Resumen:
This article provides the background to an international project on use of
force by the police that was carried out in seven countries. Force is often considered
to be the defining characteristic of policing and much research has been conducted
on the determinants, prevalence and control of the use of force, particularly in the
United States. However, little work has looked at police officers’ own views on the
use of force, in particular the way in which they justify it. Using a hypothetical
encounter developed for this project, researchers in each country conducted focus
groups with police officers in which they were encouraged to talk about the use of force. The results show interesting similarities and differences across countries and
demonstrate the value of using this kind of research focus and methodology.
