Formal and informal disciplinary practices: internalizing the culture of impossibility and enabling sexual harassment

Sexual harassment remains pervasive within the police. In this article, we ask how formal and informal disciplinary practices, such as hierarchical structure and rumor mill culture, interact to shape police trainees’ and officers’ perceived ability to respond to sexually harassing behavior? We draw on qualitative data from a training program based on in-group forum initiative and the Forum Power Play method, designed to empower police trainees and officers to improve their work environment and prevent sexual harassment in the workplace. Analysis of data from 136 police trainees and 20 police officers in Iceland shows that formal and informal disciplinary practices interact to create a culture of impossibility: a context in which hierarchical structure, perceived organizational inaction, and the rumor mill operate as reinforcing barriers to confront sexual harassment. We argue that fostering cultural change and breaking the culture of impossibility requires police management to address perceptions of organizational inaction.