"
April
1976
Ithink I much prefer -
"A
constable
is a citizen . . . ."
As the book develops in the areas of
policy making, decision taking and the
exercise of discretion, much useful
information and material for debate
emerges. However, the exercise of
discretion - a subject of sufficient
relevance and importance to justify
detailed treatment - merits only two
pages largely concerned with what
other organizations have to say on
the matter.
Three chapters are devoted to a
discussion about organization theories.
Orthodox approaches, the changing
nature of organization, and team
policing models all come under
scrutiny. Again the theory produces
little operational or administrative
guidance for the practitioner.
The chapter on the management
of financial resources has nothing new
to say. The treatment advocated is the
once fashionable programme, planning
and budgeting system which has been
in use for some years in this country
with varying degrees of success.
The systems approach is advocated
in police administration. However,
I lost interest in the cause when I
reached the following passage:
141
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