Young people arguing and thinking about the police: qualitative data concerning the categorization of the police in a police youth contact program

Programs of intergroup contact frequently fail with the positive evaluation of the individual contact-partner being separated from the representation of the category as a whole. The paper reports qualitative data gathered from 81 pupils taking part in 28 groups discussions concerning the police officers that they meet in a school-based police-youth ''contact'' program. These data address allow an exploration of the nature of the process of categorization. The paper considers the options for creating more positive police-youth relations.