The concept of a police culture came into
1 Research & Evaluation
Is There a Police Culture?
Tim Prenzler
School of Justice Administration
Griffith University
Recent commissions of inquiry and the growth of
police studies in Australia have popuhrised the idea
of a ‘police culture’. A stereotyped image has
developed of police sexism, racism, secrecy, anti-
intellectualism, brutality, corruption, biased law
enforcement and politicisation. The alleged ‘police
culture’ is at odds with every fundamental ethical
principle of public service. In its simplified
version the concept is becoming discredited as
excessively unitary and deterministic. Nonetheless,
the term has utility when seen in the context of the
general idea of occupational cultures and of specific
elements of an organisation’s traditions and task
environment which generate counter-productive and
unethical practices. The concept also assists in
focusing on managing organisational change to
facilitate integrity and effective service provision.
Thanks to Arch Harrison, former superintendent in the
Queensland Police and now lecturer in police studies,
for comments on drafts of this article.
Australian Journol of Public Adrnirhtralian 0 56(4): 47-56, December, 1997
prominence with the development of policing as a
subject of academic study. Skolnick’s [ 19661
(1975) landmark observational study on the police
officer’s ‘working personality’ distilled earlier work
on the topic and initiated three decades of more
intensive sociological and psychological research
on policing. Academic interest was stimulated by
exposes of police brutality and corruption during
the social unrest of the 1960s and 1970s.
Underpinning this attention to police practices was
an increasing civil libertarian concern with
infringements of citizens’ rights. Judicial and other
government inquiries into corruption and police
administration have taken up the concept as a
major explanatory factor (Brown 1992). The
Fitzgerald (1989) Inquiry in Queensland has been
attributed with introducing the concept into
common language in Australia (James and Warren
1995). In much the same terms as Fitzgerald, the
report of the Royal Commission into the New
South Wales Police Service stated that:
the significance of the code of silence, which is
an incontrovertible and universal product of
police culture, cannot be understated. The code
of silence and other negative aspects of police
culture need to be vigorously addressed as part
of the reform process (Wood 1997: 33).
No textbook or study on policing is now complete
without attention to police culture and the term has
become almost axiomatic in critiques of police
behaviour. At the same time, the idea has been a
source of controversy involving a basic division
between advocates of the uniqueness of police
culture and advocates of cultural continuity with
other occupations (Gaines et al. 1994).
Propositions
Terminology regarding police culture is variable
and has included ‘police subculture’ (Radelet and
Carter 1994), ‘cop culture’ (Reiner 1992), the
‘police code’ (Fitzgerald 1989) and the ‘working
personality’ of the police (Skolnick 1975). The
central thesis in this cluster of terms is that most
police forces, especially in liberal democracies, are
characterised by a wide gap between formal rules
and informal practice. Formal dimensions - the
‘politically correct’ language of the organisation -
include mission statements, regulations and
prescribed procedures. The informal culture
48
consists of those ‘values, norms, perspectives and
craft rules’ which are the real governing principles
of police work (Reiner 1992: 109). While ‘police
culture’ is frequently applied to operational police,
it is usually said to be tolerated, even tacitly
encouraged, by those officers reaching managerial
ranks (Fitzgerald 1989). Judicial and scholarly uses
of the term have been almost universally
pejorative.
Elements of the alleged culture have been
categorised in different ways by different scholars.
This section presents a four-part version.
1. Disregard and disdain for rules and
procedures is a key characteristic of the informal
code of policing, especially in the treatment of
suspects (Reiner 1992: 107). Breaches of due
process are defended by police as necessary to do
the job. The critics allege that the goal of ‘doing
the job’ is frequently a mask for either self-interest
or organisational interest. Self-interest covers
things such as promotion as a result of high
conviction rates by an individual officer or an easier
workload through cutting red tape. Organisational
interests include high clear-up rates, reduced losses
of court cases, or a good public image in terms of
being seen to keep the criminals off the streets.
Disregard for rules includes tolerance of corruption,
and use of police time and equipment for personal
benefit. Misuse of position is justified as
compensation for the difficulties of the job and lack
of appreciation (Skolnick 1975).
2. Disregard for due process is seen as an
outcome of a dominant crime control model of
policing (Reiner 1992: 107). This approach relies
on rapid mobile response and advanced technical
equipment with a focus on apprehending offenders.
Despite the weight of evidence against the
effectiveness of this model for reducing crime
(Kelling et al. 1983; Akers 1994), police cling to
it as a justification for the traditions of the
organisation. Alternative approaches to crime
involving variants of community policing - such
as problem-oriented policing (Goldstein 1990),
preventive justice (Appier 1992) or situational
crime prevention (Clarke 1992) - although always
present to varying degrees in police practice, are
repudiated as soft on crime, academic or not
practical. Inevitably, the crime control model
produces a bias away from the more difficult and
socially sensitive prosecution of ruling cladwhite
collar crime to the easier targets of lower class
Prenzler
street crime. It produces a macho, action-oriented,
culture and a paramilitary command-style
management that stifles consultation, evaluation
and creative problem solving.
3. Cynicism, isolation and intolerance are also
characteristics central to the police culture thesis.
Police are said to possess a paradoxical mixture of
a powerful sense of mission to protect the public
from criminals, and an intense cynicism and
suspicion about the criminality, hostility or
unreliability of the public (Skolnick and Fyfe
1993). Added to this is a sense of betrayal by
management and the need to look after ‘number
one’ in avoiding responsibility or difficult tasks.
Politically, cynicism translates into right-wing,
often extreme right-wing, views and intolerance of
racial and sexual minorities and non-conventional
lifestyles (Reiner 1992). This creates a differential
enforcement of the law against minorities and those
who defy police authority (Chan 1997). Criticism
from civil libertarians, social workers, academics
and politicians exacerbates the siege mentality.
4. An offshoot of isolation and cynicism is
solidarity. This takes the form of mutual
reinforcements of behaviour, and closing ranks to
cover misconduct when coming under scrutiny
from external agencies or from internal
investigators. The recent Australian Law Reform
Commission report on complaints against the
Australian Federal Police and the National Crime
Authority asserted that:
the record of internal units is generally
inadequate in terms of the effective conduct of
investigations and there are excessive delays. A
siege like mentality of police officers and their
own culture means that there are strong risks
that they will not be able to conduct thorough
and fair investigations (ALRC 1995: 149).
Related aspects of solidarity include persecution
of whistleblowers, and recruitment which
discriminated against women and ethnic minorities
(Fitzgerald 1989; Reiner 1992).
Explanations
The police role or task environment is the primary
explanation given for the development of the police
culture (Sherman 1983; Skolnick and Fyfe 1993).
One of the myths of the culture is the extreme
dangerousness of police work. In fact, numerous
other occupations have higher death and injury
Is There a Police Culture?
rates, and the main health risk to police is from a
sedentary lifestyle (Swanton 1987). Nonetheless,
policing is considered a high-stress occupation
because it entails dealing with people in situations
of conflict and stress, and because of the threat of
violence:
the risk lies in the unpredictable outcome of
encounters with other people ... The police
officer faces, behind every corner he turns or
door-bell he rings, some danger, if not of
firearms at least of fists (Reiner 1992: 110).
Conflict and threat generate solidarity and the siege
mentality ascribed to the police. The macho
culture and lack of adequate human resource
management drive officers to find stress release in
mateship and hard drinking (Finnane 1994).
Aside from danger and stress, authority and
discretion are two crucial elements of the police
work environment. Police powers are more limited
than the television image suggests. For example,
police in Australia cannot require a person’s name
and address, cannot detain or search people, or enter
and search premises except in relation to specific
crimes or with judicial authorisation. In the last
few decades police also have been subject to greater
external oversight. Nonetheless, public deference
to police, and the fact that police are employed,
trained and equipped to enforce the law, gives them
substantial power over citizens. Increased
oversight cannot reduce significantly officers’
discretion in the zeal with which evidence is sought
or in the prioritising of work (Pollock 1994). This
creates the potential for bias, which means that
unofficial agendas can predominate about which
categories of people receive police attention -
whether as offenders or as victims of crime.
Criteria for measuring organisational success
are part of the task environment, and in the crime
control model success is usually gauged by
conviction and clear-up rates (Skolnick 1975). In
that regard, there is public support for the idea that
police need to break the law to enforce the law
(CJC 1995a) and public attitudes toward offenders
tend to be punitive (Kissane 1993).
In the police culture thesis, the effect of the
task environment on police is reinforced through
occupational socialisation. Traditional recruitment,
training and promotion practices contributed to the
creation of homogeneity and insularity. For most
of their history, police agencies recruited a young
white Anglo-Celtic poorly educated male athletic
49
type from working class or lower middle class
backgrounds. Training was narrowly based in law,
procedures and physical skills with little regard to
psychology, social context, ethics or crime
prevention (Chappell and Wilson 1977; Finnane
1994). Once accepted, novices became subject to
intense peer pressure to conform to the norms of
the group (Fitzgerald 1989).
Evaluation
Diversity
Populist notions of a police culture now tend to be
regarded as exaggerating the homogeneity of police
forces. Rivalries between police can be intense,
motivated by competition for promotion, resource
conflicts and different specialisations. Reiner and
others acknowledge there is probably an overriding
tendency to close ranks when outside threats
intensify. Nonetheless, important divisions exist
between management and operational police,
between detectives and patrol officers, and between
these two groups and the more welfare-oriented
groups such as juvenile aid bureaux, child abuse
and sexual offences squads, and community
policing squads. In her observational study of the
NYPD, Reuss-Ianni (1993) identified an evolution
away from a unitary ethos into two antagonistic
cultures. The modern ‘management cop culture’
was characterised - at least ostensibly - by a
preoccupation with scientific rationality, due
process accountability and multicultural
sensitivity, but was bureaucratically remote. The
‘street cop culture’ valued mutuality, ethnic
homogeneity, discretionary policing and receipt of
gratuities, and rejected external accountability.
There is also evidence of significant variability
in styles of policing between different agencies.
Wilson (1968) described ‘watchman’, ‘service’ and
‘legalistic’ styles which varied in prominence in
the eight communities he studied, and which
developed as a result of complex and changing
interactions between communities, police admin-
istrators, and local and state governments.
Skolnick (1975) identified lower levels of danger as
a crucial factor in British police officers’ greater
compliance with the law vis-d-vis their American
counterparts - although this may have changed in
the 1980s when police in England took a more
politically repressive role. Within the one police
department, differences can occur as a result of local
50
conditions and the different approaches adopted by
regional or station management (Brown and Willis
1985; Wortley and Home1 1995).
Many writers on police misconduct qualify
their criticisms by noting there are numerous
honest and conscientious police who limit
conformity to the stereotype. Indeed, numerous
exposures of police corruption have been triggered
or assisted by police whistleblowers (Sherman
1983; Fitzgerald 1989; Wood 1997).
Unfortunately, the use of the generic term ‘police’
creates an unwarranted image of uniformity and
pervasive misconduct. James and Warren (1995)
argue that if police misconduct is treated as a
product of police culture then police propriety
might also be explained within the same process.
Police recognition of the concept has been strongly
qualified by reference to positive aspects -
primarily mutual support in danger and stress -
and the need to develop these aspects into a more
productive culture - rather than entirely
demolishing police culture (eg Bolen 1990).
Occupational Cultures
Numerous studies on police culture are flawed by
the absence of control groups (eg Niederhoffer
1967). Unique qualities are generalised from the
traits observed by researchers. Where comparisons
are made it is often difficult to make consistent and
adverse distinctions between police attitudes and
general community attitudes. The limited literature
comparing police and other occupations shows
mixed results. Comparisons between general
college students and police college students, for
example, have shown no differences in
punitiveness or authoritarianism - although there
was possibly a problem of self-selection in the
police samples (Smith et al. 1968; Guller 1972;
McCormick et al. 1985). On the question of anti-
intellectualism, one study showed that police and
college students shared similar views on the value
of education. Age and length of education were the
main determinants of favourable attitudes in both
groups (O’Neill et al. 1972).
Lefkowitz surveyed police attitudes and
compared the results with those from previous
surveys of other occupations (1974, 1977). Police
appeared to be average in terms of cynicism and
dogmatism, with a slight anti-Negro bias (1974:
225). Lefkowitz found that the younger police he
studied were more cynical and racially prejudiced
Prenzler
than older police, and attributed this to the younger
officers’ current experience in direct contact with
the public, mainly in ghetto areas.
Studies comparing police with social workers
have tended to show police as more punitive, more
likely to place moral responsibility on offenders,
and less committed to rehabilitation (Wilk and
McCarthy 1986; Saunders 1988; Kelley 1990;
Trute et al. 1992; see also Wheeler et al. 1968).
One study found police took child abuse less
seriously and had a more stereotyped view of
offenders. Controlling for gender indicated that the
male domination of policing and female
domination of social work bore significantly on
these differences, but professional role remained a
probable influential factor (Trute et al. 1992: 366;
also Saunders 1988). A similar result was found in
Home’s (1994) study of police and social worker
attitudes to domestic violence. Home related her
findings to studies suggesting that social workers’
attitudes had changed in favour of a more
interventionist approach as a result of more
intensive training in this area. Trojanowicz’s
(1971) study of police and social workers found
police were not unusually defensive, although
younger officers rated as more aggressive. He also
found police preferred a more structured and
authoritarian work environment. This was
contradicted to some extent by Lefkowitz’s (1974)
finding that police were frustrated by a perceived
lack of autonomy and self-fulfilment in their work.
Overall, there are some indications from
comparative studies that police lack progressive or
scientific views on crime-related social problems
compared to other professionals working in the
same areas. For instance, in looking at the
interaction between police, probation officers and
judges in responding to delinquency, and while
noting the police tendency towards punitiveness,
Wheeler et al. (1968: 59) observed that ‘what
seems striking here is the degree to which the
police may be insulated within a police culture’.
However, police culture may be something not
confined to the blue-coated variety of police. A
study of ‘game wardens and city cops’ (Palmer
1980) found very similar attitudes between the two
groups regarding enforcing the law and real police
work, suggesting that a wider concept of a law
enforcement role may be applicable in accounting
for these similarities.
It should also be noted that the major
Is There a Police Culture? 51

professions of medicine and law have been for creating the police culture, ministerial and
repeatedly accused of practices characteristic of the parliamentary neglect of police personnel issues
alleged police culture - such as secrecy, protection allows the culture to perpetuate itself (Fitzgerald
of colleagues, resistance to outside scrutiny, and 1989). Because police work is a public sector
stereotyping of and discrimination against function, ultimate responsibility must lie with
troublesome clients (Pollock 1994; Radelet and government. Police independence from oversight
Carter 1994). Similarly, there is a growing was fostered in part by the idea of operational
recognition of unethical behaviour in most public independence serving as a buffer against
and private sector organisations (Grabosky 1989; politicisation. But this has also been a major
Baron and Greenberg 1990). Complaints made to source of protection of misconduct (Grabosky
new oversight bodies in Australia, such as the 1989; Finnane 1994). Politicians also role-model
Criminal Justice Commission in Queensland and behaviour. In Queensland, in the post-Fitzgerald
the Independent Commission Against Corruption period, government concessions to the law-and-
in New South Wales, show that problems of order alarm sounded by the opposition, weak
misconduct and corruption are not unique to freedom of information legislation, and abuse of
policing but can occur anywhere in public service expense accounts by politicians from all parties
departments. These cases are merely instances of have done little to lead from the top in pursuit of
the well-established principle in political science of goals of community policing, openness and
the power of the public service to subvert probity (Prenzler 1997).
government policy and public service guidelines.
From the point of view of conflict or interactionist Emphasising the Task Environment
criminology, adverse attention to the culture of Despite arguments for a lack of distinctiveness
policing is continuous with the traditional neglect about police values and behaviour, there is some
of upper class white collar crime over lower class evidence that police attitudes and practices are at
street crime. In this case, the para-professionals - times out of step with community values, and
the police ‘on the street’ are focused on in default there is certainly strong evidence that many police
of misconduct and lack of accountability among attitudes and practices are directly at odds with
more elite groups. departmentai goals and codes of conduct developed
through democratic processes (Sigler and Dees
Political Context 1988; Barker, 1991; Miller and Braswell 1992;
The simplified populist model of police culture Pollock 1994; Prenzler and Mackay 1995).
tends also to ignore the political context of Recruits frequently enter policing with a strong
policing. Policing should be seen as the creation attachment to official goals. That commitment is
of its political masters. Low recruitment standards, rapidly eroded as the officer becomes absorbed into
for example, have served to conveniently limit the organisation, and the erosion of values often
police budgets. Isolation has been begins during academy training (Niederhoffer 1969;
Ellis 1991).
the price to be paid for Peel, Rowan and The deterioration of police trainees’ values is
Mayne’s policy of elevating the British police well established, and it is logical to conclude that
as symbols of impersonal authority, and was to this is the effect of occupational socialisation.
an extent a direct product of recruitment policies Apparent socialisation may, however, be
aimed at severing officers from their local confounded by the task environment. Changes in
communities (Reiner 1992: 116). attitude may be a direct result of experience with
Police paramilitary organisation and conservatism crime, criminals or hostile groups, rather than from
have also served the state’s need for a force to experience with other police. There is evidence for
repress organised labour and dissent (Reiner 1992). the role of outgroup interaction in changing police
Similarly, it is arguably the politicisation of crime attitudes, although the nature of the interaction
- where opposition and government politicians between task environment and occupational
seek to capitalise on a law-and-order platform - socialisation has not yet been fully mapped out
which forces police to adopt a get tough approach. (Brown and Willis 1985; Skolnick and Fyfe 1993;
Even if politicians are not responsible directly Wortley and Home1 1995).
52 Prenzler

Regardless of ambiguity surrounding the interaction of the police with the public in
influence of different aspects of the policing situations of conflict and venality (Sherman 1983;
context, a primary element contributing to police Brown 1992) - situations riven by ‘desperately
deviation from due process is the rigours of the conflicting imperatives’ (Skolnick and Fyfe 1993:
adversarial system. Poorly trained police face 112). In comparing complaints against police and
defence lawyers skilled in legal technicalities and other public sector agencies, it is significant that in
the arts of persuasion. Gathering evidence in many Queensland approximately 75 per cent of
types of crime is often extremely difficult given the complaints made to the Criminal Justice
absence of witnesses, or the unwillingness or Commission concern police (CJC 1995b). In New
unreliability of witnesses. It is a common South Wales, the magnitude of the corruption
complaint of police that their hard work in problem resulted in a Wood Commission
capturing criminals is undone by light sentences. recommendation for a powerful oversight body
Given community support for this view, it is little exclusive to police - the Police Integrity
wonder police feel justified in taking the law into Commission (Prenzler et al. 1996).
their own hands (Skolnick 1975). The term police culture therefore has utility in
describing problems identified in police behaviour
Is There a Police Culture? (police subculture or traditional police culture are
There is sufficient evidence from research and probably more accurate terms). The role of culture
inquiries to conclude that police services have been in policing is part of the larger issue of causality of
characterised by many of the undesirable qualities social phenomena. Much of the writing on police
captured by the term police culture. Secrecy, culture is now seen as simplistic, with a tendency,
isolation, discrimination and abuse of powers have despite attention to the task environment, to slip
been common police characteristics in many into cultural determinism. Police culture -
countries (Wagner and Decker 1989). Nonetheless, informal codes and traditions - is too often
it would seem that an unjustifiable and misleading ‘treated synonymously as the cause and effect of
stereotype has been created out of the literature on police misbehaviour’ (James and Warren 1995: 3).
police culture. Police forces are probably not as However, whether alternative explanations
homogenous as has been assumed. Occupational emphasise situational aspects of the work
socialisation is not necessarily the major source of environment (Brown and Willis 1985; Wortley and
undesirable police practices, and police are probably Home1 1995) or stress individual factors in
not as unique from other occupations as has been compliance (Shearing and Ericson 1991; James and
contended. Warren 1995), the critiques leave some space for a
Commonalities between organisational generalisable police agency in cultural repro-
cultures, and differences between groups and duction. In particular, culture serves a rationalising
individuals in organisations, are recognised in and reinforcing function (Grabosky 1989). In the
organisational theory; but so too is the fact that political context, for example, police have been
organisations can develop distinctive characteristics actively involved in perpetuating the crime control
and that employees will adapt to the culture of their model by promoting it to politicians and the
workplace (Baron and Greenberg 1990; Hodgetts public, and mythologising physical conflict
1991). There are some core features of police (Reiner 1992). Senior police have also at times
agencies which are apparent across time and across been adept at manipulating the political
jurisdictions. Many of these characteristics are environment to obtain autonomy which then served
evident i n other public and private sector their self-interest (Sherman 1983).
organisations, but it is also apparent that some of Police hostility toward their client group is no
these elements have been particularly intense and doubt the product of social inequalities that
pervasive in policing. Skolnick and Fyfe maintain structure police and disadvantaged groups into
that the police code of silence, for example, ‘is an antagonistic roles (Reiner 1992). Nonetheless,
extreme version of a phenomenon that exists in all police are expected to behave professionally with
human groups’ (1993: 112; see also Gaines et al. moderation and with respect for civil liberties.
1994; Finnane 1994). This appears to be primarily While many critics have exaggerated the cultural
attributable to the more intense and direct autonomy of police, some scope must remain for
Is There a Police Culture? 53

police to take responsibility for the type of force Knapp NYCPD has been held up as a showcase of
they create. Here Reiner identifies an inescapable reform. Subsequent complacency and a changing
paradox: while police ‘may not be m o r e external environment - i n particular the
authoritarian than the general population, the proliferation of the illegal drug trade - allowed
“normal” degree of authoritarianism is disturbing in corruption to re-occur (Mollen 1994). It has been
an occupation which wields considerable power argued nonetheless that the continued presence of
over minorities’ (1992: 127). the anti-corruption infrastructure kept corruption at
significantly reduced levels in the 1980s and 1990s,
Policy Implications and allowed eventual identification and elimination
of corruption pockets (Henry 1994).
The key implication of the above analysis is that Law enforcement is the primary factor here.
changes are needed to the traditional police culture. Perceptions of the likelihood of punishment can be
But change will be particularly difficult given the relatively effective in controlling organisational
apparent impact of the task environment. The crime where staff risk status and income (Grabosky
environment can be changed to some extent (by 1989), and police appear to be in this category.
rescinding unenforceable laws for example) but Tightened regulations and enforcement change the
changing the confrontational nature of police work culture by removing some of the permissiveness
will be extremely difficult given that involvement that allows unacceptable elements of the culture to
with crime, criminals and social unrest is the develop (elements such as assaults, personal jobs
police role. Police therefore need to be made more or graft). Surveillance and enforcement break down
resistant to the influence of the task environment. the protective and nurturing solidarity of the
The discipline of organisational behaviour organisation by creating a functional divisiveness
shows that work cultures can be changed from low (Henry 1994: 167).
productivity and cynicism to high productivity and
commitment independently of changes to the Management and Education
external environment (Hodgetts 1991). However,
the history of police subversion of reform cautions Critics of legal-bureaucratic models of reform
against optimism about substantial and permanent identify several problems. Change may, to some
change (Henry 1994). Reform will be subject to a extent, be illusory. The presence of an
conflict between structural and cultural factors and a enforcement bureaucracy and the scapegoating of
time lag between changes to structures and changes some officers may only create an appearance of
to culture (Hodgetts 1991; Brown 1992). Policing discipline and drive misconduct underground. The
can be described as a ‘stability-oriented basic nature of police work remains one of
(homeostatic)’ culture particularly resistant to unsupervised encounters between operational police
change (Baron and Greenberg 1990: 299); and and citizens where the detection of misconduct is
resistance by the rank-and-file and management is extremely difficult (Elliston and Feldberg 1984).
likely to be compounded by the imposition of There is also some evidence that a disciplinary
reform from without - as is usually the case with regime may increase the police sense of
police following corruption scandals. persecution, further alienate the police from the
public, and inhibit police in effective discretionary
Laws and Procedures peace keeping (Bracey 1989; Sykes 1989).
Moreover, effective law enforcement requires zeal
The debate over effective reform tends to divide and competence on the part of the enforcers (Doig
between models of structural change and models of et al. 1984). Arguably, zeal and competency are
cultural change. The best-known example of aspects of culture.
internal structural reform is in the New York City Many police scholars hold to a softer line on
Police following the Knapp Commission of change, emphasising the necessity of sup-
Inquiry in the early 1970s. The Knapp reforms plementing enforcement strategies with a wider
focused on the extensive application of deterrence- range of measures grounded in personnel
based strategies including integrity testing, the use management. In this model, effective reform
of informants and a dedicated investigative internal depends less on fear than on the more desirable
affairs department (Knapp et al. 1972). The post- attributes of collegiality, role modelling and
54
personal attachment to corporate goals. This
approach is designed to win over staff through
established good practice in communication and
creation of job satisfaction (Baron and Greenberg
1990; Jans and Frazer-Jans 1991). A combination
of background law enforcement and foregrounded
positive reinforcement - ‘a good balance of pride
and fear’ (Sherman 1983: 375) - is most likely to
be successful to create a normative order congruent
with corporate goals (Hodgetts 1991: 105-7,438).
Cultural change is best achieved by eclectic means,
as is the case with corruption prevention and crime
reduction (Sherman 1983). The responsibility of
managers for employees’ behaviour can be
legislated (Doig er al. 1984), thus contributing to a
cycle of reinforcements in which corporate goals
include legitimate means for achieving corporate
goals (Grabosky 1989). In this context, a focus on
managing culture must include the process of
monitoring behaviour and adjustment of
behavioural modification strategies (Hodgetts
1991).
Commitment by management appears to be a
crucial ingredient i n change (Mar& 1990), but
equally so is communication between management
and staff because alienation between the two groups
can easily subvert reform. Hypocrisy in messages
is a major source of employee dissatisfaction and
cynicism (Baron and Greenberg 1990). Resistance
to reform can be mitigated by consultative and
supportive strategies which themselves model
many of the qualities sought in cultural change.
Studies of police policy implementation show
major deficiencies in communication (Hyams
1990; Carter and Barker 1991). Appropriate
behaviour needs to be developed through normal
learning processes of modelling and reinforcement,
because rational bias operates whereby lower level
decision-makers act on de fact0 cues from their
superiors about which decisions are favoured and
likely to be rewarded (Martin 1990: 92).
Recruitment and training have at times been
overestimated as sources of change. Nonetheless,
there is evidence that academy cumcula can make a
difference in liberalising recruits’ attitudes -
positive change can be
overwhelmed by subsequent experience (Brown and
willis 1985; Wortley and Hornel 1995).
in training therefore need to extend Well beyond the
academy and take up the principle of lifelong
education to maintain official values as core
Prenzler
elements of in-service training. Studies comparing
the attitudes of recruits and serving officers show
that police have been good at selecting trainees
who hold to the formal values of the organisation
(eg Ellis 1991). A primary task then is to
maintain that commitment by in-service measures.
Changing recruitment patterns from the 1980s
appear to be slowly breaking down the relative
homogeneity of the traditional police force (Bahn
1984; Henry 1994), and it appears that altered
selection criteria can have a differential effect
(Fitzgerald 1989; Sechrest and Burns 1992).
Female recruits tend to be less ethnocentric and
authoritarian than males, and recruits from ethnic
minorities tend to be less ethnocentric. Both
groups appear to be relatively less susceptible to
enculturation than their white male colleagues
(Wortley and Home1 1995). Higher education also
has a liberalising effect that is relatively resistant
to occupational socialisation and the task
environment (Carter er al. 1989).
COnClUSiOn
The uniqueness and uniformity of the police
working personality has been exaggerated in some
accounts. At the same time, there are identifiable
problems in police work which relate to the term
police culture. These problems may be more
marked in many police services than in other
organisations. It is certainly the case that change
is needed in the traditional police culture (as is
change in the culture of many occupations). In
policing, entrenched practices and peer pressure
mean that at least a generation of change may be
required before old-guard values are replaced. A
mix of structurally oriented and culturally oriented
innovations is needed to create reform while
maintaining morale. The development of
systematic enforcement procedures is needed,
alongside human resource strategies which generate
the highest possible ethical standards throughout
the organisation.
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