Juan Guevara
Chapter 5
Oct. 2nd, 2019.

 After reading the chapter, I wanted to discuss how I identified some of these perspectives that have applied to my life. The two which seem to be more significant are Social Science and the Interpretive perspective (Martin pg. 168, 2018). 

 The social science perspective and how it applies to my career. I used to not discuss my career with literally no one other than others within my career; Law Enforcement. This was conditioned into me in the first department I worked for. It was an unspoken rule for some odd reason. I worked there for a year; however, it took me years to overcome this mentality. When I first began my career I was very closed-minded and it didn't help that I was very young (21). It was very much a us vs. them mentality. Them being criminals, us being the guys fighting crime. 

 Initially, I identified as a police officer and mostly just a police officer. The men and women I worked with, I agreed with them on mostly everything. We exchanged stories and opinions and hardly ever disagreed. I feel that my identity, through these interactions, solidified as a police officer. Later, as I grew, I began to notice many things that I actually did not agree with and was surprised that I had not noticed it earlier; which brings me to my Interpretive perspective.

 I have been in law enforcement for 7 years now and I have noticed that there is a preconceived notion of my identity. I thought my personality was somewhat evident; however, time and time again I noticed patterns that allowed me to see that others did not see me for who I was, rather, who I appeared to be. I no longer agreed with everything that was said by my peers or supervisors.

 I realized later, a police officer is thought to be tough, aggressive, with certain political views. Strictly bound by duty and never question authority. He/She keeps to himself and never discusses work. I am actually a compassionate individual, which would much rather descalate situations, and my political views are not preordained. Of course, I do not discuss the private lives of people I come into contact in my line of work with, however, I no longer look at my career as this sacred, unspeakable, discussion. I'm a social person, I love my profession, I'm good at it, and I don't think police officers have to always be tough or rugged. We become more approachable and better able to connect with the people we serve by doing so. 

Work Cited

Martin, J. (2018). Intercultural Communication in Contexts (7th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

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