AUTOBIOGRAPHIES OF A SPECIAL KIND: Recent writings by and on the police in South Africa

Authors

  • Elrena van der Spuy University of Cape Town

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.17159/2413-3108/2013/i46a808

Keywords:

Police, SAPS, police culture, South Africa, police autobiographies

Abstract

The occupational culture of police organisations has long fascinated policing scholars. In the Anglo- American world ethnographic enquiries have contributed much to our understanding of police perceptions, beliefs and actions. This article takes a closer look at efforts to describe and analyse police culture in South Africa. Three genres of writings are considered. Structural accounts of police culture and ethnographic accounts of the police are briefly discussed before turning to a more detailed consideration of a third and emerging genre: police autobiographies. Two recent autobiographies written by former policemen are explored in some detail with the view to considering the contribution of the autobiography to our understanding of the complex occupational dynamics of police and policing in South Africa.

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Author Biography

Elrena van der Spuy, University of Cape Town

Centre of Criminology

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Published

2013-03-08

Issue

Section

Research articles