Subculture within the police and impact on appropriate policing

Psychology can mix well with other areas of social science. Even if there is always a little competition between these areas. This is an old essay from my years in criminology.

Policing essay

The way the humans think is influenced by the culture they grew up and live in. Culture is created by a group of humans that share the same ideas in different areas of life, such as religion, law, morals and science. It is a way to life together in peace, comfort and it is of practical use to work together. It is easier to achieve new knowledge or to stay save from others. This large culture is not the only one that exists. Within this culture, humans often are part of subcultures. According to Wikipedia (Accessed 4 January 2014), that also cites the Oxford English Dictionary, a subculture is a group of people within the larger culture who differentiate themselves from this culture through ideas and beliefs that vary from the large culture. Throughout life humans can be part of many different subcultures. Many of them important for their development. Later in life humans will find subcultures in their workplaces. Those occupational cultures are subcultures that developed because of the believes that are shared within the group of people that work in this area or through the situations those people are confronted with. Most of the subcultures are not important to the people outside that group or kind of work. But there is one occupational culture that has influence on the humans even if they are not aware of this subculture. The cop-culture is this culture. The humans rely on the police to keep them save and to keep order in society. That means that the police officers are role models. So the subculture(s) of the police are very interesting, because it could or could not influence the practice of proper policing. This essay will look into the subculture(s) of the police and the potential impact this subculture(s) have on the appropriate policing.

In order to understand the impacts of the police subculture it is important to know what the police subculture is and what characteristics this subculture has. It is also important to know that the cop-culture is not limited to one country and its culture. This subculture is very general. There are only slight differences between the countries when it comes to the police subculture. At least that is for the western cultures. But back to the main thought. O'Neill and Singh (2007) explained in their Introduction for Police Occupational Culture: New Debates and Directions, that there are many contributors to this topic and each of them has a own definition for the cop-culture. So they offered a more general explanation that allows own perspectives. The police occupational culture was described by O'Neill and Singh as the 'way things are done around here' and not always by the book, but also not completely without it.
A early researcher in this field was Skolnick. He is an American researcher and in 1966 he described the police as a working personality. He offered three elements that would generate this working personality. Those elements were danger, authority and efficiency. Skolnick acknowledges that not all police officers are alike, but this elements explain the isolation of the police from the rest of the society. But as Reiner in 2000 wrote, Skolnick is missing some elements. Skolnick's model can differ within the police forces and it also did not consider the relationship between the police and the social and political structures.
Especially within the lower ranks of the police the subculture seems important. Often the word canteen culture can be found in the research of this topic. It is a subculture of the lower ranks and often shows behaviour that is not accepted by the larger culture or the higher ranks. It also tries to resist change. Waddington (1999) argued that the canteen talk is not indicative of actual police actions.
This model is one way to see how the police subculture is created, but there was another personality model. In 1972 Balch introduced his idea of a police personality, that was developed from the authoritarian personality model by the psychologist Adorno in 1950. Balch listed several traits that described the police personality. The 8 traits are conventionalism, aggression, submissiveness, power and toughness, anti-intraception, destructiveness and cynicism, projectivity and sexuality. These traits describe the personality of the police and the police officers, but there are discussions if the people recruited into the police already have these traits or if they are learned in training and from experience on the street.
If put together those researchers give a very detailed idea how the police subculture is generated and what this subculture is about. Police officers are humans even if the job often requires an inhuman personal strength. So being under pressure all the time and being confronted with danger and even death, these people developed traits that separate them from the rest of the society. The look at the world with suspicion and the only persons they can rely on are their follow comrades. In 1995 Henry wrote about the police culture and the confrontation with death. How much pressure it can create on the mind. He called it the psychology of survival. As mentioned the police officers are often in danger while on duty and so they see the public as a source of the danger.
So the police officers of the lower ranks created a subculture that would strengthen their social bonds with each other to make sure that they could rely on each other. It also provides a atmosphere where they can release the pressure without being judged for their opinions or beliefs. They often banter as Waddington (1999) mentioned. Often using inappropriate words for people and also situations. If they talk about death or murder. Calling into mind the way O'Neill and Singh (2007) put it, it is the way things are done around here. Even with police psychologist available it is easier to deal with the everyday police life with people that share the same experience on the street. It also protects the police officer from being considered weak or unfit for duty.
When looked at the topic and all the academic thinking, it is often forgotten that police officers are just human and there is only so much a human can take before it leaves a constant mark on him or her. It can be seen when looked on blogs written by police officers. The cop-culture has reached the world wide web. Susie Atherton presented on a conference in Leicester (2010) some examples on what police officers write about in their blogs. It reflects what is known about the cop-culture. It also shows that the goal for many police officers is to climb the ranks to leave the street an join another subculture that is easier to bear. As a low rank officers opinion does not count much and they are often a scapegoat. What can be read in those blogs is extreme. It presents how cynic the officers can be.
They deal with the world as they see it. It is them against the rest of the world. Everywhere can be a threat, crime and blame. That also created a code of silence in the police. The officers on the street wont blame a comrade. Dr. Cooper wrote about that code of silence in 2009. With the mistrust towards outsiders established and hardened through experience it is even hard to trust the superiors. So they are presenting themselves as strong, manly and superior being, because it is what the world expects them to be. They have to be flawless, but humans are not flawless. So the police officers try their best with what they can do. But that adds pressure on them and this pressure must be released. It is released in extreme beliefs, jokes, racism and mistrust towards the public. The blogs mentioned by Atherton a perfect sample. But it also shows that not only the public forgets that police officers are humans, as Malmin wrote in 2012, sometimes the officers forget their humanity too.
This way to look at others that the police presents in their subculture. This mistrust towards others often made it difficult to research. So some of the research in this field was done by active officers. For example Simon Holdaway was a police officer when he started to research the police, the culture and the processes within this group of people. In 1979 he presented a book called British Police.
Sometimes the police also supports the research as some officers hope to present their point of view more understandable. A good example for that research would be Behr (2002). He mentioned that the officers wanted to be understood correctly. They accepted the researcher because of the possible mutual benefits.
Further reading that can be helpful on this topic could be the 'Police Personality: What is it and why are they like that?' by Twersky-Glasner in 2005.
After looking at the police subculture and the way the police officers behave within their group, does this subculture have an impact on the delivery of appropriate policing? What could it influence?
The policing can be impacted by the subculture, but it also does not have to be that way. There are many possibilities and other explanations to why the police reacts to a certain stimuli. Also the subculture not only impacts the occupational life it can also have impacts on personal life of the police officers. Coombe (2013) conducted research on that topic and found out that police officers have different personalities and that the subculture does have an impact on their personal life. Some officers try to separate the occupational life and the personal life. Others consider themselves as born and bred for the job and the kind of people they call colleges. It indicates that if they try to separate the personal life from the occupational life, that it is the same with the life in the subculture and the actual policing. Because it is known to the police officers that the beliefs and the behaviour that is practiced within the subculture is not accepted in the larger culture.
Also there is the problem with the question about the negative and positive impacts of the subculture on policing, because people are more likely to recognize the negative events and behaviours than the positive ones. In this case with a good reason, because the negative effects are not desirable in a role model that should present the 'good guys'.
The way the subculture and the people in this group deal with the danger and threats to their lives has an impact on the policing. They feel the pressure everyday and know they can only do their work with the approval of the public, but at the same time the public represents a threat to them, because as Atherton (2010) presented the public and the media are fast to blame the police for anything that happened. This fear can lead to a hesitation that could cost the life of fellow police officers and innocent people. Even with the training the police is given it is hard to know how a police officer will react in a real situation. Because in training the police officer will know that at some point the situation will stop and they leave the training unharmed. In real life this will be different. They are trained to stand the pressure, but after a certain time, that is different from person to person, there will be a limit reached and the pressure will vent. Most often cases of police brutality will develop from such a 'venting'. For example Harry Stanley who was shot dead in 1999 by the police because the police officer thought the man was armed. They had to decide fast, because if the man is armed and ready to use that arm, then the life's of people around him are in danger. The police had to deal with the situation without knowing all the fact. They felt threatened and had to stand their ground to present a force that is here to keep order. The man was shot in self-defence. Later it was known the weapon was only a table leg.
Another good example for the influence of the subculture on policing comes from Germany. In 2010 there were protest against the railway project Stuttgart 21. The police used water cannons, tear gas and pepper spray against the protesters. The police followed orders without caution and caring for the largely peaceful protesters they started to use the mentioned items to clear the area. In the process a man was hurt and lost a eye from the water cannon the police used against the peaceful protesters. There was no threat or danger from the man or the people around that man. It can be argued that the submissive nature of the lower ranks and their 'us against them' mentality could have influenced this outcome. Instead of using a method less dangerous to the people the police was more interested in the safety of other police officers.
Also the known racism in the police subculture seems to show up in the way the officers deliver policing. Chan in 2011 looked into the racial profiling and the police subculture and the Stephen Laurence Inquiry looked into racism in the police in general. It can be argued that the racism that is present in the policing develops from the existing subculture, but with the higher ranks and the media, who are stereotyping criminals and terrorist it is questionable if the racism really comes from the subculture. And even if it is wrong it provides the majority with a sense of being safe. It is wrong but at the same time it has a good side-effect. Also Chan (2011) concluded that the racism and the way to change racism in police work is a combination of both. Internal and external factors. And with more minorities joining the police forces the racism will be pushed back. It will be hard just like the time when women where openly welcomed in the ranks of the police. The machismo was and is still strong within the police, but it changed over time. The subculture is now influenced by more women.

In the end the police and the subculture(s) within the police are part of their history and their way to handle things in their area. The subculture will change, through the people that join the police forces and new reforms. But not only will the subculture change, the culture around it will change too. At times it will be hard to change and it will take time. It has always been that way. It is hard to change culture and it is hard to change the people. And yes, the subculture does influence the policing. But not everything is influenced by the subculture alone. And there are positive and negative influences on policing. But it is the combination of media, social environment, the people around the police and the personality of the officers that will create the policing they deliver. And it is just like the definition and the ideas on police subculture, there are too many opinions on what can be considered proper policing and proper behaviour of a role model like the police. All the discussion on the topic bury the human that is the police officer. For now they need this subculture to deal with the everyday police work and gruesome events they are confronted with. Maybe in the future the culture will change to a point where it is different and the subculture is no longer needed to release the pressure. That could be the day the subculture will no longer have any impact on the policing. Not positive or negative.

!As always. Errors in spelling etc. are possible as English is not my native language.!

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