Changing the perception of police culture: recognising masculinity diversity and difference in a “dirty hands” vocation
| Pages | 54-57 |
| Published date | 12 February 2018 |
| Date | 12 February 2018 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JFP-06-2017-0020 |
| Author | Michael Kennedy,Philip Birch |
| Subject Matter | Health & social care,Criminology & forensic psychology,Forensic practice,Sociology,Sociology of crime & law,Law enforcement/correctional,Public policy & environmental management,Policing,Criminal justice |
Changing the perception of police culture:
recognising masculinity diversity and
difference in a “dirty hands”vocation
Michael Kennedy and Philip Birch
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to problematise the application of hegemonic masculinity to police
practice and culture.
Design/methodology/approach –This paper offers a viewpoint and is a discussion paper critiquing the
application of hegemonic masculinity to police officers, their practice and culture.
Findings –The paper suggests that a broader conceptualisation of masculinity, offered by scholars such as
Demetriou (2001), is required when considering policing and its culture, in order to more accurately reflect the
activity and those involved in it.
Research limitations/implications –Writings concerning police practice and culture, both in the media
and academic discourse, are questionable due to the application of hegemonic masculinity. The application
of hegemonic masculinity can create a biased perception of policing and police officers.
Practical implications –The paper helps to engender a more accurate and balanced examination of the
police, their culture and practice when writing about policing institutions and encourage social institutions
such as academia to address bias in their examination of policing institutions and police officers.
Originality/value –There has been limited consideration in regards to multiple masculinities, police practice
and culture.
Keywords Dirty hands vocation, Hegemonic masculinity, Multiple masculinities, Police culture,
Police masculinity, Police practice
Paper type Viewpoint
Understanding police work: an introduction
Carl Klockars (1979) described police work as a “dirty hands”vocation in order to convey the
moral dilemma poli ce officers face in the execution of t heir work. Klocka rs went on to explain
that at the very core of police culture i s the belief that the police should get their hands dirt y as
quickly as possible every day. Recent terrorist attacks such as those seen in Melbourne,
Manchester, London and France during 2017 as well as other serious incidents, for example,
the 2017 Las Vegas mass shooting, reflect the “dirty hands”analogy and its contemporaneous
application to twe nty-first centur y policing. Other sc holars have consid ered police work in a
similar way to that of Klockars, for example, Van Mannen (1978) simply termed his analysis of
the policing profe ssion and those inv olved as “the asshole”, while Dick Hobbs (1988)
referred to police work as “doing the business”. The identity of the police and th eir work takes
on many guises and is understood in various ways, however the conceptualisation of police
work as a “dirty hands”vocation, “doing the business”and the police officer as “the asshole”,
has resulted in the ac tivity of policing and those involve d in the activity commonly construc ted
and understood through a lens of hegemonic masculinity. As a result of this, police officers,
and the profession more broadly, are typically understood as aggressive, corrupt and
deviant with many ex planations of poli ce culture being red uced to a hegemonic no tion of
police masculinit y.
Received 9 June 2017
Revised 22 July 2017
6 October 2017
18 October 2017
Accepted 18 October 2017
Michael Kennedy is a Senior
Lecturer at the University of
Western Sydney,
Sydney, Australia.
Philip Birch is a Senior Lecturer
in Criminology at the
Centre for Law and Justice,
Charles Sturt University,
Port Macquarie, Australia.
PAG E 54
j
JOURNAL OF FORENSIC PRACTICE
j
VOL. 20 NO. 1 2018, pp. 54-57, © Emerald Publishing Limited, ISSN 2050-8794 DOI 10.1108/JFP-06-2017-0020
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