Police-Suspect Interaction: A2 English Language Investigation Coursework
A2 English Language Coursework
Investigation: How and why are power differences established in police-suspect interactions through language use?
Word Count; 2677
Introduction
Equality is a fundamental element of the English legal system yet power disparities amongst those enforcing the law and those suspected of breakingoften apparent. With Brown and Levinson’s Power and Politeness theory assessing the significant contribution language strategies have in creating such differences I have chosen to analyse how language either instils or reduces power in police-suspect interactions. The opposingroles of the police have intrigued me as they must both control and cooperate to allow for extraction of information. I hope to establish which, if any, power and politeness strategies enable this.
Police-suspect interactions exemplify how the choice of lexis, grammar and register is influenced by position and context. Such interactions therefore test Grice’s maxims, with the relationship between the flouting of maxims and the creation of unequal power being of great interest. Police must assess a situation, an individual, and their acts to establish the relevant use of language meaning that numerous language characteristics are evident in their speech. I will analyse how these create a successful interaction but also the necessary power and assertion. I hope my conclusion will be applicable to some of the many other imbalanced power interactions in society.
Aims
1: Establish how police and their suspects create and exhibit power differences in their interactions.
2: Identify the positions of both participants by researching the features of speech from the police officers and the suspect.
3: Look at how power and politeness theories can be used to investigate the relationship between police and suspect and the power differences between them.
Methodology and Background Reading
I am analysing primary data that I have transcribed from the Traffic Cops
Investigation: How and why are power differences established in police-suspect interactions through language use?
Word Count; 2677
Introduction
Equality is a fundamental element of the English legal system yet power disparities amongst those enforcing the law and those suspected of breakingoften apparent. With Brown and Levinson’s Power and Politeness theory assessing the significant contribution language strategies have in creating such differences I have chosen to analyse how language either instils or reduces power in police-suspect interactions. The opposingroles of the police have intrigued me as they must both control and cooperate to allow for extraction of information. I hope to establish which, if any, power and politeness strategies enable this.
Police-suspect interactions exemplify how the choice of lexis, grammar and register is influenced by position and context. Such interactions therefore test Grice’s maxims, with the relationship between the flouting of maxims and the creation of unequal power being of great interest. Police must assess a situation, an individual, and their acts to establish the relevant use of language meaning that numerous language characteristics are evident in their speech. I will analyse how these create a successful interaction but also the necessary power and assertion. I hope my conclusion will be applicable to some of the many other imbalanced power interactions in society.
Aims
1: Establish how police and their suspects create and exhibit power differences in their interactions.
2: Identify the positions of both participants by researching the features of speech from the police officers and the suspect.
3: Look at how power and politeness theories can be used to investigate the relationship between police and suspect and the power differences between them.
Methodology and Background Reading
I am analysing primary data that I have transcribed from the Traffic Cops