Résumé

L’usage des concepts de Pierre Bourdieu dans la compréhension de la culture policière

Dans cet article,  il est tenté de montrer en quoi la théorie de la pratique de Bourdieu peut être utilisée pour comprendre la culture organisationnelle et les processus de socialisation dans une institution particulière, en l’occurrence la police, ceci à partir d’une étude longitudinale entreprise sur des policiers recrutés en Australie. Le recours aux concepts de champ, de capital et d’habitus offre effectivement de nouvelles voies pour analyser la culture professionnelle et les processus de socialisation des officiers de police australiens et promouvoir des comportements novateurs rompant avec les automatismes auxquels sont exposés les agents de telles organisations. L’objectif est bien ainsi de confirmer l’utilité de ces schémas d’analyse, en même temps que d’éprouver les potentialités de la théorie de Bourdieu pour travailler, dans une perspective plus large, la question du changement social.

Capital (culturel, symbolique) – Champ – Culture de la police – Habitus – Pierre Bourdieu – Socialisation – Théorie de la pratique.

Summary

This paper describes how Bourdieu’s theory of practice can be used for understanding organizational culture and socialization. In particular, Bourdieu’s concepts of field, capital, and habitus have provided new ways of interpreting the occupational culture and socialisation process of police officers. The paper draws on empirical data from a longitudinal study of police recruits in Australia in order to illustrate the utility of this framework and to discuss the ways in which Bourdieu’s theory might be extended to understand social change.

Bourdieu’s theory of practice – Capital (cultural, symbolic) – Field – Habitus – Police culture – Socialization.

I. Police Culture and Socialisation

Traditionally, socialisation is conceived as the process through which a novice learns the skills, knowledge and values necessary to become a competent member of an organisation or occupation. In policing, this involves not only learning the laws, procedures and techniques of law enforcement and order maintenance, but also acquiring a range of organisational skills, attitudes and assumptions that are compatible with other members of the occupation. Successful socialisation often involves a personal metamorphosis – and not always a positive one. Research studies have consistently shown that while most recruits join the police with high expectations and lofty ideals, by the time they graduate as police constables, many have become disillusioned and cynical about police work and the police organisation, although they remain firmly committed to their vocation and solidarity with their work mates. Why does this happen ? Central to previous assumptions about police socialisation is the notion of police culture – a system of shared values and understandings which is passed on from one generation of police to the next. The conventional wisdom is that as recruits become integrated into the operational (« street cop ») culture, they adopt conservative, cynical attitudes as well as deviant practices. Police culture is therefore seen as a breeding ground for unprofessional practices, as evidenced by various high-profile inquiries of police corruption in Australia and elsewhere [1].

This paper describes how Bourdieu’s theory of practice can be used for understanding police culture and socialisation. It draws on empirical data from a longitudinal study of police recruits in Australia [2] which questions the fundamental framework within which police socialisation is understood. By analysing the experience of a cohort of 150 police recruits in an Australian State over a two-year period, the study shows that their developmental paths can be much more varied and much less determined than the conventional wisdom would allow. More important, by relating the cohort’s experience to contemporary changes in the organisational and political conditions of policing, the study demonstrates that police culture is much less homogeneous and much more vulnerable to change than previously assumed. More generally, the case study provides an understanding of the socialisation process when organisational cultures are in transition.

The paper is organised as follows. The next section II sets out a critique of the traditional conception of police culture and summarises how Bourdieu’s theory of practice can be useful for re-thinking culture. Section III describes the methodology and findings of the Australian case study. The last section concludes by discussing the utility of Bourdieu’s framework for understanding cultures and socialisation processes.

II. Using Bourdieu’s Framework

In a study of police reform in Australia [3], I raised various criticisms of the concept of police culture as conventionally understood. My concern was that traditional concepts of police culture failed to account for variations in culture within and between police forces ; treated police actors as passive recipients of the culture ; isolated cultural practice from the structural conditions of policing ; and failed to provide a theory of cultural change [4]. In a subsequent study [5], I argued that similar considerations ought to apply to the theorising of police socialisation : a useful theory of socialisation should be able to account for variations in the processes and outcomes of socialisation ; recognise the active part played by recruits ; situate the socialisation process within the socio-political conditions of policing ; as well as reflect the impact of any cultural change.

Yet most models of socialisation found in the literature typically assume the existence of a relatively homogeneous and stable organisational culture into which newcomers become acculturated. Processes of socialisation are portrayed as dependent on the socialisation tactics employed by the organisation and the learning and adaptation on the part of the newcomers [6], but few models take into account the proactive role played by newcomers in the socialisation process [7]. Environmental conditions – broader societal values, economic conditions, characteristics of the community, regional norms, etc. – are considered « for the most part [… to be] relatively stable and beyond the immediate day-to-day control of either the organization or the individual » [8]. In the present era of globalisation, marketisation and new accountability [9], however, the stability of organisational environment can no longer be assumed. Certainly, dramatic changes have taken place in the policing environment in recent years, not only in terms of social, demographic and economic conditions, but also in policing rhetoric and strategy [10], legal regulation [11], recruitment and training [12], technology [13], as well as management and accountability [14]. Any model that ignores such changes will not be able to adequately account for the dynamism and complexity of socialisation in modern organisations.

The framework for understanding police culture and socialisation developed by the author [15] combined the insights of organisational theorists [16], the critique of culture by Shearing and Ericson [17] and Bourdieu’s concepts of field, capital and habitus [18]. The new framework takes into account the structural conditions and cultural knowledge of policing and emphasises the centrality of agency in linking field and habitus with practice. Bourdieu’s theory provides a particularly useful approach to understanding the formation of cultural practice. The following describes how the concepts of field and habitus can apply to policing.

II.1. The Field of Policing

The field of policing, like any other field, is a social space of conflict and competition which is structured by hierarchies of rewards (capital) and sanctions (negative capital). The policing field exists in a subordinate or dominated position within the field of power : it is a relatively low-prestige occupation in terms of economic capital, but enjoys a high degree of public and government support (political and symbolic capital). This is because policing is inherently political : it is an institution « created and sustained by political processes to enforce dominant conceptions of public order » [19]. As Manning [20] points out, the law is itself a political entity, being the « product of what is right and proper from the perspective of different politically powerful segments within the community ». Because their highly symbolic position in society’s defence of power and morality, police officers are vested with wide discretionary powers to stop, question, arrest, search and detain suspects [21]. Nevertheless, with the advent of « new public management » and dramatic revelations of police misconduct in some Western democracies, police organisations have been increasingly subject to performance-based accountability requirements which place their management and operational activities under closer scrutiny and evaluation than before [22].

Within the field of policing itself, agents compete for the control of various types of resource or capital. To survive in the occupation, officers require both social capital and cultural capital. Social capital – in the form of support network – is important to ensure that officers are protected, not only against external danger or hostility associated with police work, but also against arbitrary supervisory or management practices. Most police forces are still organised along the military model, with uniforms, chain of command, progression through the ranks, strong disciplinary rules, and formalised training. The military metaphor usually translates into a disciplinary regime that insists on the proliferation of rules and regulations [23]. Accountability in police organisations traditionally takes the form of explicitly and continually paying attention to internal discipline, such as dress code, departmental procedures, and so on, rather than auditing how officers make decisions and deal with citizens. Rewards are given for staying out of troubles and for « good pinches » [24]. Bittner describes the typical relationship which emerges between police officers and their superiors as one in which « supervisory personnel are often viewed by the line personnel with distrust and even contempt », yet to secure loyalty from their subordinates, supervisors often resort to « whitewashing bad practices involving relatively unregulated conduct » or covering officers’ mistakes [25]. Van Maanen [26] similarly noted a « high degree of mutual dependence and reciprocity » between officers and their sergeants. Thus, the accumulation of social capital requires the cultivation of mutually supportive relationships with fellow officers, including one’s supervisors or subordinates.

Policing also values cultural capital in the form of information, knowledge and competence. Since much of police work at the operational level calls for individual judgment, localised responses and discretionary decisions, policing is characterised by « situationally justified actions » [27], that is, actions are taken as the situations demand, and then rationalised afterwards in terms of the available rules. Officers who are able to establish good networks of informants, know their way around legal and bureaucratic rules, or accumulate an impressive record of arrests and convictions are highly valued. Rank is a well-recognised and visible form of cultural capital, as is experience. Detectives or specialist officers also possess greater cultural capital than general duties or community officers. With the large-scale introduction of information technology into policing, police with « IT » expertise have become highly valued [28].

Physical capital – strength, physique and tolerance of harsh conditions – is another valuable form of capital in the field of policing. Although some of the physical requirements such as height for entry have been lowered in many police forces in recent years to encourage the recruitment of women and some minority groups, physical strength and agility is still an important criterion for entry into the occupation. Physical training is seen as a crucial component of character building as well as the construction of a « disciplined » force. Within the crime-fighting model of policing, physical strength and endurance is taken for granted as part of what it takes to be a police officer. As a result, women who are typically less physically « tough » are therefore in a position of negative capital here.

Symbolic capital – which is based on « reputation, opinion and representation » [29] – is defined by the predominant habitus, but can also be established by law or policy. In the crime-fighting vision of policing, officers who carry the most symbolic capital are those who bring in the « good » arrests, those who can be trusted to protect others, and those who have experience or rank. New visions of policing such as community policing or problem-oriented policing seek to change this by introducing alternative sources of symbolic capital based on the ability to solve problems, work with members of the community and provide service. Although police misconduct has always been a violation of legal and regulatory requirements, honesty, integrity and professionalism in police work have not been a valued form of symbolic capital until corruption scandals erupted in some jurisdictions. Both « new » policing models and anti-corruption measures in effect seek to « legalise » professionalism or integrity as a form of symbolic capital, but their success depends on their symbolic power to change the habitus to the extent that officers accept their validity or authority [30].

II.2. The Habitus of Policing

Habitus, according to Bourdieu, is a system of « dispositions » which integrate past experience and enable individuals to cope with a diversity of unforeseen situations [31] – dispositions which agents acquire either individually, through family and the education system, or as a group, through organisational socialisation. These dispositions are similar to what Sackmann [32] described as « cultural knowledge », but they include physical and emotional dispositions as well as cognitions and values. What do we know about the habitus of policing ? The research literature has described some of the basic characteristics of the « street cop » culture. These characteristics are best considered as elements for constructing an ideal type ; they are not necessarily universal or unchanging. In fact, reforms and developments in policing in recent years are continually challenging these ideal-typical features of police culture. A convenient way of summarising the habitus of policing is to use Sackmann’s four dimensions of cultural knowledge : axiomatic knowledge, dictionary knowledge, directory knowledge, and recipe knowledge. This typology, however, misses an important dimension of the policing habitus which relates to the physical or bodily dispositions – we will call this fifth dimension, following Bourdieu, « bodily knowledge ».

Axiomatic Knowledge : The Doxa of Policing

This refers to the fundamental assumptions about « why things are done the way they are » in an organisation. Axiomatic knowledge is self-evident knowledge, or what Bourdieu calls doxa [33]. The doxa of policing is the taken-for-granted « truth » about police work which does not require defending nor is it disputed. Police traditionally see their work in terms of waging a « war against crime », maintaining order and protecting people’s lives and property. Officers often regard their work with a sense of mission [34].

Manning describes the public’s image of the police as an occupation characterised by excitement, danger and efficiency [35]. The heroic public image of the police as « crook-catchers » and « crime-fighters » is encouraged by officers themselves. The public in turn demands « more dramatic crook-catching and crime prevention ». These demands are then converted by police organisations into « distorted criteria for promotion, success and security » [36]. As a result, police often make a distinction between « real » police work and the work they routinely perform. Yet, very little of these officers’ time on the street is spent on what they consider to be their « primary function ». « Real » police work, then, becomes both « a source of satisfaction and frustration » [37].

Another important aspect of the doxa of policing is related to the domination of masculinity. The necessity to use coercion in some situations [38] is often equated with the need to use physical force, aggressive crime fighting, and toughness – through the association between physicality and masculinity, policing is generally regarded as men’s work [39]. This is in spite of the fact that the bulk of police work is about order maintenance, service and conflict resolution which requires a range of interpersonal and problem solving skills. The introduction of « community policing » and the recruitment of female officers in many police forces in recent years [40] may have presented a challenge to this dimension of cultural knowledge, but the doxa of police as crime-fighters continues to dominate, and consequently, so does the belief that police work is still essentially a « man’s job » [41]. The strength of this doxa is such that the physicality of the job has been accepted by female officers as well as male officers as the natural order and does not have to be justified.

Dictionary Knowledge : Police Categories

Dictionary knowledge provides definitions and labels of persons, things and events encountered by police in the course of their work. Research studies have suggested that « police work requires officers to summarise complex and ambiguous situations in a short period of time and to take some action » [42], hence officers develop routine ways of categorising their environment and the people they encounter in the community. American researchers found that police officers develop notions of normal and abnormal appearances in relation to the public places they patrol. These notions of normality and abnormality are context dependent : « What is normal for a place is normal for the place at a time [43]. » In a study of a suburban Canadian police force, Ericson notes a similar tendency for patrol officers to develop indicators of abnormality : these include « (1) individuals out of place, (2) individuals in particular places, (3) individuals of particular types regardless of place, and (4) unusual circumstances regarding property » [44].

Reiner has also commented on the distinction police make with regard to the general public, between « the rough and respectable elements, those who challenge or those who accept the middle-class values of decency which most police revere » [45]. Muir describes a similar « separation of people into the governables and the rebels [...], those who might revolt against police authority from those who would not » [46]. Police in Australia have been accused of forming stereotypical opinions about the criminality of certain ethnic groups [47] and regularly linking Aboriginal people with crime and social disorder [48]. Ericson’s study in Canada found similar typifications by police of racial and ethnic minorities and young people with disorderly appearance and conduct who were considered « the scum of the earth »  [49]. Ethnic stereotyping works to reinforce police discernment of respectability, and is « a stable feature of the occupational culture » [50].

Dictionary knowledge also applies to police work itself. The doxa that policing is about crime fighting and physicality means that sexual differences are immersed in the set of oppositions that organise police work : physical versus emotional, outside (on the street) versus inside (in the office), real police work (arresting criminals) versus other work, use of force versus other means of dispute resolution, etc.[51].

Directory Knowledge : Police Methods

Directory knowledge informs police officers about how operational work is routinely carried out. To a certain extent these operational methods follow from the definitions and categories designated by dictionary knowledge. For example, in proactive policing, officers are « chronically suspicious » and are forced « to make snap decisions about the appropriateness of what people are doing » [52]. Having developed indicators of normality and abnormality, roughness and respectability, police officers tend to target the unusual and the disreputable. Following these « cues » may be routine police work, but the effect may be serious for minorities [53]. In Redfern, Sydney, for example, an individual « out of place » is an Aborigine driving a red Laser (as mentioned in the television documentary Cop it Sweet). Young people congregating in parks, shopping malls, pinball parlours, etc., are also obvious targets for proactive stops.

As mentioned before, an important feature of police work is the capacity and authority to use coercive force if necessary [54]. The use of force or the threat of force by police is often seen as a legitimate means of taking charge of situations to maintain authority, to control suspects, to obtain information or even to dispense « street justice » [55]. Nevertheless, in the vast majority of situations, police do not have to resort to force. Instead, the restoration of order often requires a great deal of interpersonal skills to gain compliance, to resolve conflicts, and to provide support to victims and to fellow officers. The crime-fighting, masculine doxa of policing, however, « celebrates physical prowess, and demands emotional control in the face of danger and injury », while interpersonal skills and emotional support are devalued [56].

Recipe Knowledge : Police Values

This refers to the normative dimension of cultural knowledge. It suggests what should or should not be done in specific situations. It provides recommendations and strategies for coping with police work. Van Maanen’s research of an American police force provides some significant observations. For example, officers learn to « stay out of trouble » by doing the minimum amount of work required ; « gung-ho » officers are regularly ridiculed by their peers [57]. Officers also develop a sceptical attitude towards police supervisors and managers and learn not to expect much from the organisation ; their rewards came in the form of camaraderie and « small favours » granted by sergeants [58]. In addition, officers learn to « cover their ass » to avoid disciplinary actions. Consequently, written records of events are often manipulated by officers to protect themselves against possible reviews by supervisors [59].

Another well-documented aspect of police recipe knowledge is the apparent « code of silence » and solidarity among police officers when faced with allegations of misconduct [60]. Reiner sees solidarity as a response to the working conditions of policing, « a product not only of isolation, but also of the need to be able to rely on colleagues in a tight spot, and a protective armour shielding the force as a whole from public knowledge of infractions » [61]. The code, according to Skolnick and Fyfe, is typically enforced « by the threat of shunning, by fear that informing will lead to exposure of one’s own derelictions, and by fear that colleagues’ assistance may be withheld in emergencies » rather than by violent means [62].

The masculine doxa of policing also supports a norm of « emotional self-management », which equates the control of emotions with occupational competence : « Even talking about pain, guilt, or fear is rare since officers who reveal their feelings to other officers may be viewed as weak or inadequate [63]. » Recruits are taught early to repress the display of emotions and to maintain emotional detachment when dealing with the public. Male officers must hide fear and « act like a man » while women are allowed to show fear, emotions and apply for exemptions of difficult duties. Legitimate ways of managing emotions include the use of humour, the discharge of tension through physical exercise, alcohol drinking and sexual activities [64].

Bodily Knowledge : Policing Hexis

This refers to the physical or corporeal dispositions that police officers carry as members of the occupation. The doxa of police as crime-fighters requiring physical strength justifies the physical requirements for entry into the occupation and the drill and endurance training that police recruits are subjected to. As with military training, police training involves « the disciplining, controlling, and occasional mortification of the body » [65]. Physical inscriptions of this dimension of habitus include not only the standards of police uniforms, permissible hair-style and amount of facial hair and body piercing, but also « ways of walking, talking, standing, looking, sitting, etc. » [66] which convey authority and discipline. As Fielding observes, physical training and drill are ways of « building character » in police work : tolerance of physical discomfort, obedience, regimentation and compliance [67]. The doxa of police as crime fighters and the taken-for-granted equivalence between police work and physicality result in a sexual differences being used as a natural justification of policing as « men’s work ». Thus, in order to survive in the occupation, female officers have to learn to take on masculine deportment and « new behavior regarding verbal, facial, and bodily displays that convey their authority to citizens », including « learning not to smile […] and to avoid postures that indicate hesitation or unreadiness to act » [68].

II.3. The Relation between Field and Habitus

According to Bourdieu, the relation between field and habitus operates in two ways : on the one hand, the field conditions the habitus, which is the « product of the embodiment of the immanent necessity of a field » ; on the other hand, habitus constitutes the field as it provides the cultural frames for making sense of the field [69]. Habitus allows for creation and innovation within the field of police work. It is a « feel for the game » ; it enables an infinite number of « moves » to be made in an infinite number of situations. It embodies what police officers often refer to as « common sense » [70] and what is commonly known as « policing skills » [71]. Long-term members of an organisation tend to take their habitus for granted, because « when habitus encounters a social world of which it is the product, it is like a “fish in water” » [72]. When recruits join a new organisation, however, they carry with them the habitus which is a product of the field they previously inhabited. To reverse Bourdieu’s analogy, in their initial encounter with the organisation, they are likely to feel like a « fish out of water ». Where there exists a stable organisational culture, recruits typically learn to adapt to the sensibilities and cognitions of peer groups, consciously or unconsciously to reduce their sense of alienation and anxiety [73].

One criticism of this framework, however, is that it overemphasises the « unconscious » or automatic connection between habitus and practice and does not account for rational action [74]. Bourdieu has argued that rationality rarely plays a part in practical action :

The conditions of rational calculation are practically never given in practice : time is limited, information is restricted, etc. And yet agents do do, much more often than if they were behaving randomly, « the only thing to do ». This is because, following the intuitions of a « logic of practice » which is the product of a lasting exposure to conditions similar to those in which they are placed, they anticipate the necessity immanent in the way of the world [75].

Hence, even though police practices may have the appearance of rationality, the « cop code » is more the result of « codification » by researchers and police officers than a set of rules which generate practice. Nevertheless, Bourdieu concedes that habitus can have its « ”blips”, critical moments when it misfires or is out of phase », so that some degree of « practical reflection » is necessary in some situations to evaluate action or to correct mistaken or imperfect moves [76]. Furthermore, the capacity to rely on the automatic guidance of habitus depends on the situation and position the actor occupies :

[…] the degree to which one can abandon oneself to the automatisms of practical sense obviously varies with the situation and the area of activity, but also with the position occupied in social space : it is likely that those who are « in their right place » in the social world can abandon or entrust themselves more, and more completely, to their dispositions (that is the « ease » of the well-born) than those who occupy awkward positions, such as the parvenus and the déclassés ; and the latter are more likely to bring to consciousness that which, for others, is taken for granted, because they are forced to keep watch on themselves and consciously correct the « first movements » of a habitus that generates inappropriate or misplaced behaviours [77].

This is an important insight for understanding the situation of recruits, who are likely to be conscious and cautious about their « first movements » because their habitus is a product of a different world. Until they have adjusted their habitus to that appropriate to their new environment, it is in their interest to continually evaluate their actions and correct any mistaken moves.

II.4. Socialisation in a Changing Field

As pointed out earlier, the field of policing has been changing for a variety of structural reasons : e.g., the globalisation of financial markets and cultural communications, advances in information and bio-genetic technologies, the commercialisation of policing and security services, changing legal regulation and managerial control of police conduct, and the emergence of alternative models of policing. If socialisation is the learning of policing habitus on the part of the recruits, what happens when the field of policing itself is changing ? Bourdieu’s framework suggests that shifts in the field would lead to adjustments of the habitus : changes in the field create a new « necessity » which may require the creation of new strategies for coping, i.e. « social conditions activate in the agents certain acquired qualities and capacities of the mind and the body » [78]. Under changing conditions, organisational members with habitus shaped by the « old culture » may be as ill at ease as the newcomers because the organisational habitus they acquired no longer fits current conditions.

In situations of crisis or sudden change, … agents often have difficulty in holding together the dispositions associated with different states or stages, and some of them, often those who were best adapted to the previous state of the game, have difficulty in adjusting to the new established order. Their dispositions become dysfunctional and the efforts they may make to perpetuate them help to plunge them deeper into failure [79].

While the organisation adjusts its habitus, newcomers are likely to encounter a diverse rather than a homogeneous culture, while at the same time, they themselves need to adjust their individual habitus to the changing field. Newcomers are more likely to be conscious or reflective about their own adjustments. Like the new tennis player who re-enacts a missed shot, the recruit needs to rethink his or her movements and strategies to make early corrections to their initial mistakes. Unlike the experienced player, the novice cannot « abandon » himself or herself to the (newly learnt) habitus to guide practice [80]. In policing, perhaps more than in other occupations, every action takes place in full view of either members of the public or one’s colleagues, the cost of mistakes can range from mild humiliation, being the butt of office jokes, to losing fellow officers’ trust or public respect.

Thus, when the field is changing, the socialisation is a less predictable, more diverse and open process than when conditions are relatively stable. Recruits are also much more aware of their own adaptations to the new environment, so that their learning process is much less automatic and much more reflective.

III. A Case Study of Police Socialisation

There have not been many systematic studies of police socialisation. The research of Van Maanen in the United States [81] and that of Fielding in Britain [82] were both significant and groundbreaking studies at the time of publication. Chan with Devery and Doran’s [83] longitudinal study was based in New South Wales, Australia.

The New South Wales Police Service (NSWPS)  –  the organisation which participated in the study  –  is the oldest and largest police force in Australia, with over 13,000 sworn police officers and an annual expenditure of over a thousand million dollars. It serves the State of New South Wales which has a population of around 6 million, covering an area three times the size of the United Kingdom. The 1980s and 1990s were decades of rapid and constant change for the NSW Police Service, although the pressure for change had been building up since the 1960s and 1970s [84]. Two major waves of reform took place. In the mid 1980s, following a wide-ranging judicial inquiry [85], the organisation went through a number of significant and fundamental changes to the philosophy, organisation and operation of policing in New South Wales. In particular, recruitment and training underwent some radical transformation. The Service was committed to attracting an increasing proportion of women and people from ethnic and Aboriginal communities. Changes were introduced to recruitment criteria such as educational and physical requirements. Recruit training adopted a totally new educational philosophy, a redesigned curriculum, and a new policy in relation to staffing and administration [86]. In the mid 1990s, the Police Service came under the scrutiny of a Royal Commission into police corruption. The Commission concluded that a state of « systemic and entrenched corruption » existed in the Police Service [87]. In response to the Commission’s findings, major reforms were introduced, including increased monitoring and accountability at the organisational, managerial and personal levels. The new Commissioner introduced a new law to make it easier « to remove corrupt, inept, lazy officers » [88]. In sum, the organisation had undergone nearly two decades of continuous and often radical change. The research fieldwork spanned a period which roughly coincided with the term of the Wood Royal Commission.

The research design drew on the rich tradition of systematic studies of police work since the 1970s [89]. Using a longitudinal approach [90], the research team followed the progress of a cohort of approximately 150 police recruits at regular intervals for two years. A variety of research techniques were employed, including face-to-face interviews, questionnaires, and observation [91]. Questionnaires were administered to all recruits at four points : during their first week at the Academy, and six months, 18 months and 24 months later. Face-to-face interviews were conducted with a random sample of about 75 recruits, who were re-interviewed at the same three subsequent stages. The research team also spent over 900 hours in the field observing a sample of recruits at various stages of their training.

Similar to recruits in previous research, the cohort in this study joined the police because they wanted to help people and serve the community. They were attracted to the career prospects of the occupation as well as to what they saw as the varied, non-routine and exciting nature of police work. They generally had a very high opinion of the occupation, placing it at the top of a list of 18 occupations in terms of both honesty and professionalism, and only slightly lower than doctors and lawyers in prestige. The metamorphosis from a new recruit to a police constable involved some major shifts in attitudes and values – changes in the habitus. By the end of their field training, most probationers felt that they had changed as a person. Many thought that they had become more mature and more confident, although they had lost some of their idealism and naivety. The training they received had « deposited » within their bodies and mind a « feel for the game » of policing. The changes were perceptual, attitudinal, as well as physical. Perceptually, they became more observant, more aware and alert to what went on around them. Their attitudes became less tolerant, more suspicious of people and more cynical, although these changes were by no means uniform. Physically, they took on the posture and verbal manners of a police officer.

Not surprisingly, the cohort had picked up some typical elements of the occupational habitus of street-level policing : cynicism, dislike of paperwork, and distrust of management and outsiders, including the general public [92]. The majority of probationers interviewed at the end of their field training expressed a high degree of disillusionment about the job. The most frequently raised complaint was the amount of paperwork required [93]. Frustration was directed at the accountability requirements imposed by managers, Internal Affairs and external agencies such as the Ombudsman. Managers were seen as ineffective or not supportive of street-level officers in the face of public complaints. Recruits’ attitudes towards the community became progressively and significantly more negative over the 18 months of their training. The vast majority said that they had become more cynical and suspicious, more aware of negative aspects of social life, and more likely to stereotype people. The perceived lack of appreciation by the public for the work police did for them had led some to abandon their ideals of wanting to help people, because people « don’t want to be helped ». Others were disappointed by the limits of what police were able to achieve. Over the course of their training, recruits developed a more negative attitude towards the criminal justice system.

The data show, however, that recruits were not passively shaped by negative role models. As subjects told us in interviews and as we observed in the field, probationers came across models of « good » as well as « bad » police work. In fact, the vast majority of survey respondents thought that their field learning experience was different depending on the local area command they were sent to, and the personalities or working styles of the local area commander, the shift supervisors and their shift partners. Local areas could differ in terms of workload, culture, amount of experience and general attitudes to work among officers. Local area commanders could be authoritarian, inaccessible and negative, or they could be friendly, make their expectations clear and give positive feedback. These leadership styles had consequences in workers’ morale and practice.

Probationers also commented on how workers adapted to the inconsistent styles and expectations of different shift supervisors and shift partners. Probationers’ adaptations to their work environment did not consist of blanket acceptance of everything they were told in the field. When given the opportunity to express their views, some probationers were quite reflective ; they were also willing to criticise and distance themselves from certain practices. Individual probationers formed judgments about police work and the police organisation based on their own experiences and were able to distinguish between « good » and « bad » models. Some interviewees felt that having been exposed to different policing styles, they could make up their own mind about the type of police they want to become. This was true especially of probationers who were more mature in age.

The interview data suggest that police culture in New South Wales was in a state of flux. Nearly half of the interviewees told us that police culture was changing or had changed. They felt that what they regarded as the old culture of heavy drinking and criminal cover-up no longer exists. It is no longer considered taboo for police to complain against other police. A few interviewees told the researchers that they themselves had reported misconduct that they encountered.

As pointed out earlier, the field of policing in New South Wales has been changing since the reforms in the mid 1980s. Among the changes introduced in this era, two dimensions are highlighted in this study : the first relates to the total redesign of the recruit training curriculum (PREP) in concert with the ideal of professionalism and the vision of community policing ; the second involves the active recruitment of women to join this male-dominated occupation. The adoption of community policing and a « full professional » model of policing was a challenge to the traditional crime-fighting model ; it legitimated a new form of symbolic capital in the field of policing – one based on building partnership with the community, problem solving and the provision of professional service. The recruitment of women also posed a challenge to traditional policing, albeit an unsuccessful one since physical capital still tends to override other forms of symbolic capital [94].

The Wood Royal Commission led to a further round of radical changes in the field of policing. These include the establishment of a permanent « watchdog » to investigate serious corruption ; the introduction of legal provisions which gave the Commissioner power to dismiss incompetent or corrupt police ; the authorisation of targeted integrity testing and random alcohol testing of police ; and the introduction of a performance-based accountability system for local area commanders. Unpopular though some of these new accountability initiatives were, they were party responsible for what was regarded as « cultural change » in the Police Service. Police became more conscious of the constraints and risks that their job entailed and had to learn how to negotiate this new field where a wrong move might bring about complaints, investigations and disciplinary actions.

The complexity and contingency of the socialisation process in New South Wales was likely the result of some of these changes in the field of policing. In particular, reforms following the Royal Commission have led to some major shifts in the weights of different types of capital. Both recruits and serving police officers were aware of the increased emphasis on integrity and professionalism as a form of symbolic capital and the economic consequences of being found corrupt or incompetent. Under changing conditions, both recruits and serving members of the organisation were much more conscious and cautious in making adjustments to their habitus. The political climate generated by the Royal Commission shifted the balance of power, so that integrity – taught in the academy but devalued in the field – was once again a valued form of capital. The game had changed, and the established culture became increasingly shaky.

Conclusion

Traditional models of organisational socialisation have tended to conceive of socialisation as a fairly linear and uniform process of the newcomer « fitting in » with the dominant culture. The advantage of reconceptualising socialisation in terms of Bourdieu’s schema of field and habitus is that it can accommodate the fluidity and contingency of socialisation paths [95] as well as account for any variation in adaptive strategies and outcomes. Such contingency and fluidity is particularly salient for organisations operating in a volatile social and political environment.

The New South Wales case study demonstrates the utility of Bourdieu’s theory for understanding police socialisation. Habitus is a particularly appropriate tool for describing the system of dispositions that individuals acquire, initially through personal history and experience, and later through organisational socialisation. For policing, habitus incorporates various dimensions of cultural knowledge, including unexamined assumptions, accepted definitions, tried-and-true methods, shared values, as well as bodily display and physical deportment. Under normal conditions, police recruits incrementally adjust their habitus to « fit in » with the dominant culture of their workplace. The acquired habitus then becomes a « feel for the game », a stable set of dispositions that generate coherent ways of seeing, thinking and acting, requiring almost no conscious thought on the part of the actor. Once a recruit has acquired the appropriate habitus, he or she will feel accepted and comfortable like a « fish in water ».

The framework also allows for the possibility of multiple cultures within one organisation as well as that of a changing organisational culture. Here is where Bourdieu’s concept of field and the related notion of capital become crucial. The field defines the « game » which provides an understanding of the position of recruits relative to others within the police organisation : invariably they are at the bottom of the hierarchy in terms of almost every dimension of capital. Their game, then, is to accumulate as much knowledge, skills and experience (cultural capital) ; goodwill, cooperation, and camaraderie (social capital) ; as well as a favourable reputation (symbolic capital) among one’s workmates and superiors. But the values of different types of capital are not constant. External changes – which can be either changes in the position of policing in the « field of power », such as a drop of public support as a result of corruption revelations, or changes in preferred style of policing, as in the introduction of community policing – can impact on the values of different forms of capital as well what counts as symbolic capital. When the field is changing, the organisational habitus must adjust. As a result, serving members whose habitus is the product of a different field are just as uncomfortable as the recruits. On the one hand, they try to discredit the change and hang on to the « old » habitus. On the other hand, they feel like a « fish out of water » in the changed field. Unless they can find an enclave of the organisation where change has not occurred, they may have to leave the organisation or « drop out » by abandoning their interest (illusio) in the « game ».

Bourdieu’s framework has generally emphasised social reproduction rather than social change. The emphasis on the « unconscious » or automatic connection between habitus and practice allows little room for rational calculation or conscious thoughts before action. Yet, as we have seen in this case study, recruits can be highly reflective and conscious of the socialisation process. At times they reported a degree of strategic calculation that is seldom discussed in socialisation studies. In this sense the case study has « stretched » Bourdieu’s framework to a new plane which recognises, as Bourdieu [96] recently concedes, that persons who « occupy awkward positions » cannot rely on the automatic guidance of their habitus. Instead, they have to watch themselves carefully and correct any inappropriate moves they make as a result of following a habitus from their previous « life ». In the presence of a stable, homogeneous organisational culture, most recruits will in time adjust their habitus more or less to what is appropriate to their environment and their actions will be guided unconsciously by the new habitus. But if the organisational habitus is changing or fragmented, recruits will continue to be conscious and cautious of their actions for as long as caution is necessary. Instead of simply trying to « fit in », recruits take on the habitus of operational policing, but always with an eye on how the rules of the « game » may be changing.

The case study also suggests that « successful socialisation » is not necessarily about conformity to a dominant organisational culture, even if a homogeneous, stable one exists. Just because an occupation or organisation has developed ways of seeing, thinking and acting that have « worked » in the past does not mean that it is healthy for the organisation to eternalise the reproduction of this culture. The assumption that policing is a craft [97] which puts a premium on experience and practical skills, and which can only be learnt through an apprentice system, has already been challenged by the movement towards a professional model of policing. Where recruits have successfully adjusted their habitus in harmony with the traditional « street cop » culture, or learnt a « feel for the game » of operational policing, there is a danger that they become « locked into » an anxiety-avoidance mode of learning rather than a problem-solving one [98]. It may be that for officers to become creative problem-solvers, they sometimes have to consciously « fight against » the habitus that they have learnt. For example, in certain interactions with citizens, « good police work » may involve a conscious effort to « fight against » the automatic tendency of the occupational habitus to stereotype, to assume a « siege mentality » or to treat everyone with suspicion. The idea of working against one’s habitus may seem to contradict Bourdieu’s original framework, but a « creative individualist » [99], like other people that « occupy awkward positions » [100] in an organisation, are likely to be more conscious and reflective in making their moves. This is a technique artists regularly use to maintain freshness and authenticity in their practice [101]. Indeed, the idea of a reflective practitioner is based on the same principle of elevating practice from the unthinking automatism of the occupational habitus. In this way, successful socialisation is not so much about perfecting the craft as about learning the art of policing [102].

L’auteur

Professeur à la School of Social
Science and Policy, University of New South Wales. Ses thèmes de recherche portent sur les réformes et innovations dans la justice pénale. Elle a été expert pour plusieurs institutions gouvernementales en Australie.
Parmi ses publications récentes :

– Changing Police Culture : Policing in a Multicultural Society, Melbourne, Cambridge University Press, 1997 ;

– E-policing : The Impact of Information Technology on Police Practices (et al.), Brisbane, Criminal Justice Commission, 2001 ;

– Managing Prejudicial Publicity : An Empirical Study of Criminal Jury Trials in New South Wales (avec M. Chesterman et S. Hampton), Sydney, Law and Justice Foundation of New South Wales, 2001 ;

– Fair Cop : Learning the Art of Policing (avec C. Devery et S. Doran), Toronto, University of Toronto Press, 2003.

* School of Social Science and Policy, University of New South Wales, UNSW Sydney NSW 2052, Australia.
j.chan@unsw.edu.au

1. See, for example, Mollen Report, Commission Report : Commission to Investigate Allegations of Police Corruption and the Anti-Corruption Procedures of the Police Department, The City of New York, 1994 ; and Wood Report, Royal Commission into the NSW Police Service : Final Report, Sydney, NSW Government, 1997.

2. See Janet Chan (with Chris Devery and Sally Doran), Fair Cop : Learning the Art of Policing, Toronto, University of Toronto Press, 2003.

3. Janet Chan, Changing Police Culture : Policing in a Multicultural Society, Melbourne, Cambridge University Press, 1997.

4. Ibid., chapter 4.

5. Janet Chan (with Chris Devery and Sally Doran), Fair Cop : Learning the Art of Policing, op. cit.

6. John Van Maanen and Edgar H. Schein, « Toward a Theory of Organizational Socialization », Research in Organizational Behavior, 1, 1979, p. 209-264. See also Blake E. Ashforth and Alan M. Saks, « Socialization Tactics : Longitudinal Effects on Newcomer Adjustment », Academy of Management Journal, 39 (1), 1996, p. 149-178.

7. Elizabeth W. Morrison, « Newcomer Information Seeking : Exploring Types, Modes, Sources, and Outcomes », Academy of Management Journal, 36 (3), 1993, p. 557-589.

8. John Van Maanen, « Breaking In, Socialization to Work », in Robert Dubin (ed.), Handbook of Work, Organization and Society, Chicago, Rand McNall, 1976, p. 85.

9. Richard V. Ericson and Nico Stehr (eds.), Governing Modern Societies, Toronto, University of Toronto Press, 2000.

10. Pat O’Malley and Darren Palmer, « Post-Keynesian Policing », Economy and Society, 25 (2), 1996, p. 137-155.

11. David Dixon, Law in Policing : Legal Regulation and Police Practices, Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1997.

12. Janet Chan, Changing Police Culture : Policing in a Multicultural Society, op. cit.

13. Peter K. Manning, « Information Technologies and the Police », in Michael Tonry and Norval Morris (eds.), Modern Policing, Chicago, University of Chicago Press, 1992 ; Richard V. Ericson and Kevin D. Haggerty, Policing the Risk Society, Toronto, University of Toronto Press, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1997 ; Janet Chan, David Brereton, Margot Legosz and Sally Doran, E-Policing : The Impact of Information Technology on Police Practices, Brisbane, Criminal Justice Commission, 2001 ; Janet Chan, « Police and New Technologies », in Tim Newburn (ed.), Handbook of Policing, Cullompton, Willan, 2003.

14. Frank Leishman, Barry Loveday, and Stephen P. Savage (eds.), Core Issues in Policing, London, New York, Longman, 1996 ; Janet Chan, « Governing Police Practice : Limits of the New Accountability », British Journal of Sociology, 50 (2), 1999, p. 249-268 ; Richard V. Ericson and Kevin D. Haggerty, Policing the Risk Society, op. cit.

15. See Janet Chan, Changing Police Culture : Policing in a Multicultural Society, op. cit. ; and Janet Chan (with Chris Devery and Sally Doran), Fair Cop : Learning the Art of Policing, op. cit.

16. Edgar H. Schein, Organizational Culture and Leadership, San Francisco, Jossey-Bass, 1985 ; Sonja Sackmann, Cultural Knowledge in Organizations : Exploring the Collective Mind, Newbury Park (CA), Sage, 1991.

17. Clifford Shearing and Richard V. Ericson, « Culture as Figurative Action », British Journal of Sociology, 42 (4), 1991, p. 481-506.

18. Pierre Bourdieu, The Logic of Practice, Standford, Standford University Press, 1990 ; Pierre Bourdieu and Loïc J.D. Wacquant, An Invitation to Reflexive Sociology, Cambridge, Polity Press, 1992.

19. Jerome H. Skolnick, « Changing Conceptions of the Police », in The Great Ideas Today, Chicago, Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1972, p. 40-57 ; quoted in Robert Reiner, The Politics of the Police, Harvester, Wheatsheaf, 2nd ed., 1992, p. 2.

20. Peter K. Manning, « The Police : Mandate, Strategies and Appearances », in Peter K. Manning and John Van Maanen (eds.), Policing : A View from the Street, Santa Monica (CA), Goodyear, 1978, p. 18-19.

21. David Dixon, Law in Policing : Legal Regulation and Police Practices, op. cit. ; Doreen McBarnet, « Arrest : The Legal Context of Policing », in Simon Holdaway (ed.), The British Police, London, Edward Arnold, 1979 ; Richard V. Ericson, Reproducing Order : A Study of Police Patrol Work, Toronto, University of Toronto Press, 1982.

22. Janet Chan, « Governing Police Practice : Limits of the New Accountability », op. cit.

23. Egon Bittner, « The Functions of the Police in Modern Society », in Peter K. Manning and John Van Maanen (eds.), Policing : A View from the Street, op. cit., p. 42.

24. Egon Bittner, « The Functions of the Police in Modern Society », op. cit., p. 46.

25. Ibid., p. 48.

26. John Van Maanen, « The Boss : First-line Supervision in an American Police Agency », in Maurice Punch (ed.), Control in the Police Organization, Cambridge, MIT Press, 1983, p. 280.

27. Peter K. Manning, Police Work : The Social Organization of Policing, Prospect Heights (Ill.), Waveland Press, 2nd ed., 1997.

28. Janet Chan, David Brereton, Margot Legosz and Sally Doran, E-Policing : The Impact of Information Technology on Police Practices, op. cit.

29. Pierre Bourdieu, In Other Words : Essay Towards a Reflexive Sociology, Cambridge, Polity Press, 1990, p. 93.

30. Ibid., p. 136-138.

31. Loïc J.D. Wacquant, « Toward a Social Praxeology : The Structure and Logic of Bourdieu’s Sociology », in Pierre Bourdieu and Loïc J.D. Wacquant, An Invitation to Reflexive Sociology, op. cit., p. 18.

32. Sonja Sackmann, Cultural Knowledge in Organizations : Exploring the Collective Mind, op. cit.

33. Pierre Bourdieu, Outline of a Theory of Practice, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1977, p. 164.

34. Robert Reiner, The Politics of the Police, op. cit., p. 112.

35. Peter K. Manning, « The Police : Mandate, Strategies and Appearances », op. cit., p. 12-13.

36. Ibid., p. 13.

37. John Van Maanen, « Kinsmen in Repose : Occupational Perspectives of Patrolmen », in Peter K. Manning and John Van Maanen (eds.), Policing : A View from the Street, op. cit., p. 122.

38. Egon Bittner, « The Functions of the Police in Modern Society », op. cit.

39. Frances Heidensohn, Women in Control ? The Role of Women in Law Enforcement, Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1992, p. 73 ; Susan E. Martin, « Police Force or Police Service ? Gender and Emotional Labor », The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 561 (1), 1999, p. 111-126.

40. Peter K. Manning, Police Work : The Social Organization of Policing, op. cit.

41. Janis Appier, Policing Women : The Sexual Politics of Law Enforcement and the LAPD, Philadelphia, Temple University Press, 1998.

42. Simon Holdaway, « Constructing and Sustaining “Race” within the Police Work Force », Paper to the British Criminology Conference, Loughborough, July 1995.

43. Harvey Sacks, « Notes on Police Assessment of Moral Character », in Peter K. Manning and John Van Maanen (eds.), Policing : A View from the Street, op. cit., p. 194.

44. Richard V. Ericson, Reproducing Order : A Study of Police Patrol Work, op. cit., p. 86.

45. Robert Reiner, The Politics of the Police, op. cit., p. 117-118.

46. William Ker Muir, Police : Streetcorner Politicians, Chicago, University of Chicago Press, 1977, p 156-157.

47. Australian Law Reform Commission, Multiculturalism and the Law, Report n° 57, Commonwealth of Australia, 1992, p. 201.

48. Chris Cunneen and Tom Robb, Criminal Justice in North-East New South Wales, Sydney, Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research, 1987.

49. Richard V. Ericson, Reproducing Order : A Study of Police Patrol Work, op. cit., p. 66-67.

50. Simon Holdaway, « Constructing and Sustaining “Race” within the Police Work Force », op. cit.

51. S.E. Martin, « Police Force or Police Service ? Gender and Emotional Labor », op. cit. ; cf. Pierre Bourdieu, Masculine Domination, Stanford, Stanford University Press, 2001.

52. David H. Bayley and Harold Mendelsohn, Minorities and the Police. Confrontation in America, New York, The Free Press, 1969, p. 93.

53. Ibid., p. 93.

54. Egon Bittner, « The Functions of the Police in Modern Society », op. cit., p. 36.

55. William A. Westley, Violence and the Police : A Sociological Study of Law, Custom, and Morality, Cambridge (Mass.), MIT, 1970 ; Robert Baldwin and Richard Kinsey, Police Powers and Politics, London, Quartet Books, 1982 ; John Van Maanen, « The Asshole », in Peter K. Manning and John Van Maanen (eds.), Policing : A View from the Street, op. cit. ; Janet Chan, « Backstage Punishment : Police Violence, Occupational Culture and Criminal Justice », in Tony Coady et al. (eds.), Violence and Police Culture, Melbourne, Melbourne University Press, 2000.

56. S.E. Martin, « Police Force or Police Service ? Gender and Emotional Labor », op. cit., p. 116.

57. John Van Maanen, « Kinsmen in Repose : Occupational Perspectives of Patrolmen », op. cit., p. 125.

58. Ibid., p. 127.

59. Peter K. Manning, Police Work : The Social Organization of Policing, op. cit., p. 168-169.

60. William A. Westley, Violence and the Police : A Sociological Study of Law, op. cit.

61. Robert Reiner, The Politics of the Police, op. cit., p. 116.

62. Jerome H. Skolnick and James J. Fyfe, Above the Law. Police and the Excessive Use of Force, New York, Free Press, 1993, p. 110, original emphasis.

63. S.E. Martin, « Police Force or Police Service ? Gender and Emotional Labor », op. cit., p. 116.

64. Ibid.

65. David H.J. Morgan, « Theater of War : Combat, the Military, and Masculinities », in Harry Brod and Michael Kaufman (eds.), Theorizing Masculinities, Thousand Oaks, Sage, 1994, p. 167.

66. Pierre Bourdieu, Pascalian Meditations, Cambridge, Polity Press, 2000, p. 141.

67. Nigel G. Fielding, Joining Forces : Police Training, Socialization, and Occupational Competence, London, New York, Routledge, 1988, p. 60-61.

68. S.E. Martin, « Police Force or Police Service ? Gender and Emotional Labor », op. cit., p. 122.

69. Pierre Bourdieu and Loïc J.D. Wacquant, An Invitation to Reflexive Sociology, op. cit., p. 127.

70. See Peter K. Manning, Police Work : The Social Organization of Policing, op. cit.

71. See Mike Brogden, Tony Jefferson and Sandra Walklate, Introducing Policework, London, Unwin Hyman, 1988.

72. Pierre Bourdieu and Loïc J.D. Wacquant, An Invitation to Reflexive Sociology, op. cit., p. 127.

73. Edgar H. Schein, Organizational Culture and Leadership, op. cit.

74. See, for example, Jeffrey C. Alexander, Fin de Siècle Social Theory : Relativism, Reduction, and the Problem of Reason, London, Verso, 1995.

75. Pierre Bourdieu, In Other Words : Essay Towards a Reflexive Sociology, op. cit., p. 11.

76. Pierre Bourdieu, Pascalian Meditations, op. cit., p. 162.

77. Ibid., p. 163.

78. Ghassan Hage, « Pierre Bourdieu in the Nineties : Between the Church and the Atelier », Theory and Society, 23, 1994, p. 419-440 (p. 430).

79. Pierre Bourdieu, Pascalian Meditations, op. cit., p. 161.

80. Ibid., p. 163.

81. John Van Maanen, « Observations on the Making of Policemen », Human Organisation, 32 (4), 1973, p. 407-418 ; Id., « Police Socialization : A Longitudinal Examination of Job Attitudes in an Urban Police Department », Administrative Science Quarterly, 20, 1975, p. 207-228.

82. Nigel G. Fielding, Joining Forces : Police Training, Socialization, and Occupational, op. cit.

83. Janet Chan (with Chris Devery and Sally Doran), Fair Cop : Learning the Art of Policing, op. cit.

84. Janet Chan, Changing Police Culture : Policing in a Multicultural Society, op. cit., chapter 6.

85. Lusher Report, Report of the Commission of Inquiry into the New South Wales Police Administration, Sydney, NSW Government Printer, 1981.

86. See Janet Chan, Changing Police Culture : Policing in a Multicultural Society, op. cit., p. 129-136.

87. Wood Report, Royal Commission into the NSW Police Service : Final Report, op. cit., p. 84.

88. Peter Ryan, New South Wales Police Service : The Next Stage in Reforming the Service, Paper prepared for Paul Whelan, Minister for Police, 1998, p. 3.

89. Donald Black, « The Social Organization of Arrest », Standford Law Review, 23, 1971, p. 1087-1111 ; Albert J. Reiss, The Police and the Public, New Haven, Yale University Press, 1971 ; Richard V. Ericson, Making Crime : A Study of Detective Work, Toronto, University of Toronto Press, 2nd ed., 1993 ; Richard V. Ericson Reproducing Order : A Study of Police Patrol Work, op. cit. ; Richard V. Ericson and Kevin D. Haggerty, Policing the Risk Society, op. cit. ; Stephen D. Mastrofski et al., Systematic Observation of Public Police : Applying Field Research Methods to Policy Issues, Washington, National Institute of Justice, 1998.

90. Cf John Van Maanen, « Observations on the Making of Policemen », op. cit. ; Nigel G. Fielding, Joining Forces : Police Training, Socialization, and Occupational, op. cit.

91. See Janet Chan (with Chris Devery and Sally Doran), Fair Cop : Learning the Art of Policing, op. cit., for details.

92. Robert Reiner, The Politics of the Police, op. cit. ; Elizabeth Reuss-Ianni and Frank Ianni, « Street Cops and Management Cops : The Two Cultures of Policing », in Maurice Punch (ed.), Control in the Police Organization, op. cit.

93. Cf « The Paper Burden », in Richard V. Ericson and Kevin D. Haggerty, Policing the Risk Society, op. cit., p. 296-302.

94. See Janet Chan (with Chris Devery and Sally Doran), Fair Cop : Learning the Art of Policing, op. cit., chapter 8.

95. Peter K. Manning and John Van Maanen (eds.), Policing : A View from the Street, op. cit.

96. Pierre Bourdieu, Pascalian Meditations, op. cit., p. 163.

97. James Q. Wilson, « The Police and Crime », in Peter K. Manning and John Van Maanen (eds.), Policing : A View from the Street, op. cit.

98. Edgar H. Schein, Organizational Culture and Leadership, op. cit.

99. Edgar H. Schein, « The Individual, the Organization and the Career : a Conceptual Scheme », Cambridge, MIT, 1968 ; unpublished paper cited in John Van Maanen, « Breaking In, Socialization to Work », op. cit.

100. Pierre Bourdieu, Pascalian Meditations, op. cit.

101. The artist Sidney Nolan explained his constant change of mediums as a way of « fighting against » the bodily hexis of a master painter : « It’s very important – to me, anyway – to change, especially as one gets older and masters the technicalities of painting. You see, even the muscles learn tricks […] more or less, to produce a certain thing […]. Yes, you must fight against it because I suppose if a painting is worth anything it is supposed to come from some place inside yourself that you cannot get to through any other means […] », in Noel Barber, Conversations with Painters, London, Collins, 1964, p. 99.

102. This paper contains excerpts from Janet Chan (with Chris Devery and Sally Doran), Fair Cop : Learning the Art of Policing, Toronto, University of Toronto Press, 2003 – the passages were all written by the author and are not referenced separately.