Constructing the ‘other’ within police culture: an analysis of a deviant unit within the police organization

Abstract

As a society, we aggregate and dichotomize ourselves by implying that sharing a master status effectively binds a set of people together. Dichotomization constructs an image of a mythical ‘other’ who is not at all like ‘us’ and may result in stigmatization and leveling of sanctions against those who occupy the ‘other’ status. Research has revealed a police culture that promotes a ‘we–they’ paradox within the larger community. This research goes a step further in examining how police culture invokes this paradox within the police organization itself. In particular, it examines how police culture stigmatizes and sanctions, or penalizes, community police officers who engage in ‘social service’ work. The study revealed that feelings of stigma were determined by lack of agency support and officer ridicule and resulted in high levels of agency penalty.