scholarly journals Policing “uncontrollable banshees”: factors influencing arrest decision making

2015 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 183-192 ◽  
Author(s):  
Suzanne Young

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the factors that influence police officers’ decision making when dealing with young women considered violent. Design/methodology/approach – Semi-structured interviews were carried out with frontline police officers in Scotland on their experiences of responding to incidents where young women displayed violence. Findings – The police officers clearly distinguished encounters with women using violence from those with young men, portraying young women as irrational, unpredictable and uncontrollable. The research found that while gender alone was not a determining factor for arrest, police officers did stereotype young women according to gender norms and these norms could have a bearing on decision making. The findings show that police officers prefer to respond to situations with male perpetrators due to their own difficulties effectively communicating with young women, who are often under the influence of alcohol. Research limitations/implications – The research indicates that police officers, regardless of their gender, have difficulties handling violent incidents that involve young women. This provides scope for further analysis of police training to ascertain whether sufficient guidance is provided to fully equip police officers when faced with aggressive young women. This study focused on police officers’ own views and experiences but future research could consider a more ethnographic approach to observe police decision making in practice to determine whether the stereotypes portrayed were a true reflection of their experiences. Originality/value – This is one of only a very few studies that has explored the relation between gender and arrest decision making. It enhances the understanding of how young women come to be arrested and indicates how police officers are currently ill equipped to effectively respond to young women considered violent.

2015 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 493-507 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heikki Moilanen ◽  
Mirje Halla ◽  
Pauli Alin

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to increase the understanding of decision making of managers of intermediary organizations in university-industry (UI) collaboration by probing managerial perceptions of openness in that context. Design/methodology/approach – The authors conducted 11 semi-structured interviews of managers of intermediary organizations in the context of UI collaboration. Using Grounded Theory, the authors analyzed how the managers talked about openness. Findings – The authors found that the managers perceived openness in four distinct ways: first, openness as driven by management of the relationship, second, openness as driven by bringing people together, third, openness as a driver of co-creation and fourth, openness as a driver of beneficial results. From these findings the authors induce a framework for perception of openness. Research limitations/implications – The findings are based on a relatively limited data set, which is a limitation of the study. Future research should study whether differences in perception of openness exist among different contexts or partners of UI collaboration. Practical implications – The findings can potentially provide useful guidance to managers in UI collaboration as to how better understand the important concept of openness in that context. Originality/value – This study addresses the lack of research on managerial perceptions on openness in the context in UI collaboration. Probing managerial perceptions of openness provides us with better understanding of managerial decision making in UI collaboration. The study contributes to scientific discussions on managerial perceptions of openness and to discussions on managerial decision making in UI collaboration.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathyayini Kathy Rao ◽  
Carol Tilt

Purpose Within the board diversity literature, the issue of gender diversity has been extensively studied, however, limited research has examined whether gender diversity at board level has any influence on corporate social responsibility (CSR) decisions. This paper aims to fill this knowledge gap and shed light on whether, and how, gender diversity influences CSR related decisions. Design/methodology/approach In total, 13 in-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with board members of Australian companies to examine their perceptions of the effect of gender diversity. Findings Although the findings show evidence that there is a general perception that gender diversity has the potential to influence board level decisions, this does not appear to translate to CSR decisions specifically. The results from the interviews identified that several issues and moderating factors interact with the gender-CSR relationship. Research limitations/implications The paper contributes significantly to the body of knowledge by going beyond the plethora of quantitative analyses. The results suggest that there is much work to be done to improve governance policy and mechanisms if boards are to see the potential for gender to have a positive impact on CSR decision-making. Originality/value The study responds to calls for more research adopting qualitative studies, including interviews and case studies, to understand the complex interactions that take place during board decision-making. The findings provide useful insights for future research, practise and policymakers.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ross Hendy

PurposeThis article explores officer use of suspicion before informal police-citizen encounters as a method to further understand police officer decision-making. There is a body of research focused on officer decision-making before formal “stop and search” encounters, yet, while the more informal “stop and chat” encounters are ubiquitous, they are a comparatively under-researched part of policework.Design/methodology/approachThe research takes an ethnographic approach to explore police decision-making. It used participant observation (800 h over 93 patrol shifts) of front-line first response officers from New Zealand (n = 45) and South Australia (n = 48). Field observations were complemented with informal discussion in the field and 27 semi-structured interviews.FindingsIt reveals that officers applied three situational “tests” to assess the circumstances or actions observed before initiating an informal encounter. Officers then weighed up whether the circumstances were harmful, contrary to law, or socially acceptable to determine the necessity of initiating a police-citizen encounter. This process is conceived as suspicioning: deciding whether circumstances appear prima facie suspicious, how an officer goes about collecting more information to corroborate suspicion to ultimately inform a course of action.Originality/valueThe findings present a new perspective to understanding how and why police officers decide to initiate encounters with members of the public. Moreover, as the first ethnographic cross-national research of officers from New Zealand and South Australia, it provides a rare comparative glimpse of Antipodean policing.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
David R. White ◽  
Joseph Schafer ◽  
Michael Kyle

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to explore the impacts coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) had on US police academies’ production of police recruits.Design/methodology/approachThe study used a national online survey of police academy directors in the USA, followed by purposive, semi-structured interviews of select academy directors. A combination of quantitative and qualitative data is combined in a mixed methods approach.FindingsThe findings suggest that academies experienced a range of impacts related to COVID-19. These impacts lead to more questions concerning how academies and state-level governing boards responded not only to pandemic-related challenges, but also to their willingness to accept more online and alternative curriculum delivery strategies.Originality/valuePolice academies are a required step in the production of new police recruits in the USA, but researchers have paid little attention to how academies operate. While exploratory, this study provides some insights into how this aspect of policing weathered the COVID-19 pandemic, and offers suggestions for future research, as well as policy implications.


Author(s):  
Jill Theresa Messing ◽  
Jacquelyn C Campbell ◽  
Allison Ward-Lasher ◽  
Sheryll Brown ◽  
Beverly Patchell ◽  
...  

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the differential use of the Lethality Assessment Program (LAP) – a risk-informed, collaborative police-social service intervention – across female victim-survivors of intimate partner violence (IPV) in four police jurisdictions in Oklahoma. Design/methodology/approach – Women visited by the police during the study period participated in semi-structured telephone interviews. Logistic regression was utilized to examine what factors impacted implementation of the LAP. Findings – There was differential use of the intervention based on the following: jurisdiction, severe violence at the incident, perpetrator’s use of a weapon ever in the relationship, PTSD symptomology, and women’s prior protective actions and utilization of domestic violence advocacy services. Research limitations/implications – Future research should examine the decision-making process of survivors and police officers to better elucidate the meaning behind these statistical relationships. Practical implications – PTSD education should be an integral part of police training on domestic violence. In addition, officers should be trained to recognize less injurious, but also damaging, forms of IPV, such as verbal abuse and coercive control. Social implications – While police contact can provide accountability for the offender, the social service system is best equipped to provide safety options for the victim-survivor of violence. Originality/value – Previous research has demonstrated the effectiveness of the LAP. It is important to understand how the intervention is applied in order to better understand who is most assisted by the intervention and what training or education could be beneficial for officers providing the intervention.


2016 ◽  
Vol 29 (5) ◽  
pp. 536-549 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pascale Simons ◽  
Jos Benders ◽  
Jochen Bergs ◽  
Wim Marneffe ◽  
Dominique Vandijck

Purpose – Sustainable improvement is likely to be hampered by ambiguous objectives and uncertain cause-effect relations in care processes (the organization’s decision-making context). Lean management can improve implementation results because it decreases ambiguity and uncertainties. But does it succeed? Many quality improvement (QI) initiatives are appropriate improvement strategies in organizational contexts characterized by low ambiguity and uncertainty. However, most care settings do not fit this context. The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether a Lean-inspired change program changed the organization’s decision-making context, making it more amenable for QI initiatives. Design/methodology/approach – In 2014, 12 professionals from a Dutch radiotherapy institute were interviewed regarding their perceptions of a Lean program in their organization and the perceived ambiguous objectives and uncertain cause-effect relations in their clinical processes. A survey (25 questions), addressing the same concepts, was conducted among the interviewees in 2011 and 2014. The structured interviews were analyzed using a deductive approach. Quantitative data were analyzed using appropriate statistics. Findings – Interviewees experienced improved shared visions and the number of uncertain cause-effect relations decreased. Overall, more positive (99) than negative Lean effects (18) were expressed. The surveys revealed enhanced process predictability and standardization, and improved shared visions. Practical implications – Lean implementation has shown to lead to greater transparency and increased shared visions. Originality/value – Lean management decreased ambiguous objectives and reduced uncertainties in clinical process cause-effect relations. Therefore, decision making benefitted from Lean increasing QI’s sustainability.


2017 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
pp. 494-506 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shih-Chuan Chen

Purpose This paper aims to investigate the effect of cancer patients’ information behaviour on their decision-making at the diagnosis and treatment stages of their cancer journey. Patients’ information sources and their decision-making approaches were analyzed. Design/methodology/approach Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 15 participants. Findings The cancer patients sought information from various sources in choosing a hospital, physician, treatment method, diet and alternative therapy. Physicians were the primary information source. The patients’ approaches to treatment decision-making were diverse. An informed approach was adopted by nine patients, a paternalistic approach by four and a shared decision-making approach by only two. Practical implications In practice, the findings may assist hospitals and medical professionals in fostering pertinent interactions with patients. Originality/value The findings can enhance researcher understanding regarding the effect of cancer patients’ information behaviour on their decision-making.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sascha Raithel ◽  
Alexander Mafael ◽  
Stefan J. Hock

Purpose There is limited insight concerning a firm’s remedy choice after a product recall. This study aims to propose that failure severity and brand equity are key antecedents of remedy choice and provides empirical evidence for a non-linear relationship between pre-recall brand equity and the firm’s remedy offer that is moderated by severity. Design/methodology/approach This study uses field data for 159 product recalls from 60 brands between January 2008 to February 2020 to estimate a probit model of the effects of failure severity, pre-recall brand equity and remedy choice. Findings Firms with higher and lower pre-recall brand equity are less likely to offer full (vs partial) remedy compared to medium level pre-recall brand equity firms. Failure severity moderates this relationship positively, i.e. firms with low and high brand equity are more sensitive to failure severity and then select full instead of partial remedy. Research limitations/implications This research reconciles contradictory arguments and research results about failure severity as an antecedent of remedy choice by introducing brand equity as another key variable. Future research could examine the psychological process of managerial decision-making through experiments. Practical implications This study increases the awareness of the importance of remedy choice during product-harm crises and can help firms and regulators to better understand managerial decision-making mechanisms (and fallacies) during a product-harm crisis. Originality/value This study theoretically and empirically advances the limited literature on managerial decision-making in response to product recalls.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Pierre El Haddad ◽  
Alexandre Anatolievich Bachkirov ◽  
Olga Grishina

Purpose This study aims to explore the commonalities and differences of corporate social responsibility (CSR) perceptions among business leaders in Oman and Lebanon, two Middle Eastern countries forming a comparative dyad with a high level of cultural variance within the Arab cluster. Design/methodology/approach Semi-structured interviews were used to elicit qualitative data that were analyzed by means of multilevel analysis. Findings The findings provide empirical evidence that CSR is a powerful factor in managerial decision-making in the Middle East with the national cultures of Oman and Lebanon exerting partially differing effects on CSR decision-making. Practical implications The study enlightens practicing managers and policymakers in terms of the salience of multiple actors’ influence on CSR decision-making processes and the responses they may receive when developing and implementing CSR initiatives in the Middle East. Originality/value The study proposes a seven nodal model, which captures the flow of CSR decision-making in the research contexts.


2019 ◽  
Vol 51 (1) ◽  
pp. 13-23 ◽  
Author(s):  
Muhammad Ali Asadullah ◽  
Jean Marie Peretti ◽  
Walid Derbel ◽  
Sarra Rajhi

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the underlying asymmetries in training evaluation practices of call centre (CC) firms based on their “in-house” and “subcontractor” ownership heterogeneity. Design/methodology/approach The data for this qualitative inquiry were collected from key informants of 13 different CCs in Pakistan through semi-structured interviews. Findings The findings revealed various asymmetries in training evaluation practices among in-house and subcontractor CCs based on five different dimensions of two renowned training evaluation frameworks. Practical implications Training evaluation professionals can benefit from training evaluation methods identified in this study for measuring training evaluation practice and advancing future research. Originality/value This study has theoretically contributed to the existing research on firm heterogeneity and human resource management by focussing on training evaluation practices in CCs.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document