Social Context of Policing

Order Description
You are required to write a review of the following article

Loftus, B. (2010) ‘Police Occupational Culture: Classic Themes, Altered Times’, Policing and

Society, 20, 1: 1-20.
The main thrust of your writing should be about advancing your understanding and

interpretation of what you thought to be the most interesting and salient point/s contained

in the article read.

As a guide your review could contain such things as:

1. your understanding and interpretation of the content of the article,

2. what theoretical perspective or methodological approach does the author adopt and

how this might compare to other theoretical or methodological approaches,

3. how your interpretation of the article relates

a. to the content of the material dealt with in the unit

b. other articles that you may have read

c. current affairs (you might like to add hyper-links to relevant news reports – check

https://news.bbc.co.uk/ or https://www.guardian.co.uk/ for example or

government/official reports
https://ons.gov.uk/ons/taxonomy/index.html?nscl=Crime+and+Justice or

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/police-powers-and-procedures-england-
and-wales-year-ending-31-march-2015 for example).
4. how the article or point(s) made in the article might have affected (positively or

negatively) and/or developed your understanding of the nature of policing

5. your thoughts as to the article’s credibility and persuasiveness in offering an

explanation of contemporary issues and themes.

The article selected offers wide-ranging discussions and issues and so there ought to be

ample to form the basis of a discussion. Given that your contribution should depend upon

your own personal interpretation based upon your awareness of theory and practice (and

the scope of activities indicated above) there ought to be enough issues to raise without the

fear of repeating what someone else has already said. Although you may find yourself

confirming or disagreeing with somebody else you ought to say why you disagree or agree.

A word of warning though, sometimes discussions can take on a momentum of their own

and you may find yourself digressing, to an extent this is fine however, you should always

use the article under review as basis of the discussion. It might be helpful therefore to give

brief quote/s from the article so that what you write is grounded in the article. This will

ensure that the article remains the focus of the discussion.

The key then is that the article be the point of reference not the strands of discussion that it

yields from you and other students. In other words don’t lose sight of the article.

You should approach the assignment as if you are having an ‘academic discussion’ about the

article (rather than an academic essay). This will require you to substantiate what you say by

referring to specific points/arguments contained in the article (maybe by giving a quote)

being reviewed and comparing it with other texts you may have read (again by including a

quote) and/or material raised in the unit materials and/or current affairs reported in the

media (see the points made above). Your work does not have to conform precisely to the

APA referencing style (since this would detract from the conversational tone of the

assignment) although a clear indication of who and what you are citing would be useful.

Also unlike an essay there is no word limit. You can write as much as you like in the time

available. That said though the emphasis should be on the quality (not quantity) of what you

write. In short then you should aim to academically ‘showcase’ your understanding of the

article.