Police culture plays a crucial role in shaping law enforcement practices and the overall functioning of police organisations.

These were words that Dr Vuyelwa Maweni says provided sufficient motivation for her to carry out research which has now seen her graduate with a PhD from UKZN’s School of Applied Human Sciences.

A member of UKZN’s staff, Maweni received funding from the National Institute for Humanities and Social Sciences (NIHS) to study police culture as she believes it is particularly significant given the distinctive historical, social, and political contexts that shape policing in the region.

To fully understand some of the difficulties African police officers encounter, her research required interaction with police officers from other countries on the continent.

Maweni’s study suggests early career police officers’ cultures are complex, influenced by individual and environmental factors, rather than a uniform. She found that early career police officers have their own unique cultures that develop over time and are influenced by complex personal and environmental factors that interact on a variety of levels and dimensions, as opposed to a universal, homogenous and objective police culture.

The major conclusions of the study showed that cynicism, isolation, and unity were common coping mechanisms among young African police officers.

Said Maweni: ‘Completing a PhD while employed on a full-time basis was a huge challenge – having to juggle work deadlines and PhD deadlines was really demanding.’ However, her friends and family kept motivating her – even on days when she felt like giving up, they continued backing her and offered extra support, always reminding her why she started the journey in the first place. ‘I consider myself very blessed because I have such a great support system, people who are always just a phone call away,’ said Maweni.