The purpose of this research is to investigate the significance of a Tiwi community's history in order to better understand the work of Aboriginal Community Police Officers (ACPO).The situation under study is a workplace on Bathurst Island in the Northern Territory. The literature on workplace education offers the proposition that an understanding of the socio-cultural and historical context of workplaces is fundamental to thinking about workplace education.It is hypothesised that ACPOs have a dual consciousness of their profession and their workplace, and this consciousness has been informed and shaped by their common history.It is argued that this history is characterised by syncretism. The process of acculturation is researched, where police officers draw on experiences with, and knowledge of, both Tiwi and murrintawi societies.An historical account of the Tiwi society is given.A literary device of vignettes is used, followed by a descriptive-analytical interpretation in which historical events and various social-cultural aspects are described, analysed and interpreted / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Sous la Révolution, la régénération absolue de la justice passe par la création d’un système judiciaire totalement nouveau qui se concrétise par la loi des 16-24 août 1790 dont l’une des grandes innovations est la création des justices de paix en matière civile. Compétent en matière civile, le juge de paix se voit attribuer d’importantes fonctions répressives par deux lois successives : le décret des 19-22 juillet 1791 relatif à l’organisation de la police municipale et correctionnelle et le décret du 16-29 septembre 1791 relatif à la police de sûreté, la justice criminelle et l’établissement des jurés. Le législateur le désigne, par ailleurs, avec la loi des 28-6 octobre 1791, juge de la police rurale. Le juge de paix joue un rôle essentiel dans la procédure pénale. Par ses fonctions d’officier de police de sûreté il est chargé d’instruire toutes les affaires quelle que soit leur gravité. En outre, il juge toutes celles qui relèvent de la compétence du tribunal de police correctionnelle. Cette omniprésence du juge de paix présente deux inconvénients majeurs : elle contredit le principe de la séparation des pouvoirs en attribuant au même organe des attributions de police et de justice ; elle ne répond pas aux exigences de la répression politique en laissant au même homme le soin de poursuivre toutes les infractions. Aussi, dès 1792, le législateur divise-t-il la police de sûreté en deux branches : la sûreté privée et la sûreté générale confiant cette dernière aux municipalités. L’étude de l’activité des juges de paix dans trois grandes villes de l’Hérault et du Gard, Montpellier, Béziers et Nîmes, démontre que pendant une période de quatre ans, ces derniers ont exercé leurs attributions entre police et justice. Il faudra attendre le Code du 3 brumaire an IV qui désignera le juge de paix comme officier de police judiciaire et qui instituera les tribunaux correctionnels, pour séparer de manière plus claire les deux fonctions. / The laws of August 16th and the 24th off 1790 happened during the creation of the judiciary system which was during the time of the revolution and was seen as a big innovation/motivation towards peace in civil matters. The judge of peace is assigned two laws ; which are a repressive and successive law : 1. The decree of July the 19th and the 22nd in relation to the organisation of the municipal police and the police court 2. The decree of September the 29th 1791 in relation to the security police, the criminal justice and the establishment of the jurors. The legislator nominates him with the laws of October the 28th september and the 6th october 1791 as judge of the rural police. The judge of peace plays an essential role in the criminal procedure. Through his functions of safety police officer he has the responsibility of investigating every case regardless off their severity. He judges those within the jurisdiction of the court of police. This omnipresence has two major drawbacks; it contradicts the principle of the separation of the powers by giving it the same duties of police and justice. It does not meet the requirements of the political repression by leaving it to the same man the task of pursuing all the offences regardless off what they are. In 1792, the legislator divided the security police into two branches : private security and general security entrusting the latter to municipalities. Research was done in three big cities; Hérault and Gard, Montpellier, Béziers and Nîmes off the activities of the judges of peace which shows that during their first four years, they discharged their attributions between the police and justice. It will take the Code of Brumaire the 3rd , year IV which will nominate the judge of peace as officer of police court and will investigate criminal courts, to separate in a clearer way the two functions.