The culture of the police service (Continued) 8 Bullying in the police service In the HMIC (2000a: 9.2) equal opportunities thematic report 'Developing Diversity in the Police Service' it was acknowledged that the number of formal complaints was low. However, HMIC inspection reports of individual constabularies do suggest that there are problem areas, for example: "... members are losing confidence in the procedures to deal with bullying and harassment (most frequently - pressurising to get work done)." (HMIC, 2000c: 4.40) "... an examination of grievances during 1999/2000 showed that of the 24 made, 50% related to bullying in the workplace." (HMIC, 2001b: 6.20) "A concern that was brought to the attention of Her Majesty's Inspector on a number of occasions and by a range of staff related to the presence of a bullying culture in some parts of the organisation." (HMIC, 2001c: 3.10) "... the focus of most grievances is bullying and harassment rather than policy issues." (HMIC, 2003b: 111) "Her Majesty's Inspector was disappointed to hear evidence from individuals within the Force that there may be instances of an unacceptable tolerance of bullying, racist or sexist behaviour." (HMIC, 2003c: 2.39) In common with other types of organisation defensive of their public relations position (Rayner & Cooper, 1997), many constabularies are unwilling or unable to divulge figures relating to internal complaints. Although the 5.97 yearly average for bullying complaints per constabulary obtained in the survey described in the previous section (Section 7) does not include cases dealt with informally, it is smaller than the empirical findings of external researchers would suggest. Research by Cooper & Ingram (2004) might provide an explanation for the difference in a reluctance to complain about such behaviour. In their exit study of police officers they noted that whereas only eight per cent of respondents spontaneously said that bullying and/or discrimination was an important factor in their decision to leave, when asked directly this figure increased to nearly one-third (31%). It is also possible that the low reporting of bullying could reflect the findings of the Cultural Audit Report published on the Internet by South Yorkshire Police (2002), which reported that subtle forms of harassment were not recognised as such by respondents (4.5.5: 8). They also reported uncertainty about the support for people reporting inappropriate behaviour (4.5.5: 9) and uncertainty about dealing with bullying and harassment in the workplace. This was accompanied by a negative counter-perception of anti-bullying procedures with some respondents expressing the opinion that the service had become too politically correct and accusations by some male officers of the organisation, "wrapping people in cotton wool" (4.5.6). In a survey of bullying in the workplace conducted by Hoel & Cooper (2000b), 12% of all the police service respondents claimed that they had been bullied in the previous six months. This figure increased to 29% when the period was extended to the previous five years, with 45% of respondents reporting that they had witnessed bullying in the same time frame. These figures place the police service in the top five occupations at risk of bullying. In the same year Rayner carried out a survey on behalf of UNISON of police support staff members. Results revealed 21% of respondents who reported that they were currently being bullied. This, coupled with the fact that 39% of all respondents attributed bullying to the Police Service culture, prompted UNISON to state: "In UNISON's view the results show that bullying has become part of the management culture of many police forces, and it is often being allowed to happen and carry on unchecked. The survey clearly demonstrates that bullies can get away with it and that this goes unchecked because workers are scared to report it" (Rayner, 2000:5) Rayner (2000) clearly locates the problem of bullying in the organisational culture of the police service and in the lack of confidence in the formal complaints procedure. An alternative explanation is not that officers are scared to report bullying but that there is an incongruity between the constructs of masculinity and bullying, such that it is difficult for officers to see themselves in the role of victim. In their exposition on the failure of victimology to address issues of victim status and masculinity Newburn & Stanko (1994) posit that the label of victim is built on the premise that it applies to the relatively powerless, and that victims are characterised as helpless and vulnerable. The stereotypical hegemonic masculinity, as reflected in the ideology of the informal police culture portraying men as powerful, controlling and invulnerable could explain officers' unwillingness to talk about or admit 'weakness', as would be inferred in complaints about bullying. 9 Conclusion This paper reported on the culture of the police service. The core elements were described together with an explanation as to how these might lead to harassing or bullying behaviour. However, even with the limited amount of research reported here for illustrative purposes, it is apparent that the police service is not a monolithic organisation with a single perspective. Sub-cultural influences have been located across the range of vertical (hierarchical) groupings such as management structures, and horizontal (equal power) groupings such as departments and community contexts. This raises the possibility that there will be differences in the degree to which they reflect the core elements of the culture of the police service generically. One way of looking anew at this issue is to examine the way in which the occupational culture influences the social construction of the meanings associated with b acceptable behaviour formed through collective experience and social interaction. By looking at the strength of associations between the social representations and personal perception of bullying it should also be possible to identify any dominant group influences. Copyright Dr. K.M.McIvor 2005

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