When 'us vs. them' goes one step further : double alienation in An Garda Siochána

In policing literature, the ‘us versus them’ paradigm is well documented, whereby ‘us’ is the police and ‘them’ is the public. But what happens when frontline officers are separated both from society and from those within their own organisation? This research looks down a new pathway of what it means to be doubly alienated in an atmosphere that already makes sociability difficult. In Ireland, there has been little research to date on An Garda Síochána, Ireland’s national police force, and nothing that has addressedthe cross roads these officers find themselves in under these circumstances. The organisation espouses a culture of conform or face the consequences. In these particular circumstances, officers must then either compromise their integrity or become pariahs in the organisation. This qualitative exploration analyses documents to understand under what conditions officers must make these decisions and how they are received by the public and the organisation when they do.

Publication year:2019

Accessibility:Closed