Action accounts of police-civilian interactions: Using video elicitation to explore police officers’ how-to knowledge

Keesman, Laura D.

doi:10.1016/j.poetic.2021.101561

Cited by 10 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…Following the ubiquity of videos during fieldwork, I conducted 25 video elicitation interviews with police officers who were captured on camera. Previous analysis of this data revealed that officers re-perform their actions seen on video to explicate their embodied knowledge (Keesman, 2021). Video elicitation methods work well because they match the showing and watching of videos as a frequent and natural occurrence in their daily work, and thus connect to officers’ sociability.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 96%

The showability of policing: How police officers’ use of videos in organizational contexts reproduces police culture

Keesman

2023

European Journal of Criminology

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While much scholarly literature on police ‘canteen’ culture focuses on police storytelling, there is little research on the effects of camera phone technologies on police behaviours, particularly in organizational settings. This article introduces the concept of showability to examine how police officers use videos in their everyday police life, and how this relates to police culture. Based on an ethnographic study of the Dutch police, it illustrates that officers show, share, and discuss videos of various policing acts such as arrests, car chases, and use-of-force events, and do this in various locations such as office spaces, squad cars, and on the streets. First and foremost, officers show videos to entertain and to educate themselves and their fellow officers. Second, showing videos is a new occupational practice that, like in telling stories, reinforces and refutes aspects of police culture, for instance, a masculine ethos. The article contributes to criminological scholarship on the era of ‘new visibility’ by demonstrating that showability is a form of inward visibility wherein officers generate a visual world that fits their professional vision. It also contributes to a sociological understanding of the ‘everydayness’ of police culture. I claim that showability is a key feature of policing practices, which is relevant in light of increasing pressures on the police to account for their work.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 96%

The showability of policing: How police officers’ use of videos in organizational contexts reproduces police culture

Keesman

2023

European Journal of Criminology

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“…Another line of inquiry could be to analyse how neurobiological understandings impact officers’ actions. Understanding civilian behaviour is of vital importance for initiating and organising (collective) police action (Keesman, 2021a). I noticed that occasionally body-worn cameras captured officers discussing a civilian who was ‘completely engulfed by adrenalin’.…”

Section: Conclusion/discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Primordial Brains and Bodies: How Neurobiological Discourses Shape Policing Experiences

Keesman

2022

Body & Society

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This article demonstrates how the broader social development to understand behaviour and personhood as shaped by neurobiology forms a predominant narrative among police officers. Drawing on an ethnography of the Dutch police force and 73 interviews with officers, I examine first how they use neurobiological terms to describe and account for their embodied sensations as well as civilian behaviour. Second, I describe the functions these narratives have, that is, why officers use them. Finally, I show how neurobiological discourses are learned and (re)produced during training. Results indicate that officers invoke neurobiology both as facilitator of and explanation for action. The latter raises questions as to what extent neurobiological discourse obscures police responsibility and accountability. A more thorough understanding of how neurobiological discourses are used to understand and account for actions is relevant, given the growing pressures on public professionals to legitimise their work.

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“…Watching the recordings back with the respondents and discussing the points of interaction formed the basis of the interview. Using this method allows the researcher to focus the respondent's attention on specific (and relevant) moments and feelings, rather than only discussing the experience as a whole (Keesman 2021).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The data set for the video analysis consisted of 28 recordings (23 hours and 18 minutes in total). Video as a methodological tool has been gaining interest in the social sciences (Brümmer 2019; Heath et al 2010; Mosselman et al 2018) as it provides a “relatively objective perspective on real‐life behavior” (Keesman 2021:8). Videos allow researchers to view activities that can later be watched with great detail and scrutiny, revealing “conduct and interaction that are unavailable to more traditional social science methods” (Heath et al 2010: 2).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These recordings had an important second function, as they were used as a method of elicitation during the interviews, stimulating the respondents to recall certain interactions they had online (Heath et al 2010; Henry and Fetters 2012; Keesman 2021). Watching the recordings back with the respondents and discussing the points of interaction formed the basis of the interview.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Put Your “Hand Emotes in the Air:” Twitch Concerts as Unsuccessful Large‐Scale Interaction Rituals

Vandenberg

2022

Symbolic Interaction

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Recent years have seen mediated concerts grow in popularity. As physical events, concerts accommodate both small‐ and large‐scale interaction. However, the extent to which these interactions establish emotional energy online is debated. Combining video observations and video elicitation interviews with participants of live music on the online platform Twitch, this paper explores this growing form of music consumption while also adding to the debate on the appropriateness of the virtual sphere in accommodating successful interaction rituals. It finds that the online sphere is more suited to small‐scale interaction. Large‐scale interaction rituals are unsuccessful, suffering from a context collapse, social convergence, and no rhythmic entrainment.

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Action accounts of police-civilian interactions: Using video elicitation to explore police officers’ how-to knowledge

Cited by 10 publications

References 31 publications

The showability of policing: How police officers’ use of videos in organizational contexts reproduces police culture

The showability of policing: How police officers’ use of videos in organizational contexts reproduces police culture

Primordial Brains and Bodies: How Neurobiological Discourses Shape Policing Experiences

Put Your “Hand Emotes in the Air:” Twitch Concerts as Unsuccessful Large‐Scale Interaction Rituals

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