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Organizational communication and the symbolic construction of police murder investigations 1
Author(s) -
Innes Martin
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
the british journal of sociology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.826
H-Index - 92
eISSN - 1468-4446
pISSN - 0007-1315
DOI - 10.1080/00071310120109339
Subject(s) - function (biology) , sociology , criminology , symbolic communication , police science , symbolic interactionism , the symbolic , public relations , computer security , psychology , political science , computer science , history , social science , criminal justice , evolutionary biology , biology , psychoanalysis , archaeology
This paper draws upon a range of empirical data to consider the ways in which police murder investigations are symbolically constructed, both within and outside of the police organization. It is argued that a range of communicative formats serve to produce the activities associated with police murder investigations in a way that serves to legitimate the police function to both members of the public and police officers alike. A particular emphasis is placed upon understanding the connections between informal and formal communications, and the instrumental and expressive objectives that variously underpin them.