Résumé
"Published academic research on the social history of small county borough police forces during the post-war period, in England and Wales, is virtually non-existent. Yet these forces represented a third of the police establishment. Moreover, the period saw the most radical transformation of police practices since the formation of the police. A social characteristic of the period was an increase in individualism and a rejection of traditional authority that occurred in tandem with changes to the economy and a boom in consumerism and technology. Such modification in the way society operated is termed as ‘detraditionalisation’. For the first time this research answers the question, ‘what was the experience of a constable in a small county borough police force whilst facing the change process brought about by detraditionalisation in society, and changes intrinsic to the police, in the period 1947-1968’."--Abstract.