Hardley School & Sixth Form

Faculty of Business & Vocational Studies

BTEC National in Public Services

Assignment Briefing Document

Unit 5: Understanding discipline within the uniformed public services

INSTRUCTIONS FOR LEARNERS

1. Your teacher(s) will tell you how long you have to complete the assignment and the access you may have to resources.

2. Read the Assignment carefully and make sure that you understand the work you should hand in and what is required of you. If you are uncertain, discuss it with your teacher(s).

3. The ASSIGNMENT requires you to work by yourself and to produce original work. You should not share your work with any other learners. For example, if you produce an illustration diagram electronically, you should not give it to another learner. Similarly, you should not accept and use such information from others. You are required to sign that the work submitted is your own.

4. If you work in a group at any stage, you must present your own responses to each task for assessment.

5. Information taken from sources for research, e.g. Internet and textbooks, must be identified and not presented as your own work. You should list the sources used.

6. Some tasks may require Observation Records/Witness Statements. Your teacher(s) will organise for these to be completed and you must attach these to your submitted work.

7. In presenting your final work, you should not include draft work or reference materials such as handouts, notes and leaflets, unless the tasks specifically ask you to do so.

8. Presentation of your work:

· Check that you have completed all tasks.

· Label work with the appropriate task/sub task number.

· Present tasks in the correct order.

· Label each page with your name and page number.

· Submit all electronic materials in paper format

· Clearly label video or audiotapes submitted as part of your assignment.

· All papers should be securely bound.

· The completed ASSIGNMENT should NOT be presented in plastic envelopes, a box file or a lever arch file.

BTEC National in Public Services

Unit 5

YOUR ASSIGNMENT TASKS

Assignment 1: Discipline and self-discipline in the uniformed public services

Assignment objectives

In this assignment you will need to show that you can:

n describe and analyse the need for and role of discipline in the uniformed public services

n describe the importance of self-discipline in the uniformed public services, and analyse why these qualities are necessary for the effective operation of a given public service

n evaluate the impact of discipline in the uniformed public services

Task introduction

The uniformed public services are a disciplined and clearly structured environment, with clear hierarchical rank structures and well defined chains of command. These characteristics are vital for them to operate effectively in complicated and highly pressured situations.

All the public services look for evidence of self-discipline in potential recruits, and this assignment will therefore encourage you to examine situations in which you have developed your self-discipline and the impact this has had on you in your daily life.

As a Public Services student, you have been asked to provide information that could be given to others interested in joining your chosen public service. This information will cover the areas of both discipline and self-discipline.

Task 1 (P1, M1)

Choose three contrasting public services and research their disciplinary procedures and policies, either by research on the Internet, interviewing a current or former member of those services or by writing to local units to ask questions. Why do these services need discipline, and what role(s) does it fulfil?

Write a leaflet describing and analysing the information you have gathered, to explain to potential recruits what sort of disciplinary procedures they can expect to encounter in training and when serving, and the reasons for it. Your answer should be supported by examples where possible. Your leaflet should be no longer than three sides of A4.

Task 2 (P2, M2)

Using the case study below, describe the importance of self-discipline in the uniformed public services, and analyse why its qualities are necessary for the effective operation of your given public service.

Your answer should take the form of a short report, which should be no longer than two sides of A4.

Task 3 (D1)

Write a report to evaluate the impact of discipline in the public services. Your report should review the information included in Tasks 1 and 2 and come to a conclusion about the importance of discipline to the public services.

Guidance notes

Case study for Task 2

While going through police initial training, Henry and Sanjif had become good friends. However, they had had very different attitudes to their training and although they had both passed, they were finding the transition to working in a station very different. Sanjif had been very keen to do everything properly in training, making sure that his uniform was always ironed correctly every day and that he arrived at every lecture early with all the right books and equipment. Henry had been a little more laid back, doing just enough to get through the training. He often didn’t iron his shirt if he was not on parade that day, and would arrive at lectures just before the supervisor and often without bringing the right books. He figured that because Sanjif would save him a seat and have the right books for him to share, he didn’t need to worry about it too much.

Now that they had finished training, Henry and Sanjif had been posted to the same station. Sanjif found that life was fairly easy, as he was used to working hard to get his equipment prepared in good time and fit everything in. Henry was struggling a little more, and had been warned several times already about his uniform not being smart enough. He was not very popular in the station because he was often late to start his shift, meaning that other officers had to work longer.

Which officer had better self-discipline, and what impact was this having on their work and that of the station as a whole?

Grading Criteria UNIT 5

To achieve a pass, you must: / To achieve a merit, you must: / To achieve a distinction, you must:
P1 describe the need for and role of discipline in uniformed public services
P2 describe the importance of self discipline in the uniformed public services / M1 analyse the need for and role of discipline in the uniformed public service
M2 analyse why the qualities of self discipline
are necessary for the effective operation of a given uniformed public
service / D1 evaluate the impact of discipline in the uniformed public services

Deadline:

Assignment 2: Conformity, obedience and authority in the uniformed public services

what you will learn in this assignment

The definitions, influences and importance of conformity, obedience and authority to the public services

Assignment objectives

In this assignment you will need to show that you can:

n explain conformity and obedience and their impact on the public services

n describe three research studies exploring conformity and obedience, and analyse how they apply to the uniformed public services

n describe four types of authority and explain the nature of authority in the public services

n explain the importance of recognising authority and the consequences of a lack of authority in the public services

n critically evaluate the positive and negative effects of blind obedience to authority

What you will do in this assignment

You will examine conformity and obedience, including research studies exploring them, and analyse how they relate to the uniformed public services. You will research types of authority and look at the nature and importance of authority in the public services. Finally, you will examine the question of blind obedience and its positive and negative effects.

Task introduction

The uniformed public services are a disciplined and clearly structured environment, with clear hierarchical rank structures and defined chains of command. These characteristics are vital for them to operate effectively in complicated and highly pressured situations.

For public service discipline to be effective, members of the services must conform to expectations and obey all rules and regulations in all aspects of their work. Conformity and obedience have been studied by a variety of psychologists, and their work can be related to the public services.

Authority is the exercise of power over others, and can be exercised in various different types. Some of these types of authority are used in the public services, but not all are appropriate.

As your information leaflets about discipline and self-discipline were so good, you have been asked to produce some more about conformity, obedience and authority for potential applicants to your chosen public service.

Task 1 (P3)

Research conformity and obedience, and relate these concepts to the uniformed public services. You should make sure that you include the factors that influence conformity and obedience, and any procedures that the public services use to maximise their effects on recruits and members of the service.

Your research should start with some introductory psychology textbooks to get an understanding of the concepts, before you move on to your public service research.

Produce a short report about conformity and obedience and their impact in the public services. Your report should be no longer than two sides of A4.

Task 2 (P4, M3)

Describe three research studies which explore conformity and obedience, and analyse how they relate to the uniformed public services.

You could try researching the following psychologists who conducted famous experiments into conformity and obedience: Asch, Hoffling, Milgram and Zimbardo. You should also try to find out about other studies if you can.

Your description and analysis should be no longer than three sides of A4.

Task 3 (P5, P6)

Prepare a PowerPoint presentation explaining the nature of authority in relation to the uniformed public services and describing four types of authority.

Your presentation should be no more than 10 minutes long and should be suitable for potential public service applicants. You should hand in print outs of your slides, which can include additional notes if you wish.

Task 4 (M4)

Produce a leaflet that explains the importance of recognising authority and the consequences of a lack of authority within the uniformed public services.

Your leaflet should be no longer than two sides of A4.

Task 5 (D2)

Using your information for Tasks 1–4, particularly Milgram’s experiments into obedience, as well as further research, critically evaluate the positive and negative effects of blind obedience to authority. You should also research other instances of blind obedience, such as the involvement of hundreds of people in the Holocaust in the Second World War and the firing on unarmed students by Chinese troops at the Tiananmen Square massacre.

Your essay should be no longer than three sides of A4.

Guidance notes

You will need to work through the tasks in a logical order, as the early tasks in the assignment will help you to complete later ones more easily.

Grading Criteria UNIT 5

To achieve a pass, you must: / To achieve a merit, you must: / To achieve a distinction, you must:
P3 explain what is meant by conformity and obedience, and how they are represented in the uniformed public services, including the factors that
influence them
P4 describe three research studies which
explore conformity and obedience
P5 describe four types of authority
P6 explain the nature of authority in relation to the uniformed public services. / M3 analyse how three research studies on
conformity and obedience apply to the uniformed services
M4 explain the importance of recognizing authority and the consequences of a lack of authority within the uniformed public services. / D2 critically evaluate the positive and negative effects of blind obedience to authority.

Deadline:

Hardley School & Sixth Form BTEC National in Public Services

Unit 5: Understanding discipline within the uniformed public services

Assignment’s tasks / Assessment Criteria Unit 9
Assignment 1 /

P1, P2, M1, M2, D1

Assignment 2 / P3, P4, P5, P6, M3, M4, D2

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