Whistleblowing within the Swedish Police

Abstract

Research has shown that well-functioning whistleblowing within police agencies is important, because these agencies play a key role in society. The perceived risk of retaliation after expressing criticism is the most important factor that an employee considers when deciding whether to act as a whistleblower. Different individuals and different units hold different views about the risk of retaliation after acting as a whistleblower. The police management in general has a lower perception of the risk of retaliation than other employees have. There is a huge difference between the officially presented picture of a favorable climate in the organization in which employees feel free to express criticism, and the perception of the matter that most employees have. The differences are connected to the presence of impression-management strategies that are intended to maximize the good image of the organization, and are the main reason that whistleblowing is not appreciated, despite assurances from the management that it is important.

Conducting Critical Research on Powerful Organisations

“…These results correspond with those of previous research (e.g. Andersson-Arntén, Jansson, Olsen & Archer, 2017;Holgersson, 2014;2019;Wieslander, 2016;2018).…”

“…We have identified two central factors that put researchers into difficult situations. Firstly, pressure is increasing for the police to maintain a positive brand and, secondly, acceptance of internal and external whistleblowing is low (see also Holgersson, 2019;Wieslander 2016;2018). Researchers describe how the prospects for conducting research within the Swedish Police have worsened in recent years.…”

“…However, we do argue that it is significant for both the research field and for practitioners to focus on researchers' perceptions of their possibilities and outcomes of conducting and presenting critical research and how this is received by various stakeholders, since these perceptions seem to influence if and how future research is designed and presented. As previous research has shown, it is not the actual risk of a reprisal but the perceived risk that influences one's behaviour (Holgersson, 2019;Mesmer-Magnus & Viswesvaran, 2005;Park & Blenkinsopp, 2008;Wieslander, 2018).…”

“…It is also important for the welfare of the public and employees' job satisfaction. Another aspect to add to the complexity of value branding in a specific area is that branding can also be used to promote personal careers (Holgersson, 2014;2019).…”

“…One report questions whether the Swedish Police is capable of learning, when it comes to appreciating and identifying problems (Andersson-Arntén, 2013). Other reports describe a widespread fear of reprisals among police employees, which affects the willingness to address problems in the organisation (Holgersson, 2019;Wieslander, 2016;2018). Moreover, police employees score the lowest value for how important they consider it to be that their work is grounded in science.…”