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Considering earlier research into police use of force as well as the judicial and practical frame of police work in Germany, the article presents the results of an empirical study on the individual and collective legitimization of the use of force by German police officers. There are numerous justifications for the use of force expressed by focus group participants in eight German Federal States who were responding to a hypothesized scenario. In the discussions observed within the groups, reference is first made to the state's duty to prosecute alleged offences and the measures or formal actions to do this-hence, the legal authority to use force. In the course of the discussions, however, it became obvious that illegal violence may occur, although it was not perceived as such by the officers. Overall, and after an intensive analysis of the focus group discussions, it can be stated that use of force (whether legal or not) depends on the police officer's perception of the resistance of the person being engaged with. In this regard, different social-cultural or physicalmaterial factors can be identified. They have different influences on the individual legitimization of police actions, intertwined with the perception of the situation as constructed by the officer. Three ways of perceiving the situation can be deduced, resulting in different patterns of justification for the use of force.

A b s tr a c t: The reunified Germany has faced an increasing incidence of violence against foreigners. The study pre sented here focuses on the interrelationship between public opinion (measured in opinion polls) and the number of violent attacks (counted by the German Federal Police). The empirical analysis detects a positive correlation between the two factors. This correlation was to be expected in theoretical terms. Violent events, widely covered by the media, are important for both data sets. Xenophobic riots like Hoyerswerda and Rostock support critical com ments and an increase in violence, whereas the murders of Mölln support a decrease in both. Specific forms and quantities of violence seem to enable people to communicate a critical opinion towards foreigners and thereby stimulate renewed violence. However, "too much" violence builds up a new latency of communication, which de creases violence once more.

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