Sex on the desk, coke in the toilet, bribery and corruption on
the streets. An investigation of Spiral as a representation of
contemporary policing

Cummins, ID; King, MS

Abstract

Policing is widely recognised as one of the most stressful occupations. Numerous studies have
explored the ways in which stress impacts on the personal and professional lives of officers. Using this literature
as context, the paper explores the way in which representations of policing in film and TV have changed to
reflect this issue, to the point where the predominant mode of representation is the dysfunctional officer broken
by the job, while retaining key elements of traditional cop culture. In recent years UK audiences have embraced
the dystopian pleasures of Nordic and Euro Noir. Many of these texts are characterized by a blurring of
boundaries between police officers and those they seek to bring to justice, close relationships between police
officers and criminal entrepreneurs and bribery and corruption at work in the legal system. There is a darkness
at work here, both in terms of themes explored and the dysfunctional lives of the main players.
Using the research approach of bricolage, the paper will examine the contemporary French police drama
Spiral, set in both the splendor and squalor of Paris, as an illustration of the shift in representations of policing
and consider the reasons for and impact of this shif

Citation

contemporary policing. Presented at International Conference on Studies in Humanities and Social Sciences (SHSS), Paris, France

• Presentation Conference Type: Other
• Conference Name: International Conference on Studies in Humanities and Social Sciences (SHSS)
• Conference Location: Paris, France
• End Date: Nov 26, 2015
• Publication Date: Nov 25, 2015
• Deposit Date: Aug 16, 2021
• Publicly Available Date: Aug 16, 2021
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.17758/ERPUB.E1115019
• Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.17758/ERPUB.E1115019
• Additional Information: Event Type : Conference