Manzo2009
| Manzo2009 | |
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| BibType | ARTICLE |
| Key | Manzo2009 |
| Author(s) | John Manzo |
| Title | Security Officers' Perspectives on Training |
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| Tag(s) | EMCA, security officers, shopping malls |
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| Year | 2009 |
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| Journal | Canadian Journal of Criminology and Criminal Justice |
| Volume | 51 |
| Number | 3 |
| Pages | 381–410 |
| URL | Link |
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Abstract
At a time in which private security is becoming more and more ubiquitous, questions as to the adequacy of security officers’ training for their positions become more relevant as well. However, calls for increased or improved training are rooted in abstract concerns with legality, governance, and accountability, and not in actual analysis of how useful extant training regimens are for actual security officers. Utilizing a grounded, ethnomethodological analytic perspective, this paper explores recollections of training in open-ended interviews with 29 shopping-mall-based security officers and then considers whether and how officers found their training useful in emergency (or otherwise unexpected) situations. Despite patchwork standards for training, this study finds that the security officers interviewed manage emergencies by marshalling not only their formal training but also resources from security experience outside their current positions and even outside the realm of private security entirely. This study does consider efforts to improve security training; however, with its focus on officers’ own descriptions and understandings of their work, it also suggests that security officers are more adaptable than might be expected. Based on these findings, suggestions for security practice and research are offered in the conclusion.
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