Konkret eller abstrakt politiarbejde?

Abstract

This article analyses how Danish police students assess the attractiveness of different police assignments and how these assessments change during the education. The study is based on 10 focus groups with 50 police students, half of them recently started while the other half are within two weeks of finishing the education. Especially the recently started police students present a hedonist orientation towards assignments characterized by action and adrenaline, whereas the police students at the end of the education lean somewhat more towards immersing themselves in more complex assignments. Overall, whether a police assignment gives space for professional autonomy or discretion in the work makes a great difference for how it is valued. Although the findings, in line with most research on police culture, show several signs of the students preferring "outside" police work with a concrete output, there are also signs of a widely shared interest in the opportunity of combining abstract and concrete police work. Keywords politistudenter, motivasjon, politikultur, praksisfellesskap, police culture, police students , community of practice, motivation INDLEDNINGHvad kan gøre en politiopgave mere eller mindre attraktiv for dem, der skal udføre den? Svarene på dette spørgsmål er ikke blot et organisationssociologisk kuriosum, der udelukkende har relevans for en HR-afdeling, men kan både have betydning for borgernes retssikkerhed og for sammenhaengskraften i fremtidens politi. Politiarbejdet spaender over meget forskelligartede opgaver, der ofte kraever meget forskellige former for problemløsning. Dette afspejler sig blandt andet i organisationens forgreninger i diverse funktioner, der tilsammen skal gøre politiet i stand til at håndtere sine opgaver. Men selv hvis man alene

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