SOC 3750 Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: Whistle Rymes, Erving Goffman, Vlachs

• School: University of Guelph
• Department: Sociology
• Course: SOC 3750
• Professor: Patrick Parnaby

Document Summary

The a(cid:271)ilit(cid:455) to de(cid:272)ide o(cid:374) the (cid:271)asis of o(cid:374)e"s o(cid:449)(cid:374) judge(cid:373)e(cid:374)t. Factors that (partially) determine whether the law will be enforced. Cultural perception: officers consistently enforce the law: violation compels officers to act, enforcement as formulaic. Just need a violation and sequence of events will follow: cir(cid:272)u(cid:373)sta(cid:374)(cid:272)es (cid:862)e(cid:454)ter(cid:374)al(cid:863) to e(cid:448)e(cid:374)t ig(cid:374)ored. Image of consistent enforcement is valuable (cid:862)mask of full e(cid:374)for(cid:272)e(cid:373)e(cid:374)t(cid:863) (cid:894)klo(cid:272)kars a(cid:374)d mastrofski(cid:895) Idea that police departments present a carefully crafted image that gives the public the impression that they always enforce the law as it is written consistently over time no exceptions. If they keep this impression up, then there is no need to defend/reveal bases for discretion. Front stage organization constructs mask of full enforcement, but at the backstage discretion is at the very heart of policing: very rare that a department will allow the discretion in the backstage bleed into the front. Less scrutiny: offsets claims of bias policing.