Negotiating the Field: New Observations on the Making of Police Officers

Date01 August 2001
DOI10.1177/000486580103400202
Published date01 August 2001
Subject MatterArticle
114
Negotiating the Field: New Observations
on
the Making
of
Police Officers
Janet Chan
University
ofNew
South
Wales
ThiS paper draws on the findings
of
a longitudinal study of police
socialisation to refine and expand on the Bourdieuian framework
of police culture developed in Chan (1997). The
research
supports the
conclusion that the socialisation of police is a more complex andcontin-
gent
process.
and recruits far more active and reflective.than previously
assumed.
In addition, the paper shows that the socialisation process
has become more unpredictable as a result
of
the changing social
and political context of policing.It is argued that a deeper understanding
of
the socialisation process must take into account the interaction
between the occupational "habitus" and the
changing
"field" of policing.
The
Making
of
Police Officers
There
have
not
been
many
systematic studies
of
the
processes of police socialisa-
tion,
although
there
is a
substantial
literature
on
professional
or
organisational
socialisation
in
other
fields
(see,
for
example,
Ashforth,
Saks
&Lee, 1998;
Ashforth
&Saks, 1996; Adkins, 1995; Morrison, 1993; Jones, 1986; Van
Maanen
&
Schein,
1979).
Organisational
socialisation is
the
process by
which
aperson
learns
the
values, attitudes
and
acceptable behaviours so
that
he or she
can
partici-
pate
as a
member
of
the
organisation
(Van
Maanen,
1976, p. 67; Van
Maanen
&
Schein,
1979).
Through
socialisation,
new
members
acquire
various
types
of
cultural knowledge -assumptions, values, cognitions and behavioural norms
of
the
organisation
(Schein,
1985;
Sackmann,
1991).
In
policing,
the
various
dimensions
of
cultural knowledge
have
been
loosely labelled as "police culture"
(see
Chan,
1997 for an overview
and
critique).
This article is based on the research study "Police Culture and Professionalism" which was
jointly fundedby the Australian Research Council and the NewSouth Wales PoliceService
under the ARC Collaborative Research Grant scheme (see Chan, Doran and Devery 1999).
The author would like to thank Chris
Devery,
David Dixon, Sally Doran. Richard
Ericson,
Peter Manning, John Pratt. Peter Saunders and two anonymous reviewers for their valuable
comments. The paper first appeared asa keynote address at the Australian and New Zealand
Society of Criminology Conference in September 1999, but has been substantially rewritten.
The current version alsocontains resultsnot presented in the originalpaper.
Address for correspondence: Dr J. Chan. School of Social Science and
Policy,
University
of New South Wales, UNSW, Sydney NSW 2052, Australia.
E-mail:
J.Chan@unsw.edu.au
THE
AUSTRALIAN
AND NEW
ZEALAND
JOURNAL
OF
CRIMINOLOGY
VOWME 34NUMIEI' 22001
pp.1I4-133
NEGOTIATINGTHE
FIELD:
NEW
OBSERVATIONS
ON THE MAKING OF
POLICE
OFFICERS
"Socialisation tactics" (Van Maanen &Schein, 1979) adopted by organisations
can
be "institutionalised" or "individualised" (Jones, 1986). Socialisation of police
recruits are institutionalised in that they are typically
collective,
[annal,
sequential,
and fixed in duration at
the
academy stage, and
serial
(where experienced members
groom newcomers) at
the
field training stage, but it is likely to involve
"divestiture"
processes
which
strip away
certain
personal characteristics of
the
newcomer'.
Institutionalised socialisation tends to encourage conformity rather
than
innova-
tion
(Jones, 1986),
although
this depends
on
whether
innovation
is expected
of organisational members (Ashford &Saks, 1996).
New members go through various stages of socialisation (Van Maanen, 1976).
There
often is a phase of
anticipatory
socialisation
where people prepare themselves
prior to entry to an organisation by taking on values, attitudes, skills and knowl-
edge of
the
organisation.
This
is followed by an initial period of encounter with the
organisation, which
can
be a difficult phase if new members' expectations of their
job
and
the
organisation were unrealistic.
The
experience of the newcomer at this
phase
is
mediated
by
environmental,
organisational,
relevant
group,
task
and
individual factors (Van Maanen, 1976). Finally, continued membership in the
organisation demands some form of
metamorphosis
on the part of
the
newcomer.
The
extent of individual change is "situationally determined and dependent upon
both
organizational and individual characteristics" (Van Maanen, 1976, p. 115).
The
first in-depth study of the socialisation of police recruits was conducted
in
the
early 1970s in an urban police department in the US (Van Maanen, 1973;
1974; 1975).
The
research found
that
recruits joined
the
police because they
wanted
acareer
which
they felt was important and in which they could make
a difference. There was therefore a high degree of anticipatory socialisation prior
to entry. However, recruits received a fair amount of "reality shock" (Hughes, 1958)
in their initial encounter with the police organisation. At the police academy, they
were subject to harsh and strict discipline,
the
only relief being
the
"war stories"
told by their instructors, which they absorbed with great relish.
Once
they started
working in
the
field
and
the
routine and frustrating
nature
of
their
job sank
in, recruits yearned for occasions where they could perform "real" police work -
the
"hot
call" and
the
"good pinch" which were few and far between. They soon
grew
disenchanted
with
the
complaining, ungrateful public
and
the
punitive
and
equally ungrateful police bureaucracy.
They
learned that in order to survive
in
the
department, they had to "lie low, hang loose, and [not) expect too much"
(Van Maanen, 1973, p. 415). Most of all, they learned
to
value the solidarity and
support offered by their peers and the simple rule that "to be protected from [their]
mistakes, [they] must protect others" (Van Maanen, 1973, p. 413). Survey data
show
that
recruits' motivational attitudes
and
organisational commitment both
declined significantly across time (Van Maanen, 1975).
The
adjustment of
the
recruit was "one which follows
the
line of least resistance" (Van Maanen, 1973,
p. 415).
The
research provides apredominantly negative and pessimistic view
of
police
culture
-police
culture
is a
product
of
the
police role in society,
and
because of this,
the
prospects for changing police culture are
not
good: nothing
short of "a structural redefinition of the police task" and a strengtheningof external
control of police was going to make a difference (Van Maanen, 1973, p. 416).
THEAUSTRALIAN
AND
NEW ZEALAND JOURNAL OF CRIMINOLOGY
115

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