Policing in action An interaction-ethological study of conflicts, violence and de-escalation

This dissertation investigates the interactional dynamics of conflicts in police-citizen encounters and analyses the influence of these dynamics on conflict outcomes.
The empirical investigation draws on CCTV footage from Amsterdam showing actual, occurring encounters from real-life, where I develop and both qualitative and quantitative approaches to study them. Moreover, a small sample of Norwegian police officers were qualitatively interviewed.
The interactional dynamics of conflict are addressed in four different ways. In chapter 2, I statistically analyze behavioral determinants of police use of force. In chapter 3, I analyze qualitative how police officers understand and account for how they try to avoid violence, through de-escalation behaviors. In chapter 4, I utilize a qualitative video analysis to identify potential pathways conflicts take when they turn forceful. In chapter 5, I argue that police research can benefit from using ethograms, drawing on insights from behavioral biology, to provide more accurate descriptions and comparisons of conflict behavior.
While the chapters have different angles, they are all rooted in the micro-sociological tradition of violence research and draw on an ethological understanding of conflict. These perspectives highlight the importance of studying naturally occurring behaviors, as they occur: in the now, or in action.
The findings within this dissertation indicate that conflicts are not predetermined by structural or personal factors, but rather that they are shaped by how the individuals within them act. Thus, police officers (and citizens!) may affect the outcomes of conflict with their behavior, to prevent or de-escalate conflicts from ending violently.