(In)convenient truth. A small-scale study addressing attitudes and values found in Finnish policing

Academic Paper from the year 2018 in the subject Sociology - Law and Delinquency, grade: Pass, University of Portsmouth (Institute of Criminal Justice Studies), course: Professional Doctorate in Criminal Justice Studies, language: English, abstract: Among popular perceptions of the Nordic countries, cleanliness, organisation and safety are common. One of the agencies responsible for the up-keep of public safety is the Finnish police. As with the other Nordic policing organisations, this appears to be done in a calm and non-confrontational way. To discover if reality lives up to the image, a small-scale research project was conducted. This involved a series of focus groups comprising of policing personnel and was intended to gain insight into the values and attitudes of criminal justice professionals. The focus groups took the form of semi-structured interviews. Recordings and transcripts were analysed for themes that may help to understand how the professionals in question perceive their role and function in a modern policing agency. Among the issues mentioned by the participants was a degree of frustration at the limited resources that were available to them. These points were apparently seen as irritations rather than major challenges. For the participants, issues of impartiality and motivation were consistently expressed and appeared to be of considerable relevance. In support of this, they reported achieving motivation through adherence to legal statutes and procedural protocols, and in so doing they felt that they were "doing the job properly" rather than simply "catching bad guys". This may be the key to the non-confrontational calm of the Nordic image. These findings are corroborated by external sources as Finland's judicial system and police organisation are internationally acknowledged as providing an impartial and trustworthy service to the population of that country.