Presentation on theme: "From the words of Paoline Paoline, E. (2003). 'Taking stock: Toward a richer understanding of police culture', Journal of Criminal Justice 13: 199-214."— Presentation transcript:
From the words of Paoline Paoline, E. (2003). 'Taking stock: Toward a richer understanding of police culture', Journal of Criminal Justice 13: 199-214. Paoline, E. and Terrill, W. (2005). 'The Impact of Police Culture on Traffic Stop Searches: An Analysis of Attitudes and Behavior ', Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies & Management 28(3): 455-472.
Single Culture? The notion of a single informal (occupational) culture has been endorsed by both past and contemporary police scholars. As Crank (1998) explains, I argue that street cops everywhere tend to share a common culture because they respond to similar audiences everywhere (p. 26). This has become the conventional wisdom about police, as current policing texts still subscribe to a somewhat oversimplified conception of culture (e.g., Bartollas & Hahn, 1999, p. 77; Dempsey, 1999, pp. 128–129; Lyman, 2002, p. 249; Peak & Glensor, 1999, p. 146).
Focus on single areas Usually focuses on only parts of the process –loyalty among members, –the crime fighter image, –us versus them –orientation toward citizens, –organizational tensions –punitive supervisors The significance of understanding police culture lies in the role that it plays in the everyday functioning of police officers.
Most connotations of police culture are negative. the major barrier to reforming the police is the culture (Dean, 1995; Goldsmith, 1990; Greene, 2000; Skogan & Hartnett, 1997; Sparrow, Moore, & Kennedy, 1990). –Efforts to ensure accountability of the police have been met with cultural resistance, –police should never rat on fellow officers, –impenetrable blue wall of silence that often thwarts investigations of officer wrongdoing (New York Commission, 1994; Silverman, 1999)
Positive The collectiveness of culture helps to buffer the strains that officers face on a daily basis (Brown, 1988; Chan, 1996; Waddington, 1999). Help the cop to cope with: –the terror of an often hostile and unpredictable citizenry –a hostile even tyrannicaland unpredictable bureaucracy –unpredictable and punitive supervisory oversight (Brown, 1988; Manning, 1995; McNamara, 1967; –stress and anxiety –the regulation of their occupational world Experienced officers teach new (and continuing) officers – about the day-to-day components of police work, –learning the craft of policing (Manning, 1995; Van Maanen, 1974). Culture can actually be used as a positive tool in reforming the police (Crank, 1997; Skogan & Hartnett, 1997),
Occupational cultures are a product of the various situations Manning (1995) explains, occupational cultures –contain accepted practices, rules, and principles of conduct –situationally applied, and generalized rationales and beliefs (p. 472). –when a policeman dons his uniform, he enters a distinct subculture governed by norms and values designed to manage the strains created by his unique role in the community. (Van Maanen, 1974, p. 85)
Coping mechanisms Presence or potential for danger and the unique coercive power and authority –No matter what the situation, officers are expected to create, display, and maintain their authority (Manning, 1995). –Working within an organization that demands that all problems be handled on the street with efficiency and certainty –Yet held to excessive scrutiny by watchful administrators at a later date (Brown, 1988; Ericson, 1982; Fielding, 1988; Skolnick,1994). Danger has a unifying effect on officers and works to separate them from the chief source of dangerthe public (Kappeler et al., 1998).
Police are suspicious of the public Minimize the potential danger they confront, by displaying their coercive authority, –Always being prepared or one-up on citizens (Rubinstein, 1973; Sykes & Brent, 1980). Based on the potential danger Officers learn to sort citizens into categories ( Skolnick, 1994 ) –suspicious persons, –assholes, –know-nothings Part of their reading people and situations is manifested through the sorting of clientele.
New Cops Represent an additional danger –officers should not trust a new guy until you have checked him out –a potential breakdown in group cohesion. As Reuss-Ianni (1983) –officers must display a minimal commitment to fellow officers before they are accepted. Taught to: –Watch out for your partner first –Then the rest of the guys working that tour... –Dont give up another cop... –Hold up your end of the work... –If you get caught out, dont implicate anyone else.. New recruits are expected –to display their loyalty to their colleagues –(e.g., backing up other officers) (Van Maanen, 1974), –before they are accepted and reap the benefits of mutual protection of the group (Brown, 1988; Fielding, 1988; Reuss-Ianni,1983). Officers must also provide protection to one another against supervisors, in the organizational environment, who are often viewed as out to make their jobs difficult ( Brown 1988)
Socialisation The prescriptive coping mechanisms of the police culture are transmitted through a socialisation process across occupational generations in the training academy the new member with a set of rules, perspectives, techniques, and/or tools for him to continue as a participant in the organization (p. 86). –The socialisation process of officers starts in the training academy new recruits learn about the environments (both occupational and organizational) in which they work. what to do and expect –During this introductory phase, group cohesion and loyalty are stressed in a paramilitary environment (Bahn, 1984; Van Maanen) Patrolmen undergo an intensive rite of passage in which they acquire some general precepts of police work and learn the norms that govern the police culture (Brown (1988) p. 242). –Socialisation continues throughout ones tenure as an officer. Van Maanen (1974) heres how things operate in the real world Learning through other officers teaches rookie officers about policing and the coping mechanisms prescribed by the police culture (Goldsmith, 1990).
Public The public is generally naive about police work... –basically unsupportive –unreasonably demanding –seem to think they know our job better than we do. –They only want us when they need something done (Sparrow et al.,1990, p. 51) The coping mechanisms prescribed by the police culture, produce two defining outcomes of the police culture –social isolation –group loyalty.
The hostility and danger in the occupational environment, as well as the coercive authority that officers wield, separates police from nonpolice. Due to this separation between the police and the public, –officers tend to identify and socialize exclusively with other officers. –develop a we versus they attitude toward citizenry (Kappeler et al., 1998; Skolnick, 1994; Sparrow et al., 1990; Westley, 1970). –strengthens the bond between police officers –facilitates group loyalty. Officers depend on one another for both physical and emotional protection because of the danger, uncertainty, and anxiety found in the occupational environment (Manning, 1995; Westley,
Defining real policing The police culture stresses –law enforcement or real police work –over order maintenance –service roles (Brown, 1988; Drummond, 1976; Sparrow et al., 1990; Van Maanen) The inner-directed aggressive street cop is somewhat of the cultural ideal that officers are expected to follow (Brown, 1988).
Single Culture? Although conventional wisdom about police culture focuses on the cultural homogeneity of officers, some researchers have noted important differences, which could be expected to affect a unitary police culture. Three potential sources of variation –are organizations, –rank, –individual officer styles. Organizational cultures are responsible for group members total psychological functioning (Schein, 1992). –behavioral, –emotional, –cognitive elements of
Two cultures? Core differences exist between an informal (occupational) culture and a formal (organisational) culture Culture influences the defining characteristic of the police role. Organisational (formal) cultures –defined from the top of the organization down –managers have a central role in shaping formal (organisational) culture for the purpose of improving overall organizational performance (Schein, 1992). Occupational (informal) cultures –originate and are maintained by front-line workers (Van Maanen & Barley, 1984),
Police culture may differ among police agencies (see also Chan, 1996; Reiner, 1985). Occupational environments may also differ. Based on her research in the NYPD, Reuss-Ianni identified two cultures of policing: street cop culture and management cop culture. – officers working in service style occupational environments Experience lower danger levels Less likely to wield coercive authority Less likely to be suspicious of citizens –departments focusing on crime fighting, represent the typical organizational environment described in traditional accounts of occupational culture. As such, the ways in which officers might cope with their organisational environments might differ across different types of departments Accounts of police culture may not take into consideration differences that exist across police organisations and may be both incomplete and misleading. Wilsons (1968)
Two or more cultures? Competing cultural dimensions of each group Street cop culture –good old days, –working class in origin and temperament, –members see themselves as cops for the rest of their careers Management cop culture, –more middle class, –education and mobility have made them eligible for alternate career outside of policing, –makes them less dependent on and less loyal to street cop culture. Although both cultures share the common goal of crime reduction, the level and means by which they believe this goal should be accomplished differently. –Street cop culture believes in Local crime reduction through strong in-group ties the reliance on ones own experience to make decisions, –Management cop culture believes in citywide or system-wide crime reduction through efficient organization, rational decision making, cost efficient procedures, objective accountability at all levels of policing (Reuss-Ianni (1983, p. 6).
Three levels of each culture? Three classes or segments of culture –lower participants (patrol and street sergeants), –middle managers (sergeants, inspectors), –top command (superintendents, deputy chiefs, and chiefs). The contention here is that at each level (i.e., rank designation) of the organization, different concerns, orientations, values, norms, and sentiments dominate each culture (Farkas & Manning, 1997). –As such, culture works to insulate members based on the different issues or concerns unique to their rank designation. –Lower participants embody many of the features of Reuss-Iannis street cop, focusing primarily on the more immediate aspects of the job. –Those who reside within the middle management culture tend to emphasize management themes as they serve as a buffer between the street (lower participants) and upper police management (top command). –Top command focuses on the politics of managing police organizations internally, as well as being aware of the need to be accountable to external audiences.
The future As police forces have become more heterogeneous, one would expect a single cohesive police culture to give way to a more fragmented occupational group. –Typical officer of the past (i.e., White, male, working class, military experienced, high school educated) (Van Maanen, 1974) –Changing as the selection and recruitment of officers has diversified. These changes could affect –the occupational strains between police and citizens Mitigate the suspiciousness of citizens Reduce the us versus them distinction Reduce the organizational strains between police and their supervisors lessen the need for a crime fighter image as officers expand their role orientations) (see Paoline et al., 2000).
Diverse Workforce = Diverse Cultures Groups that have been previously excluded from the police culture may –Question, or outwardly reject, the attitudes, values, and norms associated with it. –Reasonable to hypothesise that both racial minorities and females may hold more favorable views of citizens be less suspicious of them. –Reasonable to expect college educated officers to have a greater appreciation for the multiple functions that police serve in society, Accept a wider role beyond simply crime fighting. Less troubled over supervisor scrutiny
Still cultural agreement Fragmentation in the police culture, but does not assert that, among contemporary police, there is no cultural agreement. Peer loyalty might vary in intensity among officers, –no reason to suppose (even within altered and varied occupational and organizational environments) that officers are no longer loyal to one another. –It is reasonable to expect that factors such as being male versus female, White versus non-White, or being college educated might be more of a distinguishing cultural factor at the beginning stages of officer tenure, –once occupational experiences and peer socialisation take over, such characteristics may be less influential.