An ethnography of gendered policing

It has been suggested that male police officers are the purveyors of a unique form of occupational masculinity. Publicised cases of sexual harassment and discrimination. which have come to light in the past few years, tend to support this assumption. Substantial out of court settlements seem to suggest that despite numerous attempts to reform what has been described as police 'canteen culture', a solution appears elusive. In this thesis therefore. evidence will be presented from fieldwork with two northern police forces to explore this supposedly masculinist culture. Various ways of explaining the interrelationships between men, power and identities will be analysed by theorising about 'certain aspects of policework which lend themselves to the maintenance of masculinities. Throughout this discussion the way occupational cultures, within male dominated environments, are bel ieved to perpetuate and reinforce certain ways of 'being a man' , will be considered. In the course of the analysis, status, sexuality, competence and heroism will be used to look at the way masculinist ways of working may have informed our ideas about the police

Police ethics and integrity: Keeping the ‘blue code’ of silence

This paper examines attitudes towards police ethics and integrity using the responses of police officers and support staff to some ethical dilemmas via an online questionnaire. The aim of the study was to explore potential connections between respondents’ beliefs about the seriousness or type of misdemeanour and their likelihood of reporting the behaviour. Using a series of scenarios, we explore professional ethics and integrity by analysing the evidence from our survey of around 1,500 police officers, police community support officers (PCSOs) and police support staff. Throughout, we aim to show which of the scenarios were considered the most ‘serious’, which are more likely to be reported, and offer some suggestions as to why the ‘blue code’ is significant. The findings suggest the persistence of a reluctance to report some misdemeanours; of the 10 scenarios created for the survey, there was a great deal of certainty around the reporting theft of cash, but respondents were less likely to report a colleague keeping a ‘found’ watch. Accessing the Police National Computer without due authority was seen as relatively ‘serious’ and covering up for a drink-driving colleague and use of excessive force were both likely to be reported. We discovered ambiguities in responses around sexual touching of a colleague in an office setting, but a lower level of concern regarding an officer who forms a romantic relationship with a victim of crime who he met in a professional setting. Respondents expressed distrust in the force’s anonymous messenger system, set up for reporting a colleague’s behaviour without revealing their own identity and said they could treat a whistle-blower with respect or caution, depending on the circumstances of the individual case

Putting their Bodies on the Line: Police Culture and Gendered Physicality

This paper looks at the way police officers talk about their bodies and reveals their beliefs about their colleagues’ abilities based on size, strength, and gender. It attempts to bring the study of ‘the body’ into the arena of police culture. Assumptions around front line policing being constantly fraught with danger, and requiring a strong, fit, and capable body are analysed by drawing upon data from an extensive period of ethnographic fieldwork. The officers’ highly sexualized and gendered notions of the body are discussed throughout the paper in terms of police culture. Their beliefs about force and strength—actual or imagined—and the ways in which the appearance of the body is important are analysed in terms of gendered policing. The way this is influenced by beliefs about bodies and occupational culture in policing more generally is examined in the light of certain tasks and activities

‘I’m a red-blooded male’: Understanding men’s experiences of domestic abuse through a feminist lens

The ways in which gendered expectations of women are used to maintain power and control by male perpetrators of domestic abuse are now well understood. It is also increasingly recognised that men can be victims of domestic abuse. This has led to calls to de-gender theories of violence and abuse, and arguments that the feminist theories which underpin many interventions are outdated. We draw on the experiences of 344 men using a helpline for male victim–survivors of domestic abuse to show that patriarchal constructions of relationships, femininity and masculinity, which underpin women’s experiences of domestic abuse by men are also central to understanding men’s experiences of domestic abuse by women. We propose that men’s victimisation by women perpetrators is not incompatible with feminist understandings of domestic abuse. Rather, that the influence of patriarchal norms in men’s victimisation accentuates the importance of gender in understanding and responding to domestic abuse

Domestic violence perpetrator programmes : an historical overview. Briefing note 2

Since the 1970s, the feminist movement has campaigned to bring the issue of domestic violence to the social agenda. Yet, all too often, the men who perpetrate violence and abuse against their partners have remained absent, and left to continue their abusive regime. The need to address this absence was the basis upon which domestic violence perpetrator programmes (DVPPs) emerged

Responding to Child and Adolescent to Parent Violence and Abuse from a Distance: Remote Delivery of Interventions during Covid-19

Working with families living with child and adolescent-to-parent violence raises a number of challenges which were compounded during the Covid-19 pandemic. In this article, UK umbrella organisation ‘Respect’ is used as a case study to explore how 10 practitioners navigated social, emotional, and safeguarding concerns that occurred when transitioning to remote working. Engagement with children and young people proved difficult, especially for those with special education needs and/or disabilities. However, parental engagement with services increased. Practitioners were quick to adapt to the changing landscape of remote working; continually adapting their practice to otherwise unforeseen safeguarding and/or practical challenges

Rape and human rights : a feminist perspective

EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Police ethics and integrity: Can a new code overturn the blue code?

This paper analyses police officer perspectives on the seriousness of potential misconduct or unethical behaviour, and the factors that might shape whether they would report their colleagues' misdemeanours. It compares responses from police officers in UK three forces, looking at potentially corrupt behaviours described in a series of scenarios. The discussion includes why some types of misdemeanour seem more likely to be reported and the potential effects of a newly introduced formal Code of Ethics. In terms of differences between ranks and roles, and different responses from different services, the study suggests that the way police culture operates is significant and needs to be more widely addressed. The study used scenario based questionnaires to elicit views about the seriousness of certain police behaviours and to ask whether officers would report colleagues' misdemeanours. It develops a previous survey by one of the authors which conducted a similar survey published in 2005. Using the same questionnaire the new study examined a larger and more diverse sample of serving officers (n=520). This new study compares responses from police officers in UK three forces, geographically distributed across the country and have differing characteristics in terms of size, rurality, population density and policing priorities

Democracy experts are divided on Lord Stevens’ proposals to reform police accountability

Last week the report of the Independent Police Commission, led by the former Metropolitan Police Commissioner John Stevens and commissioned by the Labour Party, was published. Its recommendations included the abolition of the post of Police and Crime Commissioner – introduced in 2012 to establish a new form of democratic oversight of the police – and the replacement of the Independent Police Complaints Commission. In this post we ask experts in democracy and police accountability to respond to the proposals and consider the implications of further reform