This thesis examined the occupational experiences of lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) police officers in post-Macpherson police constabularies across England and Wales. It reports the findings of a qualitatively-driven mixed method study conducted between September 2010 and November 2011 combining a national online survey of LGB police officers (n = 836) with 43 semi-structured qualitative interviews. The research found that the workplace experiences of LGB police officers have been radically transformed since last empirically explored on this scale, now twenty years ago. These changes have been brought about by new political, social and economic climates of inclusivity and protection for LGB individuals that collectively induced a new policing ‘field’ in England and Wales at the turn of the new millennium, one that placed diversity and difference at its core. Drawing upon police cultural, symbolic interactionist and organisational perspectives, the thesis highlights how despite still being psychologically saddled by a complex cauldron of identity management strategies, LGB officers make legitimate contributions to the contemporary policing mission as internal agents of cultural change and as intermediaries between the public police and LGB communities. However, the research also highlights small pockets of resistance towards the inclusion of LGB officers evidenced by continued episodes of discrimination and prejudice. Similarly, the research identified anxieties and insecurities amongst LGB officers themselves related to the longevity of police diversity reform efforts. Although predominantly looking at the experiences and contributions of LGB officers in England and Wales as a collective, this research promotes the need for a heterogeneous and malleable understanding of policing by providing examples of how the experiences of LGB officers differ according to rank, area of police work and constabulary type.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:600621 |
| Date | January 2014 |
| Creators | Jones, Matthew Leonard |
| Publisher | Cardiff University |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | http://orca.cf.ac.uk/59333/ |
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