A Summary of Skolnick's 'Working Personality' Essay

A considerable number of research has been conducted over the past 40 years to understand police culture. A variety of terms have been used in reference to it including: ‘cop culture’ (Reiner, 2010:118), the ‘working personality’ of the police (Skolnick, 1966, 2010:15), the ‘police mind’ (Fielding & Fielding, 1991) and, ‘police sub-culture’ (Waddington, 1999). Research has shown that police culture influences officer’s attitudes, behaviors’ and work ethics (Scaramella et al., 2011); and the way officers perceive society and their role within it (Reiner, 2000). Schein (2004: 17) defines police culture as ‘A pattern of shared basic assumptions that was learned by a group as it solved its problems of external adaptation and internal integration, that has worked well enough to be considered valid and,

In Jerome H. Skolnick’s “A Sketch of the Policeman’s ‘Working Personality’”, Skolnick explores the view that because their role contains the two important variables of danger and authority, officers develop a distinctive view of the world compared to those of other professions. He then goes on to illustrate how, what he calls the “working personality”, affects the actions of police officers.

“Somebody didn’t sleep through ethics training” (Ayer and Fuqua, 2001). This statement made by an officer in the movie Training Day, best exemplifies a major theme of the movie. Training Day should be shown to rookie officers as an example of how a police subculture can allow officers to abuse power. The movie is an over exaggeration, but provides depth and detail into certain situations officers may find themselves in. This paper will look at the specific concepts of a police subculture that officers may encounter.

Most new recruits come into the law profession as idealistic young men and women with the goal of changing the world. These views soon begin to change as the job becomes more and more consuming and they accommodate the job parameters that are placed upon them. As discussed in the book, more and more situations begin to be viewed as bullshit and the more people they encounter are viewed as assholes. The average person is not exposed to the situations and people that law enforcement must deal with daily, and have a difficult time understanding the stress that is placed on officers. The perception the officers have of the world begin to changes due to the everyday encounters they experience. This leads officers to begin to withdrawal from society and loved ones, ending with a cycle of depression and isolation. They begin to place more of their attention on the job and forget about anything and everyone outside of that. This, to most agencies, is overlooked due to the fact that the

Emotional Survival For Law Enforcement by Kevin M. Gilmartin, is not a book that sugar coats the reality of policing but is written in a way to help police officers and those who want to understand the job. Not everyone is familiar with why police officers act the way they do and reading Kevin Gilmartin’s book provides an insider in the daily lives of police officers, the dangers the job and how it affects their families. The first chapters started off explaining the excitement of new recruits or those entering the academy. These young men and women are excited for the new opportunities coming their way but it is not all excitement. Their lives are all about policing and even their friends are fellow officers; they lose friends outside the

In order to apply the understandings of Industrial and Organization Psychology within the workplace, I interviewed retired police officer Jasmine Bird and her position in the Internal Affairs Bureau (IAB) as an officer of the New York City Police Department (NYPD). She was chosen for the interview because she is a 15 year veteran with massive experience within the department. The NYPD is the biggest department in the country with over 35 thousand officers. Officers are trained paramilitary, meaning they adhere to the rules and regulations as that of the military. They are trained in all aspects such as combat, shooting, verbal judo, sensitivity training and operating weapons of mass destruction. Within the first years on the job, you start

This special bond between fellow police officers is what is often coined as the police subculture. The police subculture is “a distinctive set of beliefs, values, attitudes and behaviors that are shared amongst the majority of officers working in police organizations”. (Reference.com). Since a police officer’s job is to combat criminal activity, often times they see civilians as irresponsible and possible threats, which is partially true considering both the innocent and criminals are civilians. Therefore, the only other individuals police officers can trust fully are other police officers. From this connection, aspects of friendship, cooperation, and reliability arise which supports the idea of police officers against civilians, or “us versus them”.

Police “working personality” is limited by an unquestionable tacit within the police subculture, surrounded by shifting perceptions, depending on the situation.

As a police officer, the major objectives are to maintain order, enforce the law, protect one’s property, and to save lives. In addition, police are divided into two roles based on how they perform their duties. The two roles of a police officer are a public servant and a crime fighter. A police officer whose role as a public servant is to serve all types of people, as well as criminals. Public servants regularly provide advice and make judgments as to the degree of risk they should take with the public. Many decisions involving risk are relatively easy to make, but others are complex and significant consequences (Kernaghan and Langford, 2016). These risks may involve using force and the consequences could be media backlash or a potential termination. Public servants abide by the oath and uphold the integrity and honor of the organization as an officer. Also, public servant officers like to play it safe because they like to be known as ordinary citizens who like to go home to their

Police Agencies in modern society are a part of the American fabric to serve and protect the American public. The United States currently have more than 15,000 police agencies, (Walker & Katz, 2011). Police Departments across the United States face similar critical issues policing. All police officers face dangers in the job of policing the dangers can emanate from internal and external origins. Police officers have continued to evolve to serve communities by finding better less than lethal alternatives to weapons used. In addition, police departments have continued to keep up with

Which has encouraged the representation of a police subculture which glorifies crime fighting (Dick, 2005). There is a belief that individuals who are considered to be more authoritarian are more likely to apply for a career in policing, and these individuals are more prone to violence (Belur, 2009). Police routinely over-use coercive authority when they are encouraged to maintain a purpose of fighting the war against crime (Skolnick and Fyfe, 1993). This can further encourage other officers to believe that using force against criminals is a desirable method of controlling crime (Belur, 2009). However the United Kingdom is a country that does not condone any killing of its members, therefore the issue of police killing being deemed as legal creates friction between the public and police (McCulloch, 1989).

The police department faces a few difficulties with how they internally define cop culture. In this reading the Ferguson and the Ferguson police department practice “more tickets” and that means more than the two tickets which is how many they need a day to meet their quota system. In doing so the data sources on police crimes/corruptions falls into a different meaning than what it meant when they first joined the police department, which was to protect and serve the community. The purpose of being a police officer is to be fair and help other individual in need, but policing becomes a form of social inequities because it is used to be unfair and unequal and view others as numbers. According to Stamper (2016) due to the pressure from police

In the police force, the assumptions and beliefs of the officers have an effect on the way that they perform their job as well as how they act on the

The history of policing can be traced back to the beginning of time. When looking at the subject of police work there is a large culture and history that follows along with it. There are many topics that can be analyzed when identifying, and describing the elements and the significances that are associated with policing. A large element of the police job that plays a large factor in the work and attributes to the policing culture is the amount of stress that an office will face while performing on the job. Another part of the job that plays a large part in the culture

Friederich Nietzsche wrote, “Whoever fights monsters should seek to it that in the process he does not become a monster”. This aptly applies to police officers who face unexpected and potentially dangerous situations every day. Police officers are confronted with destructive and negative behavior on a regular basis. Law enforcement is one of the most stressful and demanding professions in the United States. Characteristics of police work are stressful because a situation can change at any time. An FBI report shows that approximately twelve out of every one hundred or 60,000 police officers are assaulted each year (Stevens, p. 587). Combined with many other factors,