HUMOR IN THE BRIEFING ROOM

Abstract

This article explores the strategic uses of humor in the police organization. Based upon a year-long ethnographic study of one suburban police department, we examine four types of humor characteristics of the work relations among patrol officers: jocular aggression, audience degradation, diffusion of danger/tragedy, and normative neutralization. Humor allows for a wide range of creative expressions by which specific ideas, attitudes, and behaviors may be tested. Through humor, patrol officers relate and interpret work experiences to reinforce their own perspective of policing. Institutionalized humorous communication also contributes to the maintenance of organizational relationships.