Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Accountability and Police Violence: a Research on Accounts to Cope with Excessive Use of Force in Italy

  • Published:
Journal of Police and Criminal Psychology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Accountability is a vital element of policing. Over time, the public has demanded more control over police activities, while policing has attracted a good deal of controversy, such as the discriminatory and violent manner in which police officers treat individuals. In this paper, we explore Italian police accountability when faced with violent actions following the articulation at two levels: a micro-level—the communication strategies adopted by the police unions to account for their actions—and a macro-level—the understanding of the political and social system in which the police act, namely the Italian system. The results of the thematic analysis highlighted the recourse to excuses, justifications, and apologies. In terms of the effects on the audience, the unions divide into two groups: the first made exclusive use of defensive accountability strategies (excuses and justifications) and the second used reconciling accountability strategies (apologies). We discuss these findings regarding the interaction between the police and the public in Italy.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. Extended meaning of the abbreviated labels: COISP: Coordinamento per l’indipendenza sindacale delle Forze di Polizia—Coordination for trade union independence of the Police Force; CONSAP: Confederazione sindacale autonoma di Polizia—Independent union confederation of Police; SAP: Sindacato autonomo di Polizia – Independent Police union; SIAP: Sindacato italiano appartenenti di Polizia—Italian union of Police members; SILP: Sindacato dei lavoratori di Polizia—Union of Police workers; SIULP: Sindacato italiano dei lavoratori della Polizia di Stato—Italian union of State Police workers; UGL: Unione generale del lavoro—General union of work.

  2. SAPPE: Sindacato autonomo Polizia Penitenziaria—Independent union of Penitentiary Police; SINAPPE: Sindacato nazionale autonomo Polizia Penitenziaria—National independent union of Penitentiary Police; OSAPP: Organizzazione sindacale autonoma Polizia Penitenziaria—Independent Penitentiary Police union organization.

References

  • Antaki C (1994) Explaining and arguing. The social organization of account. Sage, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Antaki C (2006) Producing a ‘cognition’. Discourse Stud 8:9–15. doi:10.1177/1461445606059545

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Associazione giuristi democratici (2014) Conflitto sociale, ordine pubblico e giurisdizione: il caso Tav ed il concorso di persone nel reato [social conflict, public order and jurisdiction: the case of TAV and the aiding people in the crime]. Giappichelli, Torino

    Google Scholar 

  • Bernardi A (1979) La riforma della polizia [Police force reform]. Einaudi, Torino

    Google Scholar 

  • Bies RJ, Shapiro DL, Cummings LL (1988) Casual account and managing organizational conflicts. Is it enough to say it’s not my fault? Communic Res 15:381–399. doi:10.4018/978-1-4666-9850-5ch001

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boyle R (1999) Spotlighting the police: changing UK police-media relations in the 1990s. Int J Sociol Law 27:229–250

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Braun V, Clarke V (2006) Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qual Res Psychol 3:77–101. doi:10.1191/1478088706qp063oa

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brown M (1981) Working the street: police discretion and the dilemmas of reform. Russell Sage Foundation, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Buttny R (1993) Social accountability in communication. Sage, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Chermak S (1995) Image control: how police affect the presentation of crime news. Am J Police 14:21–43. doi:10.1108/07358549510102730

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chermak S, Weiss A (2005) Maintaining legitimacy using external communication strategies: an analysis of police-media relations. J Crim Just 33:501–512. doi:10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2005.06.001

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chibnall S (1977) Law-and-order news: an analysis of crime reporting in the British press. Routledge, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Cody MJ, McLaughlin ML (1990) Interpersonal accounting. In: Giles H, Robinson WP (eds) Handbook of language and social psychology. Wiley and Sons, New York, pp. 227–255

    Google Scholar 

  • Cooke L, Sturges P (2009) Police and media relations in an era of freedom of information. Polic Soc 19:406–424. doi:10.1080/10439460903281513

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • della Porta D, Reiter H (2003) Polizia e protesta. L’ordine pubblico dalla liberazione ai «no-global» [police and protest. The public order from the liberation to the «no-global»]. Il Mulino, Bologna

    Google Scholar 

  • Edwards D, Potter J (1992) Discoursive psychology. Sage, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Engel RS, Worden RE (2003) Police officers’ attitudes, behavior, and supervisory influences: an analysis of problem solving. Criminol 41:131–166

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ericson R, Baranek P, Chan JBL (1991) Representing order: crime, law, and justice in the news media. Open University Press, Milton Keynes

    Google Scholar 

  • Garner JH, Maxwell CD, Heraux CG (2002) Characteristics associated with the prevalence and severity of force used by the police. Justice Q 19:705–746. doi:10.1080/07418820200095401

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goffman E (1971) Relation in public. Basic Book, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Hunt J (1985) Police account of normal force. J Contemp Ethnogr 13:315–341. doi:10.1177/0098303985013004001

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Itoi R, Obuchi KI, Fukuno M (1996) A cross-cultural study of preference of accounts: relationship closeness, harm severity, and motives of account making. J Appl Soc Psychol 26:913–934. doi:10.1111/j.1559-1816.1996.tb01117.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kasinsky R (1994) Patrolling the facts: media, cops, and crime. In: Barak G (ed) Media, process, and the social construction of crime: studies in newsmaking criminology. Garland Publishing Inc, New York, pp. 203–234

    Google Scholar 

  • Kirchhoff J, Strack M, Jäger U (2009) Apologies: depending on offence severity the composition of elements does matter. Presentation for the INPsySR-Symposium Preventing Violent Conflict at the 11th ECP, Oslo

    Google Scholar 

  • Kirchhoff J, Wagner U, Strack M (2012) Apologies: words of magic? The role of verbal components, anger reduction, and offence severity. Peace Confl 18:109–130. doi:10.1037/a0028092

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Klinger DA (2009) Can police training affect the use of force on the streets? The Metro-Dade violence reduction field experiment. In: McCoy C (ed) Holding police accountable. Urban Institute Press, Washington DC, pp. 95–107

    Google Scholar 

  • Lee H, Vaughn MS (2010) Organizational factors that contribute to police deadly force liability. J Crim Just 38:193–206. doi:10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2010.02.001

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lee H, Jang H, Yun I, Lim H, Tushaus DW (2010) An examination of police use of force utilizing police training and neighborhood contextual factors: a multilevel analysis. Policing 33:681–702. doi:10.1108/13639511011085088

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lee H, Vaughn MS, Lim H (2014) The impact of neighborhood crime levels on police use of force: an examination at micro and meso levels. J Crim Just 42:491–499. doi:10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2014.09.003

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leishman F, Mason P (2003) Policing and the media: facts, fictions and factions. Willan Publishing, Cullompton

    Google Scholar 

  • Lersch KM, Mieczkowski T (2005) Violent police behavior: past, present, and future research directions. Aggress Violent Beh 10:552–568. doi:10.1016/j.avb.2004.10.002

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lim H, Lee H (2015) The effects of supervisor education and training on police use of force. Crim Just Stud 28:444–463. doi:10.1080/1478601X.2015.1077831

    Google Scholar 

  • Lim H, Fridell LA, Lee H (2014) Multi-level analysis of police use of less-lethal force: the impact of incident characteristics, supervision, & neighborhood context. J Police Sci 14:155–182

    Google Scholar 

  • Loader I (1997) Policing and the social: questions of symbolic power. Brit J Sociol 48:1–18

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Maguire ER, Wells W (2002) Community policing as communication reform. In: Giles H (ed) Law enforcement, communication, and community. John Benjamins Publishers, Amsterdam, pp. 33–66

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Mawby RC (2002) Continuity and change, convergence and divergence: the policy and practice of police media relations. Criminol Crim Just 2:303–324. doi:10.1177/17488958020020030401

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McLaughlin ML, Cody MJ, O’Hair DH (1983) The management of failure events: some contextual determinants accounting behavior. Hum Commun Res 9:208–224

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Micucci AJ, Gomme IM (2005) American police and subcultural support for the use of excessive force. J Crim Just 33:487–500. doi:10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2005.06.002

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nadler A (2002) Post resolution processes: instrumental and socio-emotional routes to reconciliation. In: Salomon G, Nevo B (eds) Peace education: the concept, principles, and practices around the world. Lawrence Erlbaum, Mahwah, pp. 127–141

    Google Scholar 

  • Nadler A, Saguy T (2003) Reconciliation between nations: overcoming emotional deterrents to ending conflict between groups. In: Langholtz H, Stout CE (eds) The psychology of diplomacy. Praeger, Westport, pp. 29–46

    Google Scholar 

  • Noor M, Shnabel N, Halabi S, Nadler A (2012) When suffering begets suffering: the psychology of competitive victimhood between adversarial groups in violent conflicts. Personal Soc Psychol Rev 16:351–374. doi:10.1177/1088868312440048

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Page BI, Shapiro RY, Dempsey GR (1987) What moves public opinion? Am Polit Sci Rev 81:23–43. doi:10.2307/1960777

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Palidda S (2000) Polizia postmoderna [Postmodern Police]. Feltrinelli, Milano

    Google Scholar 

  • Paoline EA, Terrill W (2007) Police education, experience, and the use of force. Crim Justice Behav 34:179–196. doi:10.1177/0093854806290239

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pilecki A, Hammack PL (2013) “Victims” versus “righteous victims”: the rhetorical construction of social categories in historical dialogue among Israeli and Palestinian youth. Polit Psychol 20:813–830. doi:10.1111/pops.12063

    Google Scholar 

  • Reiner R (2008) Policing and the media. In: Newburn T (ed) Handbook of policing. Routledge, London, pp. 313–335

    Google Scholar 

  • Reuss-Ianni E (1983) Two cultures of policing. Transaction Books, New Brunswick

    Google Scholar 

  • Schlenker BR (1980) Impression management: the self-concept, social identity, and interpersonal relations. Brooks/Cole Publishing Company, Monterey

    Google Scholar 

  • Schlenker BR (1986) Personal accountability: challenges and impediments in the quest for excellence. Navy Personnel Research and Development Center, San Diego

    Google Scholar 

  • Schlenker BR, Weigold MF, Doherty K (1991) Coping with accountability: self-identification and evaluative reckonings. In: Snyder CR, Forsyth DF (eds) Handbook of social and clinical psychology: the health perspective. Pergamon Press, Elmsford, pp. 96–115

    Google Scholar 

  • Schlenker BR, Britt TW, Pennington J, Murphy R, Doherty K (1994) The triangle model of responsibility. Psychol Rev 101:632–652. doi:10.1037/0033-295X.101.4.632

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Schlenker BR, Pontari BA, Christopher AN (2001) Excuses and character: personal and social implications of excuses. Personal Soc Psychol Rev 5:15–32. doi:10.1207/S15327957PSPR0501_2

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schönbach P (1990) Account episodes: the management or escalation of conflict. Cambridge University Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Schumann K (2012) Does love mean never having to say you’re sorry? Associations between relationship satisfaction, perceived apology sincerity, and forgiveness. J Soc Pers Relat 29:997–1010. doi:10.1177/0265407512448277

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schumann K (2014) An affirmed self and a better apology: the effect of self-affirmation on transgressors’ responses to victims. J Exp Soc Psychol 54:89–96. doi:10.1016/j.jesp.2014.04.013

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Scott MB, Lyman SM (1968) Accounts. Am Soc Rev 33:46–62

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Semin GR, Manstead ASR (1983) The accountability of conduct. A social psychological analysis. Academic Press, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Shaw JC, Wild E, Colquitt JA (2003) To justify or excuse? A meta-analytic review of the effect of explanations. J Appl Psychol 88:444–458. doi:10.1037/0021-9010.88.3.4444

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Shmeer S (2009) Accountability. Its effects on information search, evaluation and integration in Multiattribute decision making. Südwestdeutscher Verlag für Hochschulschriften, Saarbrücken

    Google Scholar 

  • Sklansky DA (2008) Democracy and the police. Stanford University Press, Stanford

  • Simonson I (1989) Choice based on reasons: the case of attraction and compromise effects. J Consum Res 16:158–174. doi:10.1086/209205

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Snyder CR, Higgins RL (1988) Excuses: their effective role in the negotiation of reality. Psychol Bull 104:23–35. doi:10.1037/0033-2909.104.1.23

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Starks H, Trinidad SB (2007) Choose your method: a comparison of phenomenology, discourse analysis, and grounded theory. Qual Health Res 17:1372–1380. doi:10.1177/1049732307307031

  • Stone C (2007) Tracing police accountability in theory and practice. From Philadelphia to Abuja and Sao Paulo. Theor Criminol 11:245–259. doi:10.1177/1362480607075850

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stryker S, Gottlieb A (1981) Attribution theory and symbolic interactionism: a comparison. In: Harvey JH, Ickes W, Kidd RF (eds) New directions in attribution theory. Erlbaum, Hillsdale, pp 425–458

  • Sykes M, Matza D (1957) Techniques of neutralization: a theory of delinquency. Am Soc Rev 22:664–670

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tedeschi JT, Reiss M (1981) Verbal strategies as impression management. In: Antaki C (ed) The psychology of ordinary explanations of social behaviour. Academic Press, London, pp. 271–309

    Google Scholar 

  • Tetlock PH (1985) Accountability: the neglected social context of judgment and choice. Res Organ Behav 7:297–332

    Google Scholar 

  • Van Maanen J (1995) The asshole. In: Kappeler V (ed) The police and society. Touchstone readings. Waveland Press, Prospect Heights, pp. 307–328

    Google Scholar 

  • Walker SE, Archbold CA (2014) The new world of police accountability. Sage, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Wetherall M, Potter J (1989) Narrative characters and accounting for violence. In: Shotter J, Gergen KJ (eds) Text of identity. Sage, London, pp. 206–219

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilson OW, McLaren R (1977) Police administration. McGraw-Hill, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Zamperini A, Menegatto M (2013) La violenza collettiva e il G8 di Genova. Trauma psicopolitico e terapia sociale della testimonianza [Collective violence and the Genoa G8. Psycho-political trauma and social testimonial therapy]. Psicot Sci Uman 47:423–442. doi:10.3280/PU2013-003002

    Google Scholar 

  • Zamperini A, Menegatto M (2015) Giving voice to silence: a study of state violence in Bolzaneto prison during the genoa G8 summit. In: D’Errico F, Poggi I, Vinciarelli A, Vincze L (eds) Conflict and multimodal communication. Social research and machine intelligence. Springer, Cham-Heidelberg-New York-Dordrecht-London, pp. 185–205

    Google Scholar 

  • Zamperini, A., Menegatto, M., and Sidoli, D. (2016). State torture: The endurance of denial narratives in Italy. Torture. In press

  • Zechmeister JS, Garcia S, Romero C, Vas SN (2004) Don’t apologize unless you mean it: a laboratory investigation of forgiveness and retaliation. J Soc Clin Psychol 23:532–564. doi:10.1521/jscp.23.4.532.40309

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Philosophy, Sociology, Pedagogy and Applied Psychology, University of Padova, Padova, Italy

    Adriano Zamperini & Valentina Siracusa

  2. Dipartimento di Filosofia, Sociologia, Pedagogia e Psicologia Applicata, Università di Padova, Via Venezia 8, 35131, Padova, Italy

    Adriano Zamperini

  3. Department of Psychology, Pedagogy and Philosophy, University of Verona, Verona, Italy

    Marialuisa Menegatto

Authors
  1. Adriano Zamperini
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Valentina Siracusa
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Marialuisa Menegatto
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Adriano Zamperini.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Zamperini, A., Siracusa, V. & Menegatto, M. Accountability and Police Violence: a Research on Accounts to Cope with Excessive Use of Force in Italy. J Police Crim Psych 32, 172–183 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11896-016-9208-7

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11896-016-9208-7

Keywords

Search

Navigation