Taking stock: Toward a richer understanding of police culture

✍ Scribed by Eugene A Paoline III

• Book ID: 104269601
• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 2003
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 252 KB
• Volume: 31
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0047-2352
• DOI: 10.1016/s0047-2352(03)00002-3

✦ Synopsis

Police researchers have long speculated on the importance that culture plays in the everyday functioning of officers. Most characterizations of police culture focus on describing the various elements and facets of a single phenomenon among occupational members (e.g., group loyalty, crime fighter image, organizational tension with supervisors, etc.). Little work has been done in synthesizing what we ''know'' about this occupational culture, as textbook depictions highlight broad generalizations that tend to differ from text to text. A conceptual model of the police occupational culture is presented here that explains its causes, prescriptions, and outcomes. This monolithic model is then critiqued based on research that highlights the complexity of culture, noting variation across organizations and within by rank and style. The article also assesses the ways in which police culture thought is beginning to change, as departments diversify demographically and philosophically. The article concludes with recommendations for future studies of police culture.