Symbolic Interactionism in Police Murder Investigations Essay

Symbolic Interactionism in Police Murder Investigations - Essay prototypeIn this gumption, the communicative acts serve as dramaturgical realizations exemplifying the cultural identities of the police. (Innes 69)To appreciate Innes premise, it is imperative to identify the basic constructs of the symbolic interactionist theory. Interactionism is best understood in terms of the existence of an I and a Me in a social actor2. The I manages the impression of the self to produce an identity known as a Me. When a social actor interacts with another, the initial Me generates another Me by noble on the other a definition of the self. Consequently, the second actors initial sense of Me is influenced by his interaction with the first actor. In this sense, each actor manages the image of the self being projected while at the same time imposing symbolic meanings on others. (Wilfrid Laurier University)Central to this paradigm is the social actors concept of self. Hester and Eglin describe how t he self is conceptualized - both as a process and as an object. As a process, the self is capable of communicating to itself from the standpoint of a generalized other, producing situational and circumstanceual responses to varying situations and environments. Through self-interaction, the social actor produces self-indications by defining the context of the situation and then judging the course of action or response appropriate to the defined situation. Meanwhile, self as an object pertains to a social actors self-image, his appreciation of who and what he is. The social actor judges himself from the perspective of a generalized other and thus determines his roles and functions. (Hester and Eglin 92)In exploring the symbolic constructions of homicide investigations, Innes utilizes this interactionist perspective by examining how police officers relieve oneself and interpret meanings through with(predicate) various communicative acts. Innes posits that the police officer as a so cial actor acts towards situations in terms of the meanings he interprets from them. These meanings are derived through social interaction and depend on a process of self interpretation. Innes sets this framework against the back drop of the police occupational culture, which has been imposed by prevailing media and public perceptions about the nature of police work. In this context, the police officer, through his self-impressions combined with the labels imposed upon him by prevalent public views, sees himself as an divisor of social order. The police officer is socialized into an occupational role, and thus develops an occupational identity based on the roles demands, and contributes to the maintenance or modification of this character. (Vincent 2) This occupational role is evidenced by organizational communications, which in turn serve to construct and maintain a symbolic representation of the organizations roles and functions. (Innes 71)A major segment of this occupational cu lture is the moral ambiguity of policing. Interactionism asserts that