Description
Mr. Bayley examines determinants of police behavior and activity in Japan and the United States. He assumes that variations in police behavior among nations are explicable in terms of differences in social and cultural contexts. His detailed description of Japanese police activity- the first to have been attempted in either English or Japanese-draws on six months of firsthand observation of police activities at several locations in Japan and seeks to capture their distinctive characteristics and to reflect the
milieu in which they occur. By making explicit comparisons between police behavior in Japan and the United States, Mr. Bayley lays the groundwork for predicting the character of police work on the basis of knowledge of its social context. Among the topics considered are patrol operations, street encounters, maintenance of discipline and responsibility, means of coping with violence, regulation of victimless crimes, the role of discretion in dealing with the public, and
administrative practices.
The book, which is both analytic and comparative, should appeal to several kinds of readers. Students of Japan will be interested in the fit between police activity and the general society. Students of police behavior will find their horizons broadened and their understanding of the determinants of police work expanded. For readers concerned with police reform in the United States, the comparisons of Japanese with American police behavior reveal the cultural constraints on police behavior.
ISBN: 0520030699
