Bashed and Wounded: The Performance of Vulnerability in Policing

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.