Essay - Minority Police Officers and Social Identity Theory as the Old...

Minority Police Officers and Social Identity Theory

***** the old saying goes, "No man is an island." Hu***** beings are social creatures, living, loving, and working in a group environment. We depend upon e*****ch other not merely for our physical sustenance, but also for emotional support and assistance. Each one of us is the member of a group. In fact, we may belong to many groups at the same time. The group to which we belong is a powerful f*****ctor in the *****mulation of our own identities. Group membership contributes to the m*****ing ***** an individual's sense of personal identity. One's group identity, like one's personal identity, can have both positive and negative consequences. For any number of reasons, a m*****n, woman, or child, ***** possess a positive self-image. He or she may also carry a negative self-image. ***** identity works in precisely the same way but, beca*****e ***** its extra-personal orig*****, it is subjected to different forces from the personal *****. As individuals we gauge how o*****rs view us. We add up perceived impressions of our self-worth, success, standing, and so forth, in relation ***** those around us. We feel that our ***** *****dividual actions or circumstances control how we ***** perceived. A poor student often feels ***** he is perceived as stupid. ***** celebrity believes that she is adored by the public. With ***** identities, however, there ***** far less of a feeling th*****t we, as *****, control how others react and relate to us. A single group - in ***** entirety - is **********ciated with certain character*****tics. It possesses a social status, an economic status, *****d even a cultural and intellectual status. One may be a very intelligent individual, but one will inevitably be viewed as less intelligent if one is seen as *****ing to a ***** that ***** viewed as less intelligent. This is particularly true of minorities - Asians and Blacks. Minority groups are frequently locked into a lower social position than are majority groups. Minorities often fall victim to the majority's perceived image and expectations of themselves. Th***** "handicapping" of ***** is as ***** of minorities who belong to a*****her larger group, as it is true of ***** considered completely apart from the majority. *****e following pages will examine the effects of group identity or, Social Identity Theory [SIT], on Asian and Black police *****ficers.

***** police officers ***** members of two major distinct, yet interactive *****: the police, ***** their own minority group. The first categorizati***** is based on the occupati***** pursued ***** the group's *****. The second ***** derived from the racial, ethnic, and ***** characteristics of the ***** members as they are ***** by the majority group. In general, in Great Britian ***** elsewhere, there has been something of a decline, in recent years, in the public's estimation ***** the police. A ***** that was once held in high regard because of the services it provided i.e. protection of l*****e and property, has now become tainted by o*****r developments and associations: