Over and out: the damaged and conflicting identities of officers voluntarily resigning from the police service

ABSTRACT

This paper seeks to understand the complexities associated with managing and ultimately exiting a career in the police through an analysis of semi-structured interviews undertaken with 27 police officers who voluntarily resigned from an English police force between 2014 and 2019. It does this through a microsociological approach to the study of identity construction which focuses upon the interactive and shifting relationships within policing identities and considers both the role of the individual and of the organisation itself in identity management. The findings indicate that police officers suffer irreconcilable identity threats through an incompatibility between their work and non-work roles and a perception that their work is not valued or recognised and has not met their prior expectations. These issues are exacerbated for those returning from maternity leave and for primary care givers and further by the salience of the policing identity. Despite undertaking identity work in order to align the incongruity in their conflicted and damaged identities and despite their attempts to mitigate the impact of implicit organisational control through the management of identities, officers ultimately feel that their only course of action is to voluntarily resign.

KEYWORDS:

• Policing identity
• identity work
• police resignations
• identity regulation
• voluntary resignations

Being a police officer is associated with facing ‘threats’. However, these often physical threats and challenges associated with the policing role are viewed by officers themselves as more manageable and less impactful than the internal organisational threats that officers face in reconciling the inconsistencies and incompatibilities in their working and non-working lives (Charman and Bennett 2022). Although the combined rates of officers ‘leaving’ the police service through death, dismissal, retirement and voluntary resignation are fairly static, when the figures for voluntary resignations amongst police officers in England and Wales are considered alone, these numbers are rising. There were 3433 voluntary resignations in England and Wales in the year March 2021 until March 2022, a rise of 72% on the previous year of March 2020 until March 2021 and a rise of 196% a decade before in the year of March 2011 until March 2012 (Home Office 2016, 2022). Rates of voluntary resignations amongst Black, Asian and minority ethnic officers and amongst female officers were at a much higher rate than their white and male colleagues. In the year ending March 2022, 52.5% of female leavers were voluntary resignations compared to 38.1% of male leavers (Home Office 2022).

These numbers beg the question of whether this is a problem for the police service or not. There is increasing evidence that ‘portfolio careers’ are becoming a more established model of twenty-first century work, particularly in the private sector (Stokes 2021). The National Police Chiefs’ Council in England and Wales referred to those leaving policing as part of a ‘healthy churn’ which was deemed to be ‘positive’ (NPCC 2016, p. 6). Do the increasing numbers of voluntary resigners therefore reflect a movement away from policing as a ‘job for life’ with officers deliberately targeting policing as a short-term career plan before embarking on a new challenge? Or should we consider the increasing numbers of voluntary resignations as an indication of some level of organisational and/or occupational failure? Either way, the paucity of research in the area of police leavers makes this understanding a challenge. This paper therefore seeks to understand the complexities associated with managing and ultimately exiting a career in the police. It does this through the lens of identity because policing and being a police officer is more than simply a role. By analysing semi-structured interviews with 27 police officers who voluntarily resigned from an English police force between 2014 and 2019, it considers the process of disentangling and ultimately departing from the role of the police officer and the identity repercussions of that process. The microsociological approach to the study of identity construction which focuses upon the interactive and shifting relationships within policing identities, considers both the role of the individual and of the organisation itself in identity management and in doing so enables a much wider lens to understand the organisational challenges associated with increased voluntary resignations in the police service. This paper will firstly highlight the key principles of identity research before framing our understanding of identity through Alvesson et al.’s (2008) three theoretical perspectives – social identity, identity work and identity regulation or control.

Identity theories are centrally concerned with the response to the twin concerns of ‘who am I?’ and ‘how should I act’? (Cerulo 1997). In answering those questions, there is also a consideration of how these identities are developed and shaped and the role of organisations within that process. ‘Personal’ identity refers to more individual attributes not affected by group membership whilst ‘social’ identity refers to how an individual perceives themselves in relation to others (Alvesson et al. 2008). This echoes the seminal work of George Herbert Mead which focussed on the conceptual differences between an analysis of the ‘I’ (an individual’s sense of themselves) as opposed to the ‘me’ (the sense of self that we create having reacted and responded to the feedback of others). It is this interaction between the ‘I’ and the ‘me’ which creates our sense of ‘self’. For Mead, the self is fundamentally social and his work focussed extensively on how social interactions shaped that sense of self. Developing our sense of self, and through that our self-consciousness, requires us to not only appreciate the role of others but also to imaginatively participate in the behaviours and perspectives of others – the concept that Mead referred to as the ‘generalized other’ (Mead 1934). This construction of ourselves is galvanised by our twin desires of uniqueness plus assimilation and acceptance (Wieland 2010). Identity theories (with their roots in symbolic interactionism and focus upon the self) and social identity theories (with their roots in social psychology and focus on intergroup relations) both conceive of the self as socially defined. The story of the self is therefore not authored alone. For Giddens (1991) self-identity is concerned with how the self is understood reflexively and is continuously sculpted by the many conscious experiences, interactions and events plus the many unconscious values, beliefs and symbols that shape our lives. Identity is therefore continually negotiated alongside the various intersectional identities that we hold. It is this understanding of identity through the interaction between the personal and the social, rather than as an individual endeavour, which is vital to a dynamic interpretation of identity development, in this case, as it occurs in the police.

The workplace and indeed work itself can provide meanings to our sense of self. The use of an identity lens focussed upon organisations provides us with a way of understanding and interpreting individual and group behaviour, leadership and management, organisational change and resistance in both its macro and micro forms (Alvesson et al. 2008). As Albert et al have argued ‘it is because identity is problematic - and yet so crucial to how and what one values, thinks, feels and does in all social domains, including organizations - that the dynamics of identity need to be better understood’ (2000, p. 14). All aspects of organisations – from policies and procedures through to discourse and story-telling, from individuals to groups and from sources of harmony to conflict – have the potential to impact upon identities. It is also particularly important to understand the impact of multiple identities within an organisational setting which relate to stress, wellbeing, conflict and performance (Ramarajan 2014). A consideration of identity within the realm of role exit develops the literature in this area more strongly. There is a plethora of research in policing on role entry, new recruits, socialisation, training and development but very little on what happens within the leaving process.

Alvesson et al. (2008) suggest three theoretical perspectives on identity which can be categorised as social identity, identity work and identity regulation or control. These largely fit within the broader metatheoretical philosophies associated with functionalism, interpretivism and critical theories. This is a useful framework for an analysis of identity due to its acknowledgement of both the fluidity, the messiness and the complexity of identity construction and development. The first theoretical perspective on identity is social identity and while these theories have been positively employed in policing scholarship to understand more about the processes of socialisation and legitimisation (Charman, 2017; Bradford et al. 2014), their usefulness lies especially in group dynamics and in particular in the processes of categorisation and comparison. A more dynamic account of identity can be found within the second and third of these theoretical perspectives on identity – identity work and identity regulation – which are more central to this research on voluntary resignations from the police and will be discussed next.

The second of Alvesson et al.’s (2008) theoretical perspectives on identity is identity work. Identity work focuses upon attempts to maintain identity coherence through repairing, strengthening and revising of our identities (Alvesson 2010, p. 201). ‘Successful’ identity work is therefore associated with increased identity coherence or identity congruence and a reduction in contradictions and inconsistencies (Brown 2015, Down and Reveley 2009, Thompson and Bunderson 2001). However, when individuals are faced with monumental change, significant events or moments of crisis, identity work will be at its most pronounced. This identity work is therefore associated with self-doubt, uncertainty and disruption (Alvesson and Willmott 2002). The words ‘significant’ and ‘crisis’ suggest something of seismic scale, however repeated low-level frustrations and challenges to one’s autonomy can also be conceptualised within this notion of monumental change. This identity work can occur due to a misalignment between actual and idealised self-images or from interactions with others that challenge self-perceptions (Alvesson et al. 2008). Identities at this juncture can become temporarily damaged (Van Maanen 2010) which can impair a sense of our value (Cowen and Hodgson 2015). Individuals are thus engaged in identity work to counter this anomic state and to attempt a smoothing over of the contradictions, instabilities and inconsistencies in their self-image. This strategy aims to avoid deepening the identity damage and potentially causing it to be permanent.

The third more critical theoretical perspective on identity relates to identity regulation and is concerned centrally with power. While the identity literature prioritises the development of identity and identity work by individuals themselves (e.g. Giddens 1991), it is important to recognise the degree of agency to which the individual has any control over those processes (e.g. Foucault 1980). Alvesson (2010) is keen to stress that this control is mostly situated outside of the individual within already existing and established structures.

The dynamic interpretation of identity development discussed earlier with the importance of appreciating the interaction between the personal and the social is felt no more strongly when considering multiple, contrasting and sometimes competing identities. ‘Identity bricolage’ describes the responsive piecing together of different versions of one’s self in order to create an improvised self (Brown 2015, Levi-Strauss 1966). Multiple identities can function harmoniously and concurrently but the variable salience of identities will affect the hierarchy of these identities at any given time and within any given social or group context (Hogg and Terry 2001). Where there is alignment or balance between work and non-work identities, the power relationship between organisations and individuals will be less obvious and there will be identity growth (Kreiner and Sheep 2009). However, where there is misalignment (or self-discrepancy), that power relationship between organisations and individuals will be felt much more strongly (Ramarajan and Reid 2013, Thompson and Bunderson 2001). Discrepancies between actual and ideal selves have the potential to create dejection-related and agitation-related emotions associated with the absence of positive outcomes (Higgins 1987). The maintenance of a coherent sense of identity is central to what Giddens refers to as the stability which is associated with ontological security (1991) or as Tyler and Blader (2003) refer to it – ‘identity security’. This security comes from a sense of order and continuity which is predicated upon our experiences being consistent with the meanings we attach to our lives. However, although we attempt to construct a linear identity narrative to create that ontological security, our identities are instead characterised by a ‘tissue of tales’ that does not constitute a single story (Lindemann Nelson 2001, p. 76).

Role identity conflicts often take place between work and non-work identities and are particularly apparent when exclusionary work pressures are at play. While conflicts alone rarely provoke role exit, when those conflicting experiences induce identity damage, these become identity threats (Petriglieri 2011). Whereas inclusionary pressures can provide encouragement to merge aspects of work and non-work identities in a positive manner (the provision of on-site creche or gym facilities), exclusionary pressures encourage the further separation of work and non-work identities (Ramarajan and Reid 2013). As we shall discuss later, in policing terms, this is no more apparent than in the seemingly benign focus upon the ‘policing family’, ‘fitting in’ and the presenteeism which exemplifies normative occupational practices. It is also clearly witnessed in the divestiture or ‘clean slate’ approach towards the socialisation of new recruits to the police service (Van Maanen and Schein 1979, Charman 2017). Once identity and self-worth are considered to be devalued and the previously understood meanings attached to identities are no longer viable, there are two courses of action available to individuals – identity-protection responses and identity-restructuring responses (Petriglieri 2011). It is the second of these, restructuring through identity abandonment, which is most relevant to this research on voluntary police resignations. This brings us to the final issue of role exit.

Ebaugh (1988) considered various roles and identities to formulate a general theory of role exit which drew upon both life course transitions (Glaser and Strauss 1971) and role theory (Merton 1968) and aimed to move role theory forward. Role exit theory can help us in our understanding of its central concept of disengagement (Dziewanski 2020). Ebaugh (1988) explains these role exits through four interrelated phases (called ‘tendencies’ by Ashforth 2000, p. 112) – first doubts, seeking alternatives, the turning point and creating the ex-role. These first doubts refer to the apprehensions and reservations that begin to question commitments to old roles and can be triggered amongst other things by job burnout and disappointment. As we suggested earlier, the story of the self is not authored alone. Leaving an organisation – and for the purposes of this paper leaving the police – is not simply a decision-making process but is also a social process. Individuals whose organisational commitment is waning exhibit ‘cueing behaviour’ to others and the extent of the reactions and interactions with those doubts impacts upon the length of this phase (Wacquant 1990, p. 398). These first doubts can also be triggered by events or ‘epiphanies’ which are either minor, major, cumulative or relived (Denzin 1989). It is at this point, in the early stages of signalling, that interventions by managers have more potential to successfully negotiate these doubts but this either goes unnoticed or is not yet deemed serious enough to warrant attention despite it is often being the final stage where successful intervention could be enacted (Ashforth 2000).

The second phase of Ebaugh’s (1988) theory of role exit is seeking alternatives. It is at this point that doubters begin to investigate and compare future opportunities and the duration of this stage will largely depend on how embedded and central this identity is. However, much like Maruna’s (1997) narrative of reform with imprisoned offenders, there comes a turning point and an awareness that ‘old loves of action are complete, have failed, have been disrupted, or are no longer personally satisfying’ (Ebaugh 1988, p. 123). These turning points or the ‘last straw’ serve to catalyse the exit process and reduce the cognitive dissonance associated with the exit. The facilitation of that transition from one role to another and a sense of ‘closure’ is aided by certain rites of passage such as expressions of regret, thanks and farewell events (Ashforth 2000). Finally, the transition to creating the ex-role which involves a Goffman-style ‘disculturation’ or ‘stripping of the self’ (1959) in the adoption of a new identity and the tensions and loss of identity which may arise during this process (Ebaugh 1988).

This literature review has considered Alvesson’s three theoretical perspectives of identity, and in particular on identity work and identity regulation which are central to the management of multiple identities and ultimately to identity congruence or ontological security. This dual focus on both the individuals involved (identity work) and the organisation (identity regulation) takes both an interpretivist and critical approach enabling a much wider lens to understand the organisational challenges associated with increased voluntary resignations in the police service. However, this article is focused upon instances where that congruence or coherence is not achieved and results in role exit through voluntary resignations from the police. Therefore this review has also considered the literature on conflicting and reoccurring identity threats which result in the non-alignment of multiple identities and self-discrepancies. The benefit of taking an approach which combines both an analysis of identity construction and maintenance and an analysis of role exit is that while there is merit in the identification of stages of role exit and the centrality of role to identity, there are also lessons from identity theories which role exit theories could learn from. Our perceptions of our own identity are shaped and developed in response to both reactions and interactions with others. A consideration of role alone is not complete without an analysis of the context surrounding that role (Bourdieu’s ‘habitus’ (1991)) and the relationship and dynamics between the two (Wacquant 1990). This article therefore takes a more microsociological approach to the study of identity construction with a focus upon the interactive and shifting relationships within policing identities, role identities (self-in-role) and relationships and the meanings assigned to each.

Method

One medium-sized police force in England agreed to send a letter to all police officers who had voluntarily resigned from their force between November 2014 and June 2019 to invite them to take part in an online survey. At the end of this survey, participants were invited to provide their contact details to take part in follow-up interviews in Autumn 2020 and 27 participants opted in. The research in this paper analyses those interviews. Much investigation of identity development and regulation comes from survey research alone. Our research responds to the call for more in-depth analysis of these processes at work (Alvesson and Willmott 2002). Although the ex-officers from our sample had either left the police service in the year of our interview (2020) or the preceding six years, their recollections were relayed with extreme clarity. This clarity of thought across an extended period of time is also found by Parnaby and Weston (2020) in their research with retired police officers and is surmised to be related to the significance of these life-events.

At the time of the research, restrictions surrounding the Coronavirus pandemic were in place meaning face-to-face interviews were not possible. The audio-recorded semi-structured interviews were therefore conducted using online video-conferencing software. A total of 1631 min of interviews were captured, with the average interview length being 60.4 min. Of the 27 participants, 13 were female (48.15%) and 14 were male (51.85%), with the length of service ranging from 4 to more than 25 years (the average being 14 years). The interviews were transcribed, resulting in over 260,000 words which were analysed using the NVivo software package (QSR NVivo 12). An inductive approach to data analysis aided the exploratory nature of the research, guided by Braun and Clarke’s (2006) six stages of thematic analysis. Whilst the topic areas covered within the interviews were used as initial codes, stage four (review) was implemented four times before the final themes were named. In total, two overarching themes were identified – impact on identity and organisational injustice – which were viewed as central to why participants resigned from the police service. For the purpose of this paper, it is the impact of policing on one’s identity that will be explored. Reference to secondary themes surrounding culture, reasons for joining, and management and leadership will also be made within the discussions of identity. We now move to discuss the findings of this research through an analysis of the data in relation to both identity work and identity regulation in order to reflect both the individuals and the organisation involved and to reflect the centrality of role within our understanding of identity.

Reconciling identity incongruity through identity work

As discussed earlier, this paper focuses upon two of Alvesson et al. ’s (2008) theoretical perspectives – identity work and identity regulation – in order to better understand voluntary resignations amongst police officers. This findings section will illustrate where former police officers experienced identity threats and the identity work that they engaged with to attempt to smooth over these contradictions. The discussion will then move towards a focus upon identity regulation.

The evidence from our research findings suggests that police officers are engaged in identity work in an attempt to achieve the stability which is associated with ontological security and that organisational commitment requires. This identity work centres upon attempts to disrupt the features of their conflicted and damaged identities which their work as police officers has exacerbated. This identity work in aligning the police and non-police identities is ultimately unsuccessful as our participants had resigned from the police service. However, understanding that failed identity work is crucial to an understanding of such resignations. This identity work can be observed through attempts to reconcile identity incongruity which is felt in both work and non-work settings. As shall be discussed, the situation is further compounded by other, complicating factors which are care-giving arrangements and the salience of the policing identity.

The impact on identity has been categorised under two umbrella terms: conflicted identity and damaged identity. These diminished identity statuses are not mutually exclusive and elements of both may be felt by those experiencing such identity incongruity. Conflicted identity is conceptualised as being where two (or more) separate identities intersect in the same time and space; where occupational and personal identities are perceived to be incompatible, with insufficient time to perform both. Within this research, this was predominantly as a result of the police officer identity and the parent and/or partner identities conflicting. Damaged identity refers to disturbances to the identity bricolage which is mainly caused by the failures in expectations of what it is to be a police officer, exacerbated by organisational, individual or occupational stressors.

In order to understand identity development and the officers’ journey from joining to leaving, the initial reasons for joining the police service and the early experiences of policing will be examined. The most commonly expressed reasons for joining were to fulfil a childhood ambition, viewing the job as interesting, wanting job security and to help others. These sentiments are expressed in the quotes below:

It's something that I'd wanted since I was, like, ten … I've got a real kind of social conscience I suppose, and I really wanted to help out in any way that I could (P4)

I thought, that sounds interesting, I liked the idea that it was quite a secure job (P11)

It was a 30 year deal … And I just thought, okay, I’ll sign up for 30 years and I’ll give it my best and we’ll see where we are (P18)

I suppose I wanted to make a difference, it’s a bit corny, but that’s what you think you’re going to be (P21)

At the early stages of their policing career, participants recalled positive experiences, particularly surrounding the closeness of their teams and feeling part of a family:

I loved it, we had the best laugh. Yes, it was grim at times, but just that team spirit and knowing everybody had your back (P2)

When I first joined, you were in a proper team, and you were a family, you know. You spent more time with these people than you did at home. (P6)

When I joined, I was probably on a team of ten, and it was really nice, and we worked together, you all helped each other … And you always felt that someone had your back … My first, probably three or four years, was good fun (P12)

Whilst the sentiments shared by participants in the remainder of this paper are largely negative, this in itself will demonstrate the significant shift in attitudes from the start of their policing careers. It is how this shift is understood from an identity perspective that will now be discussed.

Conflicted identity

The findings indicate that for nearly half of the participants (48%), the occupational identity of a police officer was perceived to be incompatible with the personal identities held by officers, such as being a parent or a partner. This is often as a result of occupational and organisational stressors, which culminated in participants believing they had to choose between them. Thirteen of the participants discussed the challenges that arose within their personal lives due to being a police officer and indicated that it was difficult to meet the demands of the job and the responsibility of being a parent and/or partner. The following quotes provide an illustration of these sentiments:

When we had children, a lot of things changed (P1)

My child is sick and yet I spend more time with a felon, a criminal, than I do with my own family. Yeah, and I think that for me was the turning point where I decided, is this really worth it? (P3)

it was so tough. And I had a young family at home as well, and you can imagine the stress of trying to go through all that at work as well as having a young baby at home (P23)

I didn't like the job enough to be giving certain things up. You know, New Year's Eves, or Christmases, or birthdays … we obviously all have to make sacrifices with our jobs, and things like that. But I didn't want to do that, and I certainly didn't want to do that then when children came along (P4)

It gets to a point … there wasn’t a home-life balance, there was no balance at all …  (P7)

In addition to the challenges in balancing work and home life, participants also expressed their worries and concern for the safety and wellbeing of their families, as a result of them being a police officer:

a few acquaintances and friends that I grew up with on that estate that wouldn’t have anything to do with me anymore. I remember being constantly worried of any repercussions for my family’s house because I did that job (P27)

One of us, whether it's my husband or I needs to be at home, and needs to be … functioning within daylight hours and needs to be able to be awake in order to not interfere overly with looking after children. So that was sort of the issue that, sort of, made me think, right I need to leave (P20)

Broader concerns were raised and alluded to by participants regarding the negative impact that being a police officer had on relationships with friends and family:

I was invited to some family social occasions, where it got a little bit ansty, because they all knew you were a cop … so that puts you in a terrible situation, because if something was to unfold, then you’re always in fear that they’re going to go, oh, it was the copper over there, he started it (P16)

I became a bad husband, definitely (P1)

It does change you as a person (P17)

When your personal life has been impacted so greatly, actually the balance sways completely one way when you're in the police service. It takes over your entire life (P5)

The illustrative quotes provided here indicate that some participants reached a point where they felt that their multiple identities were unaligned and that the recurring negative experiences were becoming an identity threat. These participants felt therefore that a choice had to be made between continuing their career or putting their family first. Their two identities were incongruous and were not able to provide that sense of ontological security. Such sentiments are explicitly expressed in the following quotes:

It eventually got to the point where I had to make a decision of my career or my family (P3)

and you kind of have to accept that if you have children, you kind of have to either give one or the other up, … certainly there’s no middle ground of being able to do both (P12)

I felt it would impact on my mental health a lot, if I’d stayed, I’d become probably quite low from it all because of the demand, from all aspects of life really, and the police always want to come first (P12)

Police officers reported the conflicts that they faced as they tried to negotiate and balance the multiple identities associated with being a police officer and being a parent and/or partner. This was in the form of both concerns about the negative impact on relationships and the potentially negative impact on their family wellbeing and safety. The impact of this misalignment is identity incongruity. This discord arises when there is insufficient time to perform the required duties in both settings, when strain within one setting affects the other and when expected behaviours in each role are contradictory or incompatible (Greenhaus and Beutell 1985, Duxbury et al. 2020). All of this was evident in the responses from our research participants. Ramarajan (2014) has suggested that very complex networks of identities do not have much overlap. It could therefore be argued that the very diverse identity components required in the enactment of ‘crime-fighting’ police officer on one hand and parent on the other, exemplify this complex identity network. These pressures are intensified when either or both of these roles are central to an individual’s identity and can be identity destroying (Kahn 1964). This inability of police officers to align the requirements of work and non-work identities, in many cases to dissatisfaction on both sides, caused many participants to question and reconsider their priorities.

Of the thirteen female participants, eight specifically raised issues which they perceived to be connected to their gender; four of whom did so in relation to the cultural challenges that they faced when returning to service following maternity leave, for example:

I always felt like I was having to, kind of, prove that I was doing a good enough job. … I think a lot of women, like, they work through their lunch breaks, or … just sit at their desk working … 'cause they still want to be seen to be as good as everybody else (P4)

I would say it’s a man’s job. And I’m a woman who’s done that and I should feel more of an equal, but I never did. And they would deny that, and I know they would, and they would say that everything’s about equality, but at the end of the day … when you have children you become a problem really, in how they’re going to fit you in (P12)

Three of the four female participants mentioned above discussed the lack of familiar, female role models within policing which made the challenges associated with identity work in this area more problematic, particularly when absent from management and leadership. These identity threats may have been eased by the presence of officers in similar situations who were maintaining identity coherence through successfully negotiating these multiple identities but these role models were absent:

Most of the sergeants were men, there were very few female sergeants … . And like I said, you’d get the very young women, or you’d get the much older women, there was never that middle ground of women (P12)

the really senior females that are married with children … they seem to be always far and few between … it’s very hard to then be motivated when you think well I am married and I have children, so I’d like some role models that fit that criteria please (P15)

I mean this might just be my own personal experience, but you tended to find a lot of the officers who were still there … female officers, who were probably at the time in their … early 40s, they never had children … there were exceptions to that, don't get me wrong, but it felt like they … were unable to retain female officers post having children (P20)

Whilst issues surrounding childcare and families formed a significant contribution to the identified theme of conflicted identity, some officers also referred to an inability to separate their personal identity with that of being a police officer. This can be reinforced by the reactions and interactions with others as our perceptions of our own identity are shaped and developed in this way. However, it can also make the decision to leave more difficult. The impact of this can also be seen in the later discussion on damaged identities, but the following quotes demonstrate the dominance that the police officer identity has on the socially defined sense of self:

The years that I was in, it was work was your life … it was incredibly demanding (P1)

I don’t think when you’re in, you realise how much of your identity is merged with the identity of a police officer. And when that’s not there anymore, it almost feels like, is there any of you anymore, what’s left, you know, has the best part gone? (P24)

And it’s sometimes hard to switch off when you’re off duty … you don’t tend to switch off really, although you should …  (P7)

The evidence presented here points towards a policing identity which is all-consuming for many officers, damaging the potential for the development and maintenance of multiple identities that police officers hold within and outside of the workplace. This situation is particularly compounded for women returning to work after maternity leave and primary care-givers where there is a perception that parental status is organisationally problematic and incompatible with organisational requirements. These interactions and reactions from colleagues and line managers are sufficient to challenge individual’s self-perceptions and disrupt their identities. As discussed earlier, these damaged identities have the potential to impair a sense of our value (Cowen and Hodgson 2015) and can occur when other more powerful groups view individuals or their work negatively (Lindemann Nelson 2001). The impact of this on the everyday lives of police officers appears to be one of conflicted identities. A common issue raised within this theme is the perceived lack of control that officers have regarding the impact of the role of a police officer on other identities. This precludes the possibility of effective identity work by these individuals which is required to address these inconsistencies. Instead, the power is held by the organisation who are complicit in regulating the identities of police officers through the maintenance of established norms and cultural practices about the role and position of the police officer. Whilst a conflict between the different domains of worklife and non-work life are clearly not exclusive to policing, there is already evidence to suggest that 80% of officers reported feelings of stress, low mood or anxiety with over 90% of these attributing this to work or being exacerbated by work (Elliot-Davies and Houdmont 2017, Elliot-Davies 2018). This is in comparison with only 26% of the adult population attributing their difficulties to work (Elliot-Davies 2018). One way of dealing with the difficulties and conflicts imposed is therefore through voluntary resignation, whether this is the preferred option or not.

Damaged identity

Over three-quarters of participants (85%) provided responses which indicated the presence of a damaged identity. Organisational, individual or occupational stressors can result in officers experiencing feelings of disappointment and frustration in not achieving their career expectations and goals. Whilst the feelings of frustration were also caused by conflicted identities, the impact felt here is on the self and how an individual internalises this, in some cases altering the view of themselves. The issues raised within this theme predominantly focused on two areas – (i) not feeling recognised and valued within their police officer role and (ii) not being able to fulfil the identity expectations of a police officer. The result of these two identity threats led to a sense of sadness and frustration that these damaged identities had necessitated an end to their policing career.

A third of participants expressed that their skills, experience, efforts and abilities were often not recognised, not just by the policing organisation but also by the general public and media. These quotes are illustrations of these sentiments:

The goalposts were constantly moving and I just felt like it just seemed hugely unfair, I was never going to meet everybody’s expectations (P15)

It's quite hard when you do a good job and you pride yourself on a good job that you do and then you see on the news that you're not doing a good job because it's always the police's fault …  (P10)

I only might make it to sergeant, when I felt that I had far more potential than was being recognised (P5)

The organisation put people into a little box. And that’s the job you do. And they’ve never realised that that person was also capable of doing the next job along, you know? (P1)

Whilst the previous examples evidence feelings of participant’s actions and work being ignored or overlooked, feelings of not being valued as an individual were also shared by participants, demonstrating the impact that a lack of recognition can have:

I was a bit disillusioned straightaway because I had thought that with my experience, and my qualifications, that I would be able to … join the police and make a real difference. Because I needed all those things to become a police officer, but as soon as I became a police officer, I was just a number, and that was really difficult … I did just feel like a number. (P4)

And I just think we are just a number, and you accept that (P2)

There's also the fact that you feel you're quite low, you don't feel very valued, so if your current employer doesn't value you, then how is any other employer going to value you, you know … you're almost like a domestic abuse victim, if you like, you know, you're stuck in that rut and you feel like you can't go anywhere, and that there isn't any way out (P23)

Our research findings indicate that officer’s identities were threatened by not feeling recognised and valued within their role as a police officer. This lack of recognition was felt not only to emanate from the policing organisation itself but also from the general public and the media. There is insufficient space to allow a fuller discussion of this but this situation is also compounded by the taint or ‘dirty worker’ status of police officers which is much at odds with perceptions of the symbolic ‘hero’ or ‘warrior’ image that police officers may have initially hoped to cultivate (Hughes 1951, 1958, Dick 2005, De Camargo 2019).

For work to be interpreted as ‘good’ and meaningful, it needs not only to be challenging, interesting, intrinsically rewarding but also understood to have a positive impact (Gardner et al. 2002, Chalofsky and Krishna 2009). This echoes the Weberian concept of ‘calling’ (or Beruf) (Weber 1977, 1919). The ‘meaningfulness’ of work will not only impact on the identity work required to address issues of coherence and congruence but is also closely connected to both organisational commitment and retention. Identity work will be at its most pronounced in order to attempt to discover some identity congruity. More research is needed in this area to ascertain the alternative forms of positive identity markers that police officers might seek out when this disappointment between expectations and reality is felt. There is evidence to suggest that both cynicism and team solidarity can provide that alternative outlet (Charman 2017). It is perhaps within this territory that the more concerning and potentially negative attributes of the policing subculture are allowed to flourish.

The feelings of being undervalued and viewed as an insignificant member of a large organisation appear to have a negative impact on identity and the quotes in the two previous sections highlight a reluctant acceptance of participants’ restricted positions. In environments where the actions and communications of others appear dismissive, this can leave individuals experiencing a diminished sense of self within the organisation which is at odds with their expectations of the police officer identity which we shall move onto now.

Research has consistently shown that police officers join the job for the team-work, the work variety, public service and security (Van Maanen 1973, Fielding 1988, Chan 1997, Charman 2017) and the findings from our research confirms this with their responses relating to helping others, fulfilling childhood ambitions, viewing the job as important and interesting and wanting job security. The reality of the job however falls short of these expectations and participants reported an inability to meet these expectations and an inability therefore to perform and occupy the identity requirements of being a police officer.

A third of participants stated that they were not able to fulfil these career expectations or goals, whether that was in relation to progression and promotion, being able to ‘make a difference’ or in having a ‘job for life’:

I regret not achieving what I set out to achieve really. I wanted to progress, I wanted to be in CID, I wanted to do my career and I just I suppose felt regretful that I couldn’t fulfil all of those ambitions I’d set for myself. I came away feeling like oh I never achieved what I wanted to achieve (P15)

I want to be able to come and see you ‘cause your car's been broken into, I want to be able to come and see you because you're a little bit concerned about a strange noise that you heard … because that's what the police are supposed to be there for, to make you feel reassured and safe in your property. But we couldn't do that anymore, because we were too busy (P6)

Part of the reason why I left actually because after a while I felt that I'm not actually solving a problem, I'm just sort of keeping a lid on something or going in in a snapshot of somebody’s life when there's an argument … sorting that argument out and then coming away and then just leaving them there (P27)

Evidence suggests that police officers initially have very high expectations about their role (Alcadipani et al. 2021) and like other professions such as nurses, there are damaging repercussions for those working in sectors with ‘idealized professional identities’ (DiBenigno 2022). A disassociation between the expectations and the realities of the policing career has already been found to be closely linked to the endogenous disappointment felt by new recruits to the police service (Charman 2017) and there is an argument that this narrative of disappointment is ongoing within the identity work performed by many police officers. It relates not only to the expectations and subsequent realities of the job but also to the value placed upon the job of policing itself.

Identity incongruity in the work setting was apparent in participants’ perceptions that their career goals and expectations remained unmet. As a result of not being able to achieve their career goals or meet their career expectations, participants expressed mixed feelings of sadness and frustration in leaving the organisation and their policing careers coming to an end:

I just feel sad that my lifetime ambition has been spoiled by the very thing that I thought would always protect me. This has been a hard fact to accept but I finally have this acceptance now and know that this is the time for me to move on (P8)

I definitely struggled with my identity for a while, I spent the first two years saying I used to be in the police as a sort of a validator (P15)

It’s just sad, I think that’s the word, it’s a sad indictment of where the police service is when somebody like me who’s very loyal, very … well I think I was a very professional, very strong-willed police officer and I was eventually broken by the end of it (P9)

I was broken. Broken … And so yeah, I walked and I feel like it was a really shitty end to something I worked really hard for. (P2)

I was damaged really, I was bruised and it took a while for the bruise to fade (P14)

Where for some participants there was sadness and frustration, for other participants there was regret. That regret was linked to the negative emotions associated with leaving an organisation where they felt they had much more to give:

The regrets, I suppose, are that … I'm not a police officer anymore, and I wasn't able to kind of really fulfil what I really wanted to achieve, which was to … well I have made a difference to a few people's lives, but I know I could make a difference to a lot more (P4)

You always feel guilty when you leave because you always think there was more to do (P24)

I might not be able to do the frontline stuff, I might be able to do something very useful somewhere. But then, my boss came to see me and said, you know, you’re better off leaving … I really didn’t want to leave, I’m a highly motivated bloke, who’d probably done very well, you know, doing what I was doing. But, I didn’t want to leave, … I really didn’t … but I really thought I could give something more (P1)

From the perspective of these quoted officers who are simply illustrations of wider sentiments, it is clear that voluntary resignations from the police service do not necessarily immediately assuage the identity threats they had experienced nor provide the ontological security that they might have imagined would follow such a resignation. Irrespective of the meanings attached to the resignation by the participants in terms of it being a ‘correct’ decision or otherwise, all participants expressed some level of disappointment about their resignation. Both the salience of the policing identity and the manner in which the policing organisation engages in identity regulation as we shall move to next, only goes to enhance the complications associated with this decision.

The issue of identity work has been discussed alongside the voices of former officers in order to emphasise their personal and emotional endeavours in attempting to smooth over the identity contradictions inherent in their work and non-work identities. This paper will now move from police officers themselves to the policing organisation and a discussion of identity regulation in order to better understand why ultimately this identity work fails.

Organisational control through identity regulation

Identities are a complex and dynamic construction shaped by both conscious experiences and unconscious values and beliefs and are continually negotiated as we interact with others and respond to their reactions and feedbacks. This interaction between the ‘I’ and the ‘me’, the personal and the social, is central to an understanding of the reflexive and dynamic interpretation of identity development. One source of identity is through work and this paper focuses upon this workplace identity of policing and its interactions with other non-work identities. Clearly, there are multiple such identities and more than a single relationship between particular pairs of identities. However, it is possible to research a partial identity network, such as work and non-work identities, rather than a full identity network (Ramarajan 2014). As discussed earlier, this paper focuses upon two of Alvesson et al.’s (2008) theoretical perspectives – identity work and identity regulation – in order to better understand voluntary resignations amongst police officers. The previous section illustrated where former police officers experienced identity threats and the identity work that they engaged with to attempt to smooth over these contradictions. This discussion will move towards a focus upon identity regulation. It will consider the identity regulation or control mechanisms utilised by the policing organisation in an attempt to manage the identities of their officers. This dual focus on both the individuals involved (identity work) and the organisation (identity regulation) takes both an interpretivist and critical approach enabling a much wider lens to understand the organisational challenges associated with increased voluntary resignations in the police service.

The previous section discusses police officers’ ongoing identity work to reconcile the inconsistencies and incoherence within their work and non-work identities. However, this is further compounded by issues outside of the individual and originate instead within the policing organisation who are themselves engaged in identity regulation. Indeed, organisations including police forces are heavily invested in exerting control through the regulation of identities (Alvesson et al, 2002). Alvesson and Willmott (2002) argue that this identity regulation is not taking place outside of the individuals’ attempts to create coherence and congruency but is interacting together with this identity work. While individuals are attempting to correct the misalignment between actual and idealised self-images through their identity work, the policing organisation is at the same time implicitly enacting organisational control through the subtle management of identities as we shall now move on to discuss.

In policing, the encouragement of a shared organisational identification and organisational commitment is important to create a sense of mutual endeavour and to operate effectively in challenging circumstances. One respondent said that the police ‘do make you who you are’ (P8). One method of achieving this in policing is through the repeated discourse of the term ‘policing family’ as a form of new shared identity, with the aim being to create a sense of belonging. Organisational commitment is precipitated in part by social exchange factors (He and Brown 2013) and organisational members expect some level of reciprocity from their organisation. However, when police officers do not feel the reciprocal benefits of the identity discourse of the ‘policing family’ because they are for example single-crewed or overworked or feel unsupported, fearful of doing the wrong thing and isolated, then resistance to the organisationally regulated identities, ultimately through resignation, can be seen. The emphasis placed upon ‘fitting in’ within the team can also serve to alienate police officers from the communities they originated from. This ‘us’ versus ‘them’ camaraderie has a long history within policing (Van Maanen 1973, Holdaway 1983, Alain and Baril 2005, Charman 2017) and plays to the ideology of the unique status of policing and police officers. However, reconciling that policing identity with a non-work identity is then likely to be hugely challenging. Wieland (2010) found that within identity work, the focus for individuals was more strongly towards assimilation and acceptance rather than coherence within identities. Social acceptability or ‘fitting in’ therefore takes prominence.

As our respondents identified, ‘fitting in’ was neither possible or desirable for some:

You’ve just got to fit in but you can’t necessarily fit in (P13)

It wasn’t me and I didn’t fit in and knowing that I just knew I couldn’t cope with another 20 years, I would I’d, honestly 100 per cent, my wife will testify to this, I would have committed suicide or done something dreadful (P14)

If your face fits, you’re alright, but if doesn’t …  (P21)

The impact of attempting to engage in identity work to align incoherent and incongruous identities is likely to be role identity conflict as has been observed in our research participants. Policing organisations implicitly encourage this loyalty to the organisation through training and socialisation practices and particularly in the divestiture or ‘clean slate’ approach to police training. Training and socialisation practices treat new recruits to the police service as ‘new slates’ upon which to build a ‘desirable’ organisational member rather than with the intention of building upon the newcomer’s existing talents, skills and characteristics. Once the new recruit has embarked upon the not insignificant task of building a new identity, they are motivated to promote the new self-image that is associated with that identity (Van Maanen and Schein 1979).

For new, and often young, recruits who as we have seen often held a long-standing desire to be a police officer, this baptism into the ‘policing family’ can initially be very positive. Our research participants spoke of their many positive experiences on joining the police service such as a supportive team spirit and the potential to help people. However, as the divide grows between work and non-work identities and as the coherence required for that sense of ontological security diminishes, our research findings indicate that police officers feel more alienated from their organisation. This is particularly felt by those attempting to align their identities as a police officer with that of a parent and/or partner. Women returning from periods of maternity leave spoke of their attempts at overwork to mitigate their sense of being a ‘problem’ (P12). These exclusionary pressures work to further separate work and non-work identities and exacerbate role identity conflict. Our research has shown identity is shaped by expectation through the established norms and cultural practices associated with the role of police officer. These ‘rules of the game’ can be seen through the value placed upon excessive working hours, presenteeism and the espoused values of ‘fitting in’ within the ‘policing family’ which is associated with commitment and loyalty to the job and the team. This organisational shaping and control of the identity discourse starts with the hero status of advertisement campaigns, is reinforced through the ‘us’ and ‘them’ bonding tactics of police training and endures through the organisational loyalty and time-served expected for promotion success. By subtly exerting indirect control of employees’ identity in this way, organisations can enjoy a certain degree of normative compliance and a framing of police officers’ self-image in such a way that is organisationally advantageous. As Goffman noted ‘A self (then) virtually awaits the individual entering the position; he needs only to conform to the pressures on him and he will find a ‘me’ ready-made for him’ (1961, p. 87–88).

Conclusion

Petriglieri (2011) has suggested that once identity is devalued and the previously understood meanings attached to identities are no longer viable, there are two courses of action available to individuals – identity-protection responses and identity-restructuring responses. Our research participants in this research took the latter approach and voluntarily resigned from the police service. The vast majority of these were in alternative employment when they were interviewed and positively referred to improvements in their personal lives, professional lives and work-life balance. However, if the police service wishes to reverse the growth in voluntary resignations from the police service, then attention to the first course of action – the identity-protection response – is crucial.

In order to preserve the unique and diverse identities that police officers enter policing with, the policing organisation needs to consider how to actively promote and support the personal and social identities that people bring themselves to the workplace (Foldy 2012). Rather than consider controlling officers through further regulation or seeking to somehow ‘eradicate’ policing cultures, the policing organisation needs to as van Maanen has suggested:

‘help shape the identity of police officers, allow opportunities for its expression, routinely but selectively grant indulgences to identity-sustaining actions that fall beyond official lines of approval, and count on those who come to the organization to deeply engage with the police identity.’ (2010, p. 36)

In doing so, policing can not only preserve a positive organisational identity to challenge the growing incongruity felt by individual police officers, but can also preserve the identities of officers on entry to the police service through building on the newcomer’s existing talents, skills and characteristics. This works to enhance both the cultural and cognitive diversity that the police service so desperately needs.

It is against this backdrop of potential interventions by police managers and leaders to prevent the first doubts stage moving to seeking alternatives or the turning point (Ebaugh 1988), that we argue that further research is needed. This research must consider not only those who have undergone an identity transition and role-exit but also the much larger number of those who are contemplating it. Research needs to also consider the impact of significant national events on individual police officer identities which have also threatened the identity of the entire organisation (for example the loss of public trust and confidence in policing associated with the murder of Sarah Everard in 2021). Police officers who remain in post may be experiencing diminishing affective commitment towards the policing organisation (Charman and Bennett 2022) and a sense of role entrapment (Ebaugh 1988). While identity restructuring and in many cases identity growth can be situated within those who voluntarily resign from the police, we must also carefully consider the impact of the exit on the identities and values of those who remain within the organisation. Voluntary resignations more than any other form of organisational leaving threaten the very core of that identity for those still within the organisation. If that sense-making is associated more with the role and the organisation rather than the leaving individual, that threat will be even greater (Ashforth 2000). This is particularly the case if these views are shared by those remaining and has the potential to cause a snowball effect (Krackhardt and Porter 1986).

This situation is compounded by the salience of the policing identity. The symbolic power of the police might be invisible but it is nonetheless an active agent in the relationships between those who exercise power and those who submit to that power (Bourdieu 1979). Manning (2010) has argued that the police are able to convey strong messages about order, censure and trust in ways that affirm their position as the ‘guardians’ of society. All of this contributes to the strength of the policing identity. However, the more salient an identity is and the more recurrent the negative experiences are, the more likely a person will experience the damage associated with identity incongruence and the more likely the sense of loss associated with the role exit, even a voluntary one (Petriglieri 2011). The evidence from our research points to just that sense of loss, and indeed sadness. This paper has analysed identity construction and maintenance within the context of role exit and the role of both individuals and organisations within this process. In doing so, it has provided evidence to better understand the dynamics of identity and identity misalignment within organisations, particularly multiple and salient identities, and in doing so has pointed towards factors which enhance ontological or identity security.

Voluntary resignations from the police service have been increasing for over a decade and the traditional perceptions of policing as being a ‘job for life’ are under threat. While there is an increasing trend for employees to consider more than one career through a lifetime of work (ONS 2019) and while the National Police Chiefs’ Council has stressed that turnover should be considered as ‘healthy churn’ (2016, p. 8), we must also ensure that research identifies the causes of this rise in voluntary resignations to better understand the experiences of police officers and the impact upon them of organisational and occupational cultures, policies and practices. The findings from this research indicate that police officers suffer irreconcilable threats to their identity and to their ontological security due to an incompatibility between their work and non-work roles and a perception that their work is not valued or recognised and has not met their prior expectations. These issues are exacerbated for those returning from maternity leave and for primary care givers and further by the salience of the policing identity. Despite undertaking identity work in order to align the incongruity in their conflicted and damaged identities and despite their attempts to mitigate the impact of implicit organisational control through the management of identities, officers ultimately feel that their only course of action is to voluntarily resign.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).