Young People Arguing and Thinking About the Police; Qualitative Data Concerning the Categorization of the Police in a Police-Youth Contact Program

Abstract

Programs of intergroup contact frequently fail with the positive evaluation of the individual contact-partner being separated from the representation of the category as a whole. The paper reports qualitative data gathered from 81 pupils taking part in 28 group discussions concerning the police officers that they meet in a school-based police-youth “contact” program. These data address allow an exploration of the nature of the process of categorization. The paper considers the options for creating more positive police-youth relations. © 1994, Sage Publications. All rights reserved.