Police Culture And Occupational Culture
Police culture is the occupational culture that results from various situations and problems that all vocational members confront and to which they equally respond (Paoline III, 2003). Individuals in different occupations engage in tasks and encounter problems when fulfilling those tasks; they develop shared attitudes and norms for the resolution of problems that they are confronted with and the prevading attitudes are transmitted across members. Therefore, occupational culture contains accepted practices, rules and principles that are applied in different situations as well as generalised rationales and beliefs (Manning, 1995). More specifically, Smit (1979) defines police culture as the values, attitudes, rules, perceptions, philosophies
and practices that provide police officials with a unique worldview. Westley (1970) asserts that police culture has its own customs, laws and morality. Police culture is a culture within community culture that is not entirely different from other cultures; whether it is societal culture or police culture, both constitute the elements of cynicism, solidarity and isolation from people outside the organisation or structure.
and practices that provide police officials with a unique worldview. Westley (1970) asserts that police culture has its own customs, laws and morality. Police culture is a culture within community culture that is not entirely different from other cultures; whether it is societal culture or police culture, both constitute the elements of cynicism, solidarity and isolation from people outside the organisation or structure.