Police Occasions: A Study of Interaction Contexts

Abstract

Drawing on the works of Erving Goffman (1963, 1971), police interaction was observed in terms of social occasions. In contrast to studies of police discretion that focus on the individual behaviors of the demeanor of the social actor, this study attempts to locate the interaction context through the dimensions of social occasions. Forms of interaction were hypothesized to be dependent on the social occasion in which the police and citizens found themselves and not solely on the basis of the actors' demeanor. The findings, based on 291 observations recorded on observations schedules in a small citY with a high crime/police-mobilization rate, bore out the relationship, even though not in the expected direction. Equally important was the fact that there was a significant relationship between the type of occasion and the likelihood of the police being called leading to speculation that crime and disorder are related to the forms of social occasions in specific dimensions.