A Tale of Two Cultures: Exploring the Occupational Experiences of Lesbian Gay and Bisexual Police Officers Post-Macpherson

Abstract: This paper reports findings from a qualitatively driven national mixed-method project that examined the workplace experiences of lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) Police officers within an unprecedented era of active inclusion as part of post-Macpherson workforce modernisation efforts. Using Chan (1996), it outlines internal and external factors that have collectively induced a new police diversity ‘field’, one that has radically transformed the experiences and inclusion of LGB officers since they were last empirically explored on this scale twenty years ago. However, supporting a claim that police diversity reform efforts should not be seen as complete, the paper also identifies factors relating to a historically informed police habitus, that continue to show resistance to the inclusion of LGB officers and which are preventing the realisation of a relational psychological contract between some LGB officers and their constabularies. These antagonistic factors, the paper argues, represent the emergence of a distinct organisational culture in police constabularies post-Macpherson which operates in direct contrast to the once dominant informal occupational culture of the rank and file.