Perceptions of Lahore’s Legal and Police Professionals on Forensic Linguistics: An Institutional Theory Approach

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to explore the familiarity about forensic linguistics among lawyers and police officers of Lahore. This research identifies the hurdles in the adoption of forensic linguistics in the criminal investigative system. There is a growing demand for forensic linguists in many of the Western countries and their requirement is also stressed in some of the developing countries. However, it is still relatively new to hire forensic linguist in Lahore, a province of Pakistan. In this research a qualitative design was employed in which 10 participants, lawyers and police officers, were selected and interviewed by using semi structured interviews. The collected data was analyzed using narrative analysis followed by Scott’s (2013) conception of Institutional Theory. Institutional theory focuses on the regulatory, normative and cultural cognitive aspects that occur in the diffusion of new practices. Findings indicate that even though there is an appreciation for forensic linguistics, little awareness exists regarding how it could be useful, and major institutional barriers seem to be resistant to it. Legal institutionalization barriers consist of illegitimate policies, normative and cultural-cognitive barriers comprise professional resistance and absence of conception about linguistic analysis. The study recommends and concludes with an emphasis on policy adjustments, educational instructions and the awareness guiding to eliminate these barriers for incorporating forensic linguistics in Lahore’s criminal investigative system.