Egon Bittner (April 16, 1921 – May 7, 2011) was an
American sociologist who contributed to the sociology of policing. He was born into a Jewish family in
Skřečoň
(German language, German: ''Skretschon'', Polish language, Polish: ) is a village in Karviná District, Moravian-Silesian Region, Czech Republic. It was a separate municipality but became administratively a part of Bohumín in 1974. It has a popu ...
, a village in
Silesia
Silesia (see names #Etymology, below) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Silesia, Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at 8, ...
, an historically much-disputed part of
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...
, now in the
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...
. He died in the
Bay Area of San Francisco, leaving a wife, Jean (Szeina Blacharowicz) and two children, Debora Seys and Tom Bittner.
Early life
In 1939 Bittner worked as a reporter for a small newspaper in
Kraków
, officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...
in the south of
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...
. In the September of that year, Poland was invaded by
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...
, the
Slovak Republic
Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's ...
and the
Soviet Union
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
. The
invasion
An invasion is a Offensive (military), military offensive of combatants of one geopolitics, geopolitical Legal entity, entity, usually in large numbers, entering territory (country subdivision), territory controlled by another similar entity, ...
marked the beginning of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
and inaugurated the
Holocaust
The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...
. As a Jew, and along with his future wife and her two sisters, Bittner was arrested and incarcerated for the whole of the war. He later attributed his survival of the
concentration camp
A concentration camp is a prison or other facility used for the internment of political prisoners or politically targeted demographics, such as members of national or ethnic minority groups, on the grounds of national security, or for exploitati ...
to his practical skills that he believed the SS officers under whom he worked valued.
Education and academic career
Bitttner emigrated to the
Los Angeles
Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
area in the
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
in 1949. Shortly afterwards he married and became a naturalized American citizen. His initial interests in sociology related to
phenomenology
Phenomenology may refer to:
Art
* Phenomenology (architecture), based on the experience of building materials and their sensory properties
Philosophy
* Phenomenology (Peirce), a branch of philosophy according to Charles Sanders Peirce (1839 ...
and
ethnomethodology
Ethnomethodology is the study of how social order is produced in and through processes of social interaction.Garfinkel, H. (1974) 'The origins of the term ethnomethodology', in R.Turner (Ed.) Ethnomethodology, Penguin, Harmondsworth, pp 15–18. ...
, which led to him undertaking with
Donald Cressey a
Ph.D. in the
University of California at Los Angeles
The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the Ca ...
. He began his teaching career in its
Riverside campus. Afterwards, from 1963 to 1968, he taught at the University of California Medical School.
In the late 1960s, Bittner joined
Brandeis University
Brandeis University () is a Private university, private research university in Waltham, Massachusetts, United States. It is located within the Greater Boston area. Founded in 1948 as a nonsectarian, non-sectarian, coeducational university, Bra ...
. While there he held the Harry Coplan Professorship in the
Social Science
Social science (often rendered in the plural as the social sciences) is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of societies and the relationships among members within those societies. The term was formerly used to refer to the ...
s, he was chair of the sociology department and supervised the dissertation of
Nancy J. Chodorow.
Bittner is known for his ground breaking studies of the relationships between
police
The police are Law enforcement organization, a constituted body of Law enforcement officer, people empowered by a State (polity), state with the aim of Law enforcement, enforcing the law and protecting the Public order policing, public order ...
and
society
A society () is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. ...
.
Bittner's most notable work is his book ''The Functions of the Police in Modern Society'' (1970), in which he argued that police are defined by their capacity to use force. Other significant works include his two articles ''The Police on Skid Row'' (1967) and ''Florence Nightingale in Pursuit of Willie Sutton: A Theory of the Police'' (1974), ''The Capacity to Use Force as the Core of the Police Role'' (1985), and his book ''Aspects of Police Work'' (1990).
Bittner's revision of his 1982 presidential address to th
Society for the Study of Social Problemswas published in 1983 as 'Technique and the conduct of life'.
In 1998, Bittner's contributions to police scholarship earned him the
Police Executive Research Forum
The Police Executive Research Forum (PERF) is a national membership organization of police executives primarily from the largest city, county and state law enforcement agencies in the United States. The organization is dedicated to improving polic ...
's Leadership Award.
Th
Bittner Awardis in honor of Egon Bittner and is presented by th
Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA)to chief executive officers in recognition of their distinguished service in law enforcement and their leadership of an agency accredited by CALEA for fifteen continuous years.
Selected publications
Articles
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Miscellaneous
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References
Further reading
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Bittner, Egon
American sociologists
1921 births
2011 deaths
Czechoslovak emigrants to the United States
University of California, Los Angeles alumni
Brandeis University faculty