Police and Community in Twentieth-Century Scotland

by Louise A. Jackson, Neil Davidson, Linda Fleming, David M. Smale, Richard Sparks

Overview

The first social history of Scottish policing from 1900 to the present day

This book will be the first to provide a much-needed history of the experience of policing in twentieth-century Scotland. Drawing on a wealth of archival materials, oral history interviews, memoir and autobiography, it examines the relationship between police officers and the diverse urban/rural communities they served against the backdrop of social and economic change, the ruptures of wartime, the impact of technology and the centralisation of governance. Through its analysis of the dynamics that created points of trust and co-operation as well as tension and conflict across time – with particular reference to gender, age, ethnicity and religion – it will contribute to broader current debates (outside of Scotland as well as within) about the significance of localism in assuring police legitimacy and delivering an effective service. Thus, it will also be the first book to offer a sustained historical analysis of the changing configuration of police-community relationships – from Victorian legacy to present day – highlighting patterns of chronological change as well as geographical variation.

Key features

• Based on rich collection of previously unused primary source materials;
• Provides geographical coverage of rural areas (including highlands and islands) as well as densely populated urban areas;
• Focuses on social identities and the dynamics shaping police-community relationships across time in order to contribute to debates about effective policing today;
• Contextualises Scottish experience in relation to broader comparative frameworks.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781474446631
Publisher:	Edinburgh University Press
Publication date:	09/15/2020
Pages:	248
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x (d)

About the Author

Louise A. Jackson is Professor of Modern Social History in the School of History, Classics and Archaeology at the University of Edinburgh. She is the author of a wide range of books and articles on the history of gender, youth, criminal justice and policing in the UK

Neil Davidson is currently employed by the Scottish Government

Dr Linda Fleming is currently Research Fellow at the University of Edinburgh. Her research interests include the social and cultural history of nineteenth and twentieth century Scotland.

David M. Smale served in the Royal Marines Band Service for 13 years. He Joined Lothian and Borders Police and served for 23 years, working in the City of Edinburgh and in the Scottish Borders. He studied with the Open Universityand the University of Edinburgh, where he also worked as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow on a project concerning community policing. He has contributed chapters to books on the history of policing and written articles for academic journals and history magazines. He is the co-author of Police and Community in Twentieth-Century Scotland (EUP, 2020).

Richard Sparks is Professor of Criminology at the University of Edinburgh

Table of Contents

List of Figures and Tables; Acknowledgments; List of Abbreviations; 1. Introduction; 2. Governance; 3. The Glasgow Beat Man; 4. Specialist and Plainclothes Policing; 5. Policing the Rural; 6. Women in Scottish Policing; 7. Concluding the Twentieth Century; Appendix; Bibliography.