Police Culture in a Changing World
Bethan Loftus
Abstract
This title offers an ethnographical investigation of contemporary police culture based on fieldwork across a range of ranks and units in the UK police force. By drawing on over 600 hours of direct observation of operational policing in urban and rural areas and interviews with over 60 officers, the author assesses what impact three decades of social, economic, and political change have had on police culture. The book offers understandings of the policing of ethnicity, gender, and sexuality, and the ways in which reform initiatives are accommodated and resisted within the police force. The auth ... More
This title offers an ethnographical investigation of contemporary police culture based on fieldwork across a range of ranks and units in the UK police force. By drawing on over 600 hours of direct observation of operational policing in urban and rural areas and interviews with over 60 officers, the author assesses what impact three decades of social, economic, and political change have had on police culture. The book offers understandings of the policing of ethnicity, gender, and sexuality, and the ways in which reform initiatives are accommodated and resisted within the police force. The author also explores the attempts of one force to effect cultural change both to improve the working conditions of staff and to deliver a more effective and equitable service to all groups in society. Beginning with a review of the literature on police culture from 30 years ago, the author goes on to outline the new social, economic, and political field of contemporary British policing. Taking this as a starting point, the remaining chapters present the main findings of the empirical research in what is a comprehensive analysis of present-day policing culture.
Keywords:
police culture,
operational policing,
ethnicity,
gender,
sexuality,
police reform
Bibliographic Information
| Print publication date: 2009 |
Print ISBN-13: 9780199560905 |
| Published to Oxford Scholarship Online: March 2012 |
DOI:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199560905.001.0001 |
