‘Doing a Maslow’: Humanistic Education and Diversity in Police Training
| Date | 01 December 2006 |
| DOI | 10.1350/pojo.2006.79.4.331 |
| Author | Richard Heslop |
| Published date | 01 December 2006 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
RICHARD HESLOP
Sergeant, West Yorkshire Police and Doctoral Student,
University of Leeds
‘DOING A MASLOW’: HUMANISTIC
EDUCATION AND DIVERSITY IN
POLICE TRAINING*
This article shows how training for police trainers in Britain
has for many years been underpinned by a specific and
prescriptive set of adult learning theories. These theories are
broadly based on the principles of humanistic education and
psychology. Whilst humanism remains an influential tradition
within training and education, it has been roundly criticised for
its latent individualism and lack of attention to diversity. The
article posits a contradiction in a training programme between
its aims to ‘promote diversity’ and its promotion of learning
theories which are questionable from a diversity perspective.
Introduction
The Police Service in England and Wales (CRE, 2005) is merely
the latest in a plethora of reports which seek to address real
concerns for diversity in British policing (HMIC 1993, 1996,
1997, 1999, 2002; Macpherson 1999; PRC 2000; ACPO 2000;
Morris 2004). These reports raise many important questions,
such as: does anyone in the police service ever read them?
Considering the frequency with which the themes of sexism,
racism and managerial incompetence reappear, it must seem as if
they do not.
This article is inspired by a different theme to emerge from a
review of this literature. In seeking to address diversity issues, it
is difficult to overstate the degree of emphasis placed on the role
of training. From the Scarman Report 1981 to the CRE Report
2005, virtually every response by the British police service to
allegations of unfair treatment in all its forms has included, in
some measure, the issue of training. As the preamble to Diversity
Matters (HMIC, 2002) makes clear, ‘training is key in equipping
staff with the skills necessary to handle effectively both the
external and internal aspects of diversity’ (11). Indeed, this
report focused specifically on training and examined a wide
range of areas such as policy, curriculum and delivery.
However, in spite of all this work an important area of police
training methodology remains largely unexplored. None of the
The Police Journal, Volume 79 (2006) 331
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