UNDERSTANDING KIDS/TEENS' CONSTRUCTION OF POLICE AND CRIME CONCEPTS AS A COMMUNITY POLICING APPROACH: SOCIAL GROUNDED THEORY APPLIED

Abstract

There has been a growing interest among academicians, researchers and policy-makers in promoting community policing as a modern way to deal with crimes and community problems. Community policing is a philosophy of policing based on the concept that police officers and citizens working together in creative ways to control crimes. The purpose of this research is to get the perspectives of kids/teens regarding crime and police since this segment of society is most vulnerable to crimes. This will enhance youth’s participation to the community policing and the police can be informed how teens/kids think about them. This research seeks explanations for the question of “What and how do kids/teens define and construct the police and crime?” The perspectives of kids/teenagers were examined in a small Southern City, Tallahassee, Florida and the data gathered through both the eyes of staff who have working experience with kids/teens and kids/teens directly. A variety of empirical data through personal observations, others’ experiences, field notes, and interviews were collected to analyze the issue by social grounded theory as a qualitative research paradigm

Keywords

• Community policing, police, crime, social grounded theory, qualitative research methods

UNDERSTANDING KIDS/TEENS' CONSTRUCTION OF POLICE AND CRIME CONCEPTS AS A COMMUNITY POLICING APPROACH: SOCIAL GROUNDED THEORY APPLIED

Abstract

Akademisyenler, araştırmacılar ve siyasa yapımcılar arasında, suç ve toplum sorunlarının çözümünde modern bir yaklaşım olan toplum polisliğini yaygınlaştırma konusunda artan bir ilgi gözlenmektedir. Toplum polisliği, polis ile vatandaşların suçları kontrol etmede ortaklaşa geliştirdikleri yaratıcı yaklaşımları içeren bir felsefedir. Bu araştırmanın amacı, suça en çok maruz toplumdaki çocukların suç ve polis ile ilgili görüşlerini anlamaktır. Bu da, gençliğin toplum polisliğine katılımını sağlayacak ve polisi, çocukların kendileri hakkında ne düşündükleri konusunda bilgilendirecektir. Bu çalışma “çocuklar polis ve suç kavramını nasıl tanımlar ve inşa ederler” sorusuna açıklamaları araştırıyor. Çocukların bakış açıları Florida’nın güneyindeki küçük bir şehir olan Tallahassee’de incelenmiş ve veriler çocuklarla çalışan personelin bakış açılarıyla ve kendileriyle doğrudan görüşülerek derlenmiştir. Konu, nitel bir araştırma metodu olan temellendirilmiş sosyal teori uygulanarak kişisel gözlemler, alan notları, başkalarının deneyimleri ve görüşmeler aracılığıyla derlenen çok farklı veriler ile irdelenmiştir

Keywords

• Toplum polisliği, polis, suç, sosyal temele dayanan teori, nitel araştırma yöntemleri

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