In my 2017 presidential address to the European Society of Criminology (ESC) in Cardiff, I explored the representation of the police and police work in contemporary European novels, and compared and contrasted how the police and policing are dealt with in popular fiction and in the relevant scholarly literature. I selected unusually literate works that provide insights into policing in diverse countries and cultures, in which the main characters are middle-aged male policemen who share some characteristics: cynical but idealistic, empathetic rather than taciturn, restrained not aggressive, resistant to authority but dedicated to their mission. My main arguments are that contemporary fiction depicts police work with a greater verisimilitude than occurred in the past and in ways that parallel scholarly work on police culture. Police scholars’ assumptions about differences between real police work and fictional accounts are challenged, particularly when we look at how the police do their work and live their lives rather than at the types of crime they deal with. These characterizations of European police work and culture may particularly address and appeal to a specific sector of readers, a liberal and progressive public, and interrogate whether and how this kind of representation relates to contemporary theoretical models of procedural justice. Distinctively European models of police and policing emerge, despite some national peculiarities.

中文翻译：

---

探索文化犯罪学：小说中的警察世界

在2017年加的夫欧洲犯罪学协会（ESC）主席致辞中，我探讨了警察和警察在当代欧洲小说中的代表性，并比较和对比了流行小说和小说中警察和警务的处理方式相关的学术文献。我选择了具有非凡文化素养的作品，这些作品提供了对不同国家和文化中的警务的见解，其中主要人物是中年男警察，他们具有一些特点：愤世嫉俗但理想主义，善解人意而不是沉默寡言，内敛而不aggressive逼人，抗拒权威但热忱完成他们的任务。我的主要论点是，当代小说所描绘的警察工作比过去更具真实感，并且以与学术界类似的方式研究警察文化。警察学者对真实警察工作与虚构账户之间差异的假设提出了质疑，尤其是当我们着眼于警察如何开展工作和生活，而不是处理犯罪类型时。欧洲警察工作和文化的这些特征可能特别针对特定读者群体，包括自由和进步的公众，并对其产生吸引力，并质疑这种代表是否以及如何与现代程序正义理论模型相关。尽管存在一些国家特色，但欧洲出现了独特的警察和警务模式。欧洲警察工作和文化的这些特征可能特别针对特定读者群体，包括自由和进步的公众，并对其产生吸引力，并质疑这种代表是否以及如何与现代程序正义理论模型相关。尽管存在一些国家特色，但欧洲出现了独特的警察和警务模式。欧洲警察工作和文化的这些特征可能特别针对特定读者群体，包括自由和进步的公众，并对其产生吸引力，并质疑这种代表是否以及如何与现代程序正义理论模型相关。尽管存在一些国家特色，但欧洲出现了独特的警察和警务模式。