Bashed and Wounded: The Performance of Vulnerability in Policing

Stephanie N. Whitehead

doi:doi:10.11648/j.ijls.20210402.17

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Bashed and Wounded: The Performance of Vulnerability in Policing

Stephanie N. Whitehead

Published in International Journal of Law and Society (Volume 4, Issue 2)

Received: 16 April 2021 Accepted: 6 May 2021 Published: 14 May 2021

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Abstract

This article centers on the sense of vulnerability and victimization felt by police officers in the United States. Of particular interest is how officers feel victimized by individuals and groups who offer critiques of police organizations. An analysis of the affective expressions of this sense of victimization through conversations with officers and trainers from a state in the Midwest, United States, illustrates a lingering antagonism between police and those deemed outsiders. This article specifically examines the interpretive strategies and cultural logic officers use to make meaning of themselves as victims of what they deem as unjustifiable criticism and critique by those outside the police institution. This work illustrates that the use of such rhetorical tropes as 'cop bashing' can be understood as a form of culture work used to silence alternative interpretations of policing in general and police work in particular. The culture work of ‘bashing’ is thus part of the cultural milieu of policing and feeds distrust in police organizations making it hard to offer meaningful critiques and recommendations for improving police work and policing organizations. Findings are discussed in relation to the implications for critical policing studies and the politics of knowledge at play in interpretations of policing actions.

Published in	International Journal of Law and Society (Volume 4, Issue 2)
DOI	10.11648/j.ijls.20210402.17
Page(s)	100-106
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Police, Siege Mentality, Vulnerability, Cop Bashing, Police Performances

References

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[4]	Hunt, J. (1985). Police accounts of normal force. Urban Life, 13 (4), 315-341.
[5]	Manning, P. K. (1997). Police work : The social organization of policing (2nd ed.). Prospect Heights, Ill.: Waveland Press.
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[7]	Crank, J. P. (1998). Understanding police culture. Cincinnati, OH: Anderson.
[8]	Waddington, P. A. J. (1999). Police (canteen) sub-culture: An appreciation. British Journal of Criminology, 39 (2): 287-309.
[9]	Loader, I. (1997). Policing and the social: Questions of symbolic power. British Journal of Sociology, 48 (1): 1-18.
[10]	Manning, P. (1998). Symbolic communication: Signifying calls and the police response. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press.
[11]	Ericson, R. V. (1982). Reproducing order: A study of police patrol work. Toronto, CN: University of Toronto Press.
[12]	Reiner, R. (1992). The politics of the police (2nd ed.). Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
[13]	Loader, I. (2006). Policing, recognition, and belonging. The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 605: 201-223.
[14]	Loader, I., & Mulcahy, A. (2003). Policing and the condition of England: Memory, politics and culture. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
[15]	MacDonald, H. (2003). Are cops racist?: How the war against the police harms black Americans. Chicago, IL: Ivan Dee Publisher.
[16]	Malkin, M. (2009, December 4). The war on cops. Retrieved from http://michellemalkin.com/2009/12/04/the-war-on-cops/.
[17]	Harring, S. L. (1983). Policing a class society: The experience of American cities, 1865-1915. New Brunswick, N. J.: Rutgers University Press.
[18]	Lane, P. J. (2001). The existential condition of television crime drama. Journal of Popular Culture, 34 (4), 137-152.
[19]	Fyfe, J. (1996). Training to reduce police-civilian violence. In W. Geller & H. Toch (Eds.), Police violence: Understanding and controlling police abuse of force (165-179). Yale University Press.
[20]	Bratton, W. J. (2006). Keynote Speech as Delivered at the 2006 National Institute of Justice Conference. Research: A practitioner’s perspective, from the streets. Western Criminology Review, 7 (3): 1-6.
[21]	Wender, J. (2008). Policing and the poetics of everyday life. Chicago, IL: University of Illinois Press.
[22]	Birzer, M. L. (2008). What makes a good police officer? Phenomenological reflections from the African-American community. Police Practice & Research, 9 (3), 199-212.

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Stephanie N. Whitehead. (2021). Bashed and Wounded: The Performance of Vulnerability in Policing. International Journal of Law and Society, 4(2), 100-106. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijls.20210402.17

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Stephanie N. Whitehead. Bashed and Wounded: The Performance of Vulnerability in Policing. Int. J. Law Soc. 2021, 4(2), 100-106. doi: 10.11648/j.ijls.20210402.17

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Stephanie N. Whitehead. Bashed and Wounded: The Performance of Vulnerability in Policing. Int J Law Soc. 2021;4(2):100-106. doi: 10.11648/j.ijls.20210402.17

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@article{10.11648/j.ijls.20210402.17,
  author = {Stephanie N. Whitehead},
  title = {Bashed and Wounded: The Performance of Vulnerability in Policing},
  journal = {International Journal of Law and Society},
  volume = {4},
  number = {2},
  pages = {100-106},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ijls.20210402.17},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijls.20210402.17},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijls.20210402.17},
  abstract = {This article centers on the sense of vulnerability and victimization felt by police officers in the United States. Of particular interest is how officers feel victimized by individuals and groups who offer critiques of police organizations. An analysis of the affective expressions of this sense of victimization through conversations with officers and trainers from a state in the Midwest, United States, illustrates a lingering antagonism between police and those deemed outsiders. This article specifically examines the interpretive strategies and cultural logic officers use to make meaning of themselves as victims of what they deem as unjustifiable criticism and critique by those outside the police institution. This work illustrates that the use of such rhetorical tropes as 'cop bashing' can be understood as a form of culture work used to silence alternative interpretations of policing in general and police work in particular. The culture work of ‘bashing’ is thus part of the cultural milieu of policing and feeds distrust in police organizations making it hard to offer meaningful critiques and recommendations for improving police work and policing organizations. Findings are discussed in relation to the implications for critical policing studies and the politics of knowledge at play in interpretations of policing actions.},
 year = {2021}
}

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T1  - Bashed and Wounded: The Performance of Vulnerability in Policing
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Y1  - 2021/05/14
PY  - 2021
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijls.20210402.17
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AB  - This article centers on the sense of vulnerability and victimization felt by police officers in the United States. Of particular interest is how officers feel victimized by individuals and groups who offer critiques of police organizations. An analysis of the affective expressions of this sense of victimization through conversations with officers and trainers from a state in the Midwest, United States, illustrates a lingering antagonism between police and those deemed outsiders. This article specifically examines the interpretive strategies and cultural logic officers use to make meaning of themselves as victims of what they deem as unjustifiable criticism and critique by those outside the police institution. This work illustrates that the use of such rhetorical tropes as 'cop bashing' can be understood as a form of culture work used to silence alternative interpretations of policing in general and police work in particular. The culture work of ‘bashing’ is thus part of the cultural milieu of policing and feeds distrust in police organizations making it hard to offer meaningful critiques and recommendations for improving police work and policing organizations. Findings are discussed in relation to the implications for critical policing studies and the politics of knowledge at play in interpretations of policing actions.
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Author Information

Stephanie N. Whitehead

Department of Criminal Justice and Political Science, Indiana University East, Richmond, IN, United States of America

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APA Style

Stephanie N. Whitehead. (2021). Bashed and Wounded: The Performance of Vulnerability in Policing. International Journal of Law and Society, 4(2), 100-106. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijls.20210402.17

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ACS Style

Stephanie N. Whitehead. Bashed and Wounded: The Performance of Vulnerability in Policing. Int. J. Law Soc. 2021, 4(2), 100-106. doi: 10.11648/j.ijls.20210402.17

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AMA Style

Stephanie N. Whitehead. Bashed and Wounded: The Performance of Vulnerability in Policing. Int J Law Soc. 2021;4(2):100-106. doi: 10.11648/j.ijls.20210402.17

Copy | Download

@article{10.11648/j.ijls.20210402.17,
  author = {Stephanie N. Whitehead},
  title = {Bashed and Wounded: The Performance of Vulnerability in Policing},
  journal = {International Journal of Law and Society},
  volume = {4},
  number = {2},
  pages = {100-106},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ijls.20210402.17},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijls.20210402.17},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijls.20210402.17},
  abstract = {This article centers on the sense of vulnerability and victimization felt by police officers in the United States. Of particular interest is how officers feel victimized by individuals and groups who offer critiques of police organizations. An analysis of the affective expressions of this sense of victimization through conversations with officers and trainers from a state in the Midwest, United States, illustrates a lingering antagonism between police and those deemed outsiders. This article specifically examines the interpretive strategies and cultural logic officers use to make meaning of themselves as victims of what they deem as unjustifiable criticism and critique by those outside the police institution. This work illustrates that the use of such rhetorical tropes as 'cop bashing' can be understood as a form of culture work used to silence alternative interpretations of policing in general and police work in particular. The culture work of ‘bashing’ is thus part of the cultural milieu of policing and feeds distrust in police organizations making it hard to offer meaningful critiques and recommendations for improving police work and policing organizations. Findings are discussed in relation to the implications for critical policing studies and the politics of knowledge at play in interpretations of policing actions.},
 year = {2021}
}

Copy | Download

TY  - JOUR
T1  - Bashed and Wounded: The Performance of Vulnerability in Policing
AU  - Stephanie N. Whitehead
Y1  - 2021/05/14
PY  - 2021
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijls.20210402.17
DO  - 10.11648/j.ijls.20210402.17
T2  - International Journal of Law and Society
JF  - International Journal of Law and Society
JO  - International Journal of Law and Society
SP  - 100
EP  - 106
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2640-1908
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijls.20210402.17
AB  - This article centers on the sense of vulnerability and victimization felt by police officers in the United States. Of particular interest is how officers feel victimized by individuals and groups who offer critiques of police organizations. An analysis of the affective expressions of this sense of victimization through conversations with officers and trainers from a state in the Midwest, United States, illustrates a lingering antagonism between police and those deemed outsiders. This article specifically examines the interpretive strategies and cultural logic officers use to make meaning of themselves as victims of what they deem as unjustifiable criticism and critique by those outside the police institution. This work illustrates that the use of such rhetorical tropes as 'cop bashing' can be understood as a form of culture work used to silence alternative interpretations of policing in general and police work in particular. The culture work of ‘bashing’ is thus part of the cultural milieu of policing and feeds distrust in police organizations making it hard to offer meaningful critiques and recommendations for improving police work and policing organizations. Findings are discussed in relation to the implications for critical policing studies and the politics of knowledge at play in interpretations of policing actions.
VL  - 4
IS  - 2
ER  -

Copy | Download