February 1999 Volume 80 Number 2 "serving the protectors"
Straight to the POINT
By Trevor Haskell PASA Executive Committee Member

Relationships

Whether at work, home, or play, relationships are about people. Whenever people mix, they form relationships. Some wanted, some not. Some positive, some not.

The style of the relationship is dependent upon the people involved, their relevance to each other, why the relationship exists and the power differentials within it.

In police working relationships the style is also constructed by power differentials. The police authority creates a differential at the public level; the hierarchical structure at the colleague level. How people choose to use these power differentials often creates the image of the person in the eyes of others in the relationship and outside observers.

Consider your own work group. Do words such as competitive, hierarchical, firm, rational, independent, rules, achievement and explanatory sit well in describing it? Or do words such as collaborative, networking, flexible, conciliatory, explorative, interdependent, adaptive and empowering sound more to the mark.

The first list is words associated with autocratic and masculine workplaces; the second with democratic and feminine workplaces.

In a traditionally male domain such as SAPOL the tendency is toward the first list. It describes a useful process for using power and control and can be very appropriate when we do not care about creating a positive on-going relationship. It is a style that inhibits open communication.

The second list is about developing positive on-going relationships. A shared style.

We create the relationships we choose.