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Moral entrepreneurship revisited: police officers monitoring cannabis retailers in Rotterdam, the Netherlands

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Moral entrepreneurship revisited: police officers monitoring cannabis retailers in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. / Muller, Thaddeus.
Contributions from European Symbolic Interactionists: Reflections on Methods. ed. / Thaddeus Muller. Bingley: Emerald, 2015. p. 139-157 (Studies in Symbolic Interaction; Vol. 44).

Research output: Contribution in Book/Report/Proceedings - With ISBN/ISSNChapter (peer-reviewed)peer-review

Harvard

Muller, T 2015, Moral entrepreneurship revisited: police officers monitoring cannabis retailers in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. in T Muller (ed.), Contributions from European Symbolic Interactionists: Reflections on Methods. Studies in Symbolic Interaction, vol. 44, Emerald, Bingley, pp. 139-157. https://doi.org/10.1108/s0163-239620150000044007

APA

Muller, T. (2015). Moral entrepreneurship revisited: police officers monitoring cannabis retailers in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. In T. Muller (Ed.), Contributions from European Symbolic Interactionists: Reflections on Methods (pp. 139-157). (Studies in Symbolic Interaction; Vol. 44). Emerald. https://doi.org/10.1108/s0163-239620150000044007

Vancouver

Muller T. Moral entrepreneurship revisited: police officers monitoring cannabis retailers in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. In Muller T, editor, Contributions from European Symbolic Interactionists: Reflections on Methods. Bingley: Emerald. 2015. p. 139-157. (Studies in Symbolic Interaction). doi: 10.1108/s0163-239620150000044007

Author

Muller, Thaddeus. / Moral entrepreneurship revisited : police officers monitoring cannabis retailers in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Contributions from European Symbolic Interactionists: Reflections on Methods. editor / Thaddeus Muller. Bingley : Emerald, 2015. pp. 139-157 (Studies in Symbolic Interaction).

Bibtex

@inbook{8b90886575784fd98b48f932c98958c7,
title = "Moral entrepreneurship revisited: police officers monitoring cannabis retailers in Rotterdam, the Netherlands",
abstract = "In this paper on police officers who monitor coffee shops in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, I relate their work to Becker{\textquoteright}s moral entrepreneur (1963). Becker describes two categories of moral entrepreneurs: rule creators, such as the crusading reformer, and rule enforcers, for example the police. According to Becker, the rule enforcer is less na{\"i}ve and more pragmatic than the rule creator. The main question of this paper is: in what respect can the work of the police officers be described as moral entrepreneurship? To answer this question I conducted in-depth interviews with six police officers on the meaning they attach to their duties of monitoring coffee shops. The research shows that police officers take a pragmatic approach, which also contains layers of morality that influence their rule enforcing. For instance, the way they define the character and intentions of the coffee shop managers is decisive in how they act towards them. Another difference is observed in relation to the two interests of the rule enforcer described by Becker. The police officers interviewed did not have to justify their existence and they did not have to gain respect by coercion. This is explained by (a) the routine character of the monitoring, which has created a predictable situation and a modus operandi known to all parties and (b) the criminalization of cannabis in recent years. The effect of this process is that the position of police officers in relation to cannabis sellers is not questioned.",
keywords = "Moral entrepreneur, Cannabis, Control, Police, Criminalization",
author = "Thaddeus Muller",
year = "2015",
doi = "10.1108/s0163-239620150000044007",
language = "English",
isbn = "9781784418540",
series = "Studies in Symbolic Interaction",
publisher = "Emerald",
pages = "139--157",
editor = "Thaddeus Muller",
booktitle = "Contributions from European Symbolic Interactionists",

}

RIS

TY - CHAP

T1 - Moral entrepreneurship revisited

T2 - police officers monitoring cannabis retailers in Rotterdam, the Netherlands

AU - Muller, Thaddeus

PY - 2015

Y1 - 2015

N2 - In this paper on police officers who monitor coffee shops in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, I relate their work to Becker’s moral entrepreneur (1963). Becker describes two categories of moral entrepreneurs: rule creators, such as the crusading reformer, and rule enforcers, for example the police. According to Becker, the rule enforcer is less naïve and more pragmatic than the rule creator. The main question of this paper is: in what respect can the work of the police officers be described as moral entrepreneurship? To answer this question I conducted in-depth interviews with six police officers on the meaning they attach to their duties of monitoring coffee shops. The research shows that police officers take a pragmatic approach, which also contains layers of morality that influence their rule enforcing. For instance, the way they define the character and intentions of the coffee shop managers is decisive in how they act towards them. Another difference is observed in relation to the two interests of the rule enforcer described by Becker. The police officers interviewed did not have to justify their existence and they did not have to gain respect by coercion. This is explained by (a) the routine character of the monitoring, which has created a predictable situation and a modus operandi known to all parties and (b) the criminalization of cannabis in recent years. The effect of this process is that the position of police officers in relation to cannabis sellers is not questioned.

AB - In this paper on police officers who monitor coffee shops in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, I relate their work to Becker’s moral entrepreneur (1963). Becker describes two categories of moral entrepreneurs: rule creators, such as the crusading reformer, and rule enforcers, for example the police. According to Becker, the rule enforcer is less naïve and more pragmatic than the rule creator. The main question of this paper is: in what respect can the work of the police officers be described as moral entrepreneurship? To answer this question I conducted in-depth interviews with six police officers on the meaning they attach to their duties of monitoring coffee shops. The research shows that police officers take a pragmatic approach, which also contains layers of morality that influence their rule enforcing. For instance, the way they define the character and intentions of the coffee shop managers is decisive in how they act towards them. Another difference is observed in relation to the two interests of the rule enforcer described by Becker. The police officers interviewed did not have to justify their existence and they did not have to gain respect by coercion. This is explained by (a) the routine character of the monitoring, which has created a predictable situation and a modus operandi known to all parties and (b) the criminalization of cannabis in recent years. The effect of this process is that the position of police officers in relation to cannabis sellers is not questioned.

KW - Moral entrepreneur

KW - Cannabis

KW - Control

KW - Police

KW - Criminalization

U2 - 10.1108/s0163-239620150000044007

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M3 - Chapter (peer-reviewed)

SN - 9781784418540

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EP - 157

BT - Contributions from European Symbolic Interactionists

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PB - Emerald

CY - Bingley

ER -