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WATCH CULTURE GROUPTHINK
A STUDY OF THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE EU EQUAL TREATMENT DIRECTIVES IN
THE UK FIRE AND RESCUE SERVICE
DAVE PAMAH; BA(HONS) - School of Policitics and Sociology - Birbeck College - University of London - May 2005
I. INTRODUCTION
Do the ‘norms’ of watch culture in the UK fire and rescue service have an impact on the implementation of the EU race equality directives?
Introduction
This research is a study of the implementation of the EU equal treatment directives
in the UK fire and rescue service. The new EU directives were due to be integrated
into member state law during July 2003 and this research is important, because
the new concept of discrimination specifically includes harassment in the implementation
of equality policies of the UK Fire and Rescue service.( Lewis 2003 pp356) Although
“ensuring successful implementation of the EU equality policy means that
the causal chain to be forged must reach each individual workplace”, (Dimitrakopoulos
and Richardson 2001 pp.338) a major problem in the implementation of these policies
at ground level is that there is huge resistance to cultural change from the
‘watch cultures’ themselves. This issue will be examined in detail
and looking at the effects of these problems. This research will be specifically
looking at the recent implementation of the race equality directives in July
2003 and will be using the group think model (Irving Janis, 1972) as an analysis
of the problems that policy implementation can face. The model will be used
to show whether any decision making having an impact on the EU race directive
is an outcome of the bureaucracy of the Fire and Rescue Service or the groupthink
of watch culture. It explores the hypothesis that “some black and ethnic
minority firefighters can become culturally excluded due to watch culture ‘groupthink’
affecting policy implementation decision-making.”
Initially the research will explain the history of the problem and the methodology
used, then, using the groupthink model, the research will explain how language,
humour and power can be used as a social force to harass and stereotype. And
then the research will look at social identity theories as an explanation for
in-group out-group racial stereotyping. The authoritarian personality analysis
of racism will explore the racism further before finally evaluating the groupthink
model by analysing the alternative argument of Max Weber’s “Iron
cage of bureaucracy” as well as looking at the ideologies of British social
policy and its effect on society and the workplace. The research postulates
that there is sufficient evidence to conclude that the EU equal treatment policy
implementation is impacted by watch culture groupthink and that some black and
ethnic minority firefighters can become culturally excluded.
History of the problem
It can be argued that it is very difficult for some black and ethnic minority firefighters to fit into the norms of watch culture when the traditional role model depicted is one of a ‘white, macho firefighter. In the UK the transposition of the EU race equality directives Is known as the race relations Act, 1976 (Amendment) regulations 2003 which includes the ‘reasonable person’ or ‘objective test’ (Commission for Racial Equality2003). It can be argued laws do not change organisational cultures over night and their values are only evidenced if effective enforcement takes place. A cultural audit of the fire service on watch culture was conducted by Baigent (2001) in which he found resistance against cultural change. It can be suggested that this resistance would make it likely that any laws can take quite some time to change the organisational culture.
The uniformed services have been highly criticised for the presence of institutional racism by the MacPherson report in 1999, and also the HM Fire service Inspectorate thematic review also in 1999. There has been a great deal of evidence to support the perception that there was a high level of discrimination in the fire service, with the presence of racism and sexism (anonymous, 1999). This was seen in all levels and types of staff (uniformed and non-uniformed). Discrimination was evident in recruitment and promotion processes as well as in the general treatment of all staff (anonymous, 1999). This took place prior to the well-known MacPherson report, (produced as a result of the Stephen Lawrence inquiry) and may be seen as indicating the slow way in which the bureaucratic uniformed organisations make changes. But we can look for patterns that indicate the cultural diversity of the organisation and the level of tolerance that it embodies.
The review in 1999 was the "equality and fairness in the fire service – A Thematic Review by H.M. Fire Service Inspectorate”. Even this report found the organisation was both institutionally racist and institutionally sexist. The measures that have been taken also appear to have originated not with the fire service itself but with the FBU, the Fire Brigades union. (TUC, 2000). "We found that, in a number of respects, the bodies responsible for giving leadership to the fire service has so far failed to date, to provide sufficient direction in respect of equality and fairness" (home office 1999).
This appears to indicate that discrimination was not being dealt with sufficiently, as it is recognised that it is that those at the top who will dictate, the organisational culture (Huczyniski and Buchanan, 1996). More importantly, for change to occur there needs to be the show of commitment for change from the top ( Huczyniski and Buchanan, 1996). However the Baigent’s cultural audit of the UK fire service in 2001 suggests that change is required from below.
There are many different moves that have been made to make changes, including the compulsory creation of the race equality scheme action plan by the different fire service authorities. The fire service has come under a single legislated basis since 1947 under the fire service act, which brought the divergent fire services together. This means the current culture can be traced back to that time. The culture is an exclusive culture and the attempts to introduce diversity into the fire service had been broadly resisted at ground level (anonymous, 2001). It is seen by the low level of black and ethnic minorities and females within the fire service (anonymous, 2001).
This research will be using the Janis ‘groupthink model’ as a ‘speculative theory’ (Parsons 1995 pp350) to asses the way that EU equal treatment directives are implemented at the ground level. The groupthink model suggests there are three antecedent conditions which may lead to groupthink tendency. The model looks for evidence of antecedent conditions or observable consequences as a predictor of groupthink. Any evidence supporting the groupthink model suggests failure of policy decision-making. By answering the research questions raised in this research, the service and its officers will be better able to understand the problems and be able develop strategies and procedures for implementation of the EU race equality directives on watches.
It is intended that the study will:-
• Identify best practice on managing watches from an analysis of the information received during the research so that black and ethnic minority firefighters do not suffer discrimination.
• Have conclusions drawn from the research findings by assessing the way policy is implemented using the groupthink model.
Research methodology
This project uses qualitative methodology. The reason why this particular method has been chosen is because:
“ The interview is probably the most commonly used method in social research. It is more economical than observational methods since the interviewee can report on a wide range of situations that he or she has observed, so acting as the eyes and ears of the researcher. The researcher can also use an interview to find out about things that cannot be seen or heard, such as the interviewee’s inner state - the reasoning behind their actions, and their feelings.” (Searle 1998 pp 202)
The data collection instrument used was a semi-structured interview questionnaire by qualitative interviewing. The semi-structured, semi-formal interviews enabled the research to explore and develop an understanding of the themes that emerged from the literature review and helped explain and validate its findings.
Key Black & ethnic minority officials in the FBU were identified for interviews in the UK. Five respondents were interviewed by the researcher in the UK. Interviews lasted 15 to 20 minutes each and were digitally recorded. The respondents were interviewed face-to-face after a committee meeting at the FBU headquarters. A digital recording was made with the agreement of the participants. The purpose of the interviews was to ascertain what the national committee, black and ethnic minority committee members of the FBU considered to be key issues in watch culture that may result in-groupthink affecting implementation of race equality policies in the UK Fire and Rescue service.
In researching the methodology to be adopted for this report, guidance was found in Sweetham (2000) and in Heart (1988). They gave guidance on how to carry out different types of research and how to set out formal reports, together with advice on time management and project planning. Hart (1988, p.16) lists four things, a research project should achieve:
• Focus on a specific problem, issue or debate.
• Relate to that problem, in terms that show a balance between the theoretical,
methodological and the practical aspects of the topic.
• Include a clearly stated research methodology based on the existing
literature.
• Provide an analytical and critical evaluation stance to the existing
literature on the topic. A case study strategy has been chosen because it gives
a typical example of the type of issues encountered on a wider perspective amongst
black and ethnic minority firefighters in the UK fire service, and therefore
it has been chosen because this will allow us to generalise findings for use
in other similar cases. The case study also gives an extreme example of the
issues, and therefore can study in depth the particularly unusual quality that
makes the case extreme. The advantages of carrying out a case study strategy
is that:-
• It is more convenient and practical than some other possible case.
• It is ideal for collecting data on subtle and complex social situations.
• It doesn't need to try to impose any control over events or variables.
• It is generally manageable to do small-scale project research, because the focus is limited to a defined setting of a group of people.
Two key references Sweetham (2000) and Heart (1998) were used for the process of carrying out the research. Heart’s definition of literature review was used:
“ The selection of available documents (both published and unpublished) on the topic, which contain information, ideas, data and evidence written from a particular standpoint to fulfil certain aims, or express certain views on the nature of the topic, and how it is to be investigated, and the effective evaluation of these documents in relation to the research being proposed.” (Hart 2000,p13)
The guiding principle for the literature research provided the additional support in adopting a clear methodology for this report, this was adopted from Verma and Beard (1981, p10):
“The importance of theory is to help the investigator summarise previous information and guide his future course of action. Sometimes the formation of a theory may indicate missing ideas or links, and the kinds of the additional data required. Thus, a theory is an essential tool of research in stimulating the advancement of knowledge still further.”
A broad range of literature was studied in order to gain an understanding of not only the problem identified in the research question, but also of some of the peripheral areas, and related concepts. The documents that were identified, used the guidance given by Heart (2000), these being: associations, commerce, institutions, pressure groups, individuals, government and unions. Hart also goes on to recommend the following as appropriate and relevant sources of information: conference papers, journals, lectures, letters, meetings, newsletters, newspapers, reports, seminars, textbooks and theses.
The principles of academic research further ensured that the research project had the academic rigor required for an undergraduate degree. A list of the references used is indicated in the reference section of this report. The Harvard reference system is used to reference all material.
The sample chosen are the representatives of the black and ethnic minority members of the Fire Brigade Union National committee. Five members had been interviewed for more qualitative research.
The research will be generalisable to the whole population of the black and ethnic minority members of the Fire Brigade union of firefighters. The possibilities of carrying out survey research strategy via questionnaire had been rejected because of the following reasons:-
• Response rates are often low.
• You don't know who actually fills in the questionnaire.
• It can be expensive.
• Time-consuming.
• People may not tell the truth, and you can't see their non-verbal behaviour to assess this.
In order to ensure that the information gathering is reliable and to ensure
confidentiality, ethical guidelines and protocols were used as detailed in Bell
(1999). In brief, the process used is described as:
“Research ethics is about being clear about the nature of the agreement you had entered into with your research subjects or contacts. This is why contracts can be a useful device. Ethical research involves getting informed consent of those you are going to interview, question, observe or take material from. It involves reaching agreement about uses of the data, and how its analysis will be reported and disseminated and it is about keeping such agreements when they have been reached.” (Blaxter et al 1996, pp.196)
An explanation was given to those participating in the interviews prior to carrying out any interview. The researcher explained that:
"Although I am an FBU member I will remain objective whilst conducting this research. If you wish to remain anonymous then full confidentiality will be guaranteed for any material recorded from this interview.”
The researcher explained what the interview was about and what the objectives were. The research methodology was successful in achieving the objectives of the research project. The literature review provided the foundation of the methodology and was a vital source of reference throughout the project. The methodology enabled the author to answer the research questions using case study research methodology i.e. semi-structured interviews. This enabled the researcher to capture the qualitative data necessary to reach conclusions on the factors affecting the implementation of the EU race equality directives.
II. LITERATURE REVIEW
This research will now look at literature that can test the hypothesis:
‘Some black and ethnic minority firefighters can become culturally excluded due to watch culture ‘groupthink’ affecting policy implementation decision-making.’
Before we look at this, it is necessary to understand ‘the norms of watch culture’ in the fire and rescue service. A definition of ‘norms’ is defined by Giddens (1993 pp.31) as “the ‘dos’ and ‘don’ts’ of social life…‘culture’ refers to the ways of life of the members of a society, or of groups within a society.”
With watch culture, the most important requirement is to fit in to the group. Upon joining the fire service, all firefighters start at the bottom and most tend to stay with the watch that they are posted to. The watches tend to promote from within and highly values seniority. The group of firefighters on any watch responds to stimulus to the watch’s values and do things because they believe it’s the right thing to do and this can lead to the risk of groupthink.
Watch culture is an important concept in relation to groupthink in a number of ways:
• Its role as a boundary marker can be used to exclude or marginalize other groups of firefighters. It can be used to create ‘us and them’ situations.
• Watch culture is, in itself, a site of discrimination. For example, racism would be based on the belief in the superiority of one culture over others.
• Cultural assumptions are often of discriminatory nature.
Groupthink is characterised by a feeling of comfort, when associating with those within the group and discomfort when associating with those not in the group. This can lead to associating negative characteristics to anyone who is not part of the group and hence create attitudes such as racism. This can occur on a watch when there is a homogenous highly cohesive group of firefighters that think so alike. They are so concerned with maintaining unanimity to the point that they do not challenge the watch’s organisational thinking and this can lead to a symptom of out-group stereotyping. The watch members see themselves as part of an in-group working against an outgroup opposed to their goals.
Baigent, 2001, explains:
“Some in the fire service question the ability of black, female or gay firefighters to do the job. These types of prejudices can extend to the ludicrous point where watch members may consider that their black firefighter can meet their standards, but this will not stop them from believing that all other black people are unlikely to meet the standards for becoming good firefighters. Therefore, it is possible to argue that whenever a group of firefighters get together to discuss their work (in particular when they stay together for a long time) that they will form a ‘fire service culture’.”
This type of groupthink by firefighters in watch culture can lead to symptoms that demonizes and stereotypes outgroup members and one study (Archer, 1999) found that those who were different because of their gender or race were particularly targeted for harassment to ‘ensure the continuation of the white male culture’ which is a primary antecedent in the groupthink model where the cohesive group develop fears of those that are ‘not one of us’ (Parsons 1995 pp346).
In insular and homogenous cultures such as this, targets of harassment are subjected to constant threats and intimidating use of discipline as well as bullying group socialisation processes. This type of harassment can be defined as “a malicious attempt to force a person out of the workplace through unjustified accusations, humiliation, general harassment, emotional abuse, and/or terror”( Davenport 1999, pp 40).
As the EU race directives new concept of discrimination includes this form of ‘specific harassment’, this groupthink symptom of out-group stereotyping and direct pressure indicates possible groupthink tendency that will affect policy decision-making processes on the watch.
Language, humour and power
Central to this groupthink tendency in watch culture is the use of language and particularly humour. “It is through language that we become members of a human community” (Spender 1990 pp3) and poststructuralist theory would see language as a major site where identities are built. (Burr 1995 pp43). One way of telling if a watch is suffering from grouphink is if the leader is being demonised. This can be done through the power of language.
This power relationship between groups of firefighters on watches can be further understood through the work of Foucault and in particular his theory of power. He had a particular interest in ‘the panopticon’ (Foucault 1977), and an important part of his work was his analysis of the role of surveillance as a tool of power. Much of this power can be challenged through acts of resistance.
Baigent (2001 pp11) explains: “Occasionally the understanding between the watch-commander and the firefighters can change: a disruptive group of firefighters can emerge, or a watch may believe their commander is ‘out of line’. This might commonly occur when a new watch-commander arrives on the watch or if an officer tries to enforce a written instruction without negotiating with the watch. Then a test of strength can take place to establish boundaries of control. These tests will often result in the watch carrying out a range of ‘soldering’ activities, mainly, but not always during less important non-operational duties.
Disrupting the informal working relationships can be uncomfortable for both officers and firefighters. Officers must neglect their administrative duties to control firefighters and apart from disrupting comfortable work arrangements, paperwork that gets behind can be noticed further up the hierarchy.”
So the powers to achieve the watch officer’s own ends involved the use of power over the firefighters, which in return involved their use of power to counteract the officer’s attempt. The power relationships on watches involves much resistance and struggle and is a key element in Foucault’s theory of power i.e. power is not a one way phenomenon. The key issue here is that, where the watch officer is pivotal to the implementation of race equality policies at watch level, the power struggle between watch members, i.e. firefighters, and the officers can sometimes determine the success of the implementation. Understanding the relationship between language and power “by virtue of shared nature and positions in social structures” (Callinicos 1990 pp115) will assist in determining any groupthink tendencies on watches.
Humour is also used as a type of language in watch culture in the form of power relationships. The effect of this is to send a message out to say ‘this particular thing or person doesn’t belong to our particular watch (culture)’ which can eventually lead to scapegoating. Humour on a watch is a way to either accept or reject. What happens with this particular form of language is that a cultural boundary will be formed by using humour. This sets a specific parameter, or a particular cultural formation, thereby resisting any ‘outsiders’ from getting in. Humour can contribute to the groupthink tendencies of a particular watch. It is an integral part of how watch culture operates as a social force. Baigent, (2001 pp59) explains: “Humour appears as a considerable ‘force’ behind firefighters’ informal hierarchy. This may have various positive outcomes for firefighters, but there have been a number of incidences when the informal hierarchy have acted to use horseplay/humour/testing as harassment. It is easy to see (but not defend) why ‘fire service humour’ is aimed abusively at certain groups (women, probationers, others and resisters): it is an attempt to drive them out or bring them into line.”
One solution that a firefighter may see fit in this groupthink situation is to not challenge the status quo by resisting against the harassment in order to ‘fit-in’ with the watch. When this happens the groupthink tendencies can evolve into a state of ‘taken-for grantedness’ (Berger and Luckman 1967) meaning this culture is normal every day behaviour of the watch. This can lead to the potential for ‘ethnocentrism’. “Here, the individual, not only notices the differences between cultures but ranks them as superior and inferior, with his or her own culture as the superior one.” (Neubeck & Glasberg 2005 pp113). This can be expressed as ‘dislike of the unlike’. (Milton Yinger in Rex and Mason 1986 pp32)
Social Identity Theories
Ethnocentrism can be explained in terms of individual cognitive processes, as in the work of Henri Tajfel on ‘social identity theories’. The group to which a given individual belongs is known as the ‘in-group’: all others are known as ‘out-groups’. Tajfel and Turner, among others, have taken great interest in what happens to an individual’s self-perception when becoming a member of a group.
The theory of social identity was developed by Tajfel (1981) and Tajfel and
Turner (1979), and, accounts for ethnocentrism in the ‘minimal group’
paradigm (Augoustinos and Reynolds 2001 pp160 – 161). On assignation to
a group, people appear automatically to think of that group as better for them
than any alternative out-group. This is because they are motivated to keep a
positive self-image. This self-image has two component parts: personal identity
and social identity (the number of social identities one person may have has
no theoretical limit). Any action or cognition, which elevates the social identity,
will therefore tend to elevate also the self-image. Social identity theories
are similar to the groupthink model in terms of the antecedent conditions of
the decision making cohesive in-groups and the observable consequences of outgroup
stereotypes. This can be used to determine policy decision-making and implementation
in the fire and rescue service as well as whether there is any indication of
ethnocentrisim present in watch culture.
If present, an ethnocentric outlook can be a major contributory factor to racism in the fire and rescue service because it fails to recognize significant differences and their importance for the people concerned and is based on the false assumption that one culture is superior to others. It can be argued that this links to groupthink in terms of belief of morality and illusion of invulnerability. The tendency towards ethnocentrism in the fire and rescue service is therefore an important danger to be wary of, particularly at watch level. Ethnocentrism can apply to any race or cultural group, and while racism has its roots in biologically based ideological assumptions it can also be seen to apply in terms of cultural or ethnic differences. That is, even where biological differences are not assumed to occur, racism can occur by virtue of certain cultural groups none the less being seen as inferior to others. This is what is sometimes referred to as the ‘new racism’ (Solomos and Back 1996 pp.212) So in order to identify groupthink on watch culture it would be necessary to take new racism into consideration and instead to concentrate on recognising the antecedent conditions that can lead to groupthink tendencies or observable consequences such as out-group stereotyping.
Baigent (2001 pp 87) explains:
“Firefighters appear so keen to protect their image that they also differentiate
between those who can and cannot do The Job. This leads to firefighters stereotyping
whom they would like to work with and to the exclusion of ‘others’.
(Women, men who have no wish to test themselves against firefighters’
standards, non-whites and homosexuals). Even after their selection process for
entry to the fire service, the selection continues. Firefighters have to continually
prove they can achieve the standards for a good firefighter. These standards,
especially how firefighters agree their protocols for firefighting, serve firefighters
(and the community) well. And as long as firefighters are able to agree and
comply with their protocols for firefighting, their skills will allow them to
make it appear that they are taking risks when most of the time they balance
the risk element on the safe side of danger. It is not surprising under these
circumstances that firefighters prefer to work alongside them those that they
believe will be able to obtain and share standards. Sadly, in making this choice
firefighters choose people who look like them, namely white, working class,
able-bodied, fit and heterosexual males.”
When unjustified outgroup stereotyping like this is applied to groups, the result
is often negative. Negative stereotyping is a key feature in the groupthink
model as prejudice, such as racism, sexism etc. and creates an underlying barrier
against the implementation of the EU equality directives, particularly in the
form of indirect discrimination.
Advocates for public policy changes often have to overcome racial stereotypes, while opponents of public policy changes seek to reinforce them. For, instance, in the field of civil rights, Martin Luther King, Jr. acted against the racial stereotypes of negative characteristics of African Americans; however FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, gathered information to reinforce racial stereotypes of African Americans.
In fire service terms, the Chief Fire Officer may endorse policies that will promote positive stereotypes in order to make the fire and rescue service an attractive career for black and ethnic minorities to consider whereas the ‘norms’ of watch culture could reinforce racial stereotypes. Racial stereotypes take the negative characteristics of some and apply it to all in a given category. They are a tool of propaganda and divisive politics. As education levels in the fire and rescue service continue to rise and people become more familiar with techniques of argumentation, racial stereotyping should become more difficult and less effective to achieve. One preventative measure to alleviate this groupthink symptom would be for a new firefighter that comes on to the watch to know when to fit in and when not to fit in and also having an ability to use techniques of argumentation to combat any stereotyping. This is because, although chief officers have set views on equality policies, the potential exists to have a different culture on each watch and there will be varying boundaries between official and unofficial policy. Groupthink could occur for example, where there is heavy reliance on a central charismatic peer leader on the watch and can affect policy decision-making of a particular watch. This is in effect due the combined views of a bonded group forming up in a hierarchy under one or two peer group leaders. These peer group leaders hold an informal authority over the watch; this has an effect on groupthink which ultimately limits political discourse on the watch. Peer group leaders attempt to push their political agendas, being overwhelmingly left wing or fascist attitudes, through to the larger community. The resulting groupthink situation has an effect on decision-making of the implementation of race equality policies, and the authoritarian personality analyses of racism may help understand this.
The authoritarian personality
The authoritarian personality is a term used by Theodor Adorno in 1950 and is believed to be the result of an upbringing of rigid discipline and conditional affection. It was a discovered connection between racism/fascism and the authoritarian parenting style that led Adorno to attempting to specify a psychodynamic framework as a base. While finding comfort in the identification of submissive behaviour towards authority, the authoritarian person directs his/her aggression towards other groups, often ethnic minorities, all in an attempt for the feeling of personal weakness with a search for absolute answers and strengths in the outside world. According to Adorno the authoritarian personality is expressed essentially by:
• Excessive conformity
• Intolerance
• Insecurity
• Rigid, stereotyped thought patterns
• Submissiveness to authority
• Superstition
These authoritarian attitudes were subsequently linked to social relations using Marxist theory and Freudian psychoanalysis of family patterns. The 1950 account of the authoritarian personality studies begins with this simple question: why do competing political ideologies have such differing degrees of appeal for different individuals? (Adorno 1950 pp2)
This initial question unites what prove to be the main themes of the authoritarian personality analysis of differing watch cultures i.e. individual differences of watch members and the hooks of political rhetoric by peer group leaders. Therefore, although the majority of the watch may not be racist, a racist informal peer leader may lack legitimacy, but can hold sway over the watch to uphold racist agendas. And while many claim to be non-political, a good number invoke the ideas of groupthink to control political thoughts of watch members. With two or more informal peer leaders on any one watch, then conflict can occur between these equally strong firefighters. Hostility is directed by one or more of these firefighters towards the scapegoat i.e. the out-group stereotyped firefighter. The social and power structure that are dominant in the watch culture organisation is such that a firefighter could get victimised on the watch. Organisational disorder and poor management of the watch causes conflicts and some of these conflicts exaggerate opposing views most often because of a power struggle.
It could be argued that a totalitarian personality as opposed to an authoritarian personality exists, as this would account for both fascist attitudes and radical left winged attitudes as pointed out by Eysenck (1954) and Ferguson (1952). There could be two equally strong peer leaders on the watch therefore, one with fascist attitudes and the other, a strong radical left-winged FBU leader. They can get frustrated with each other and will tend come into conflict with each other. Hostility can therefore mount towards an out-group stereotyped firefighter which can lead to groupthink tendencies. Of course, this is a communication problem between people. However the fact that firefighters can't act freely as if they were members of a club must be taken into consideration. The organisation in which individuals are employed affords them, by definition, minimal possibilities of controlling their own situations in every respect. It is the watch manager's job to keep order in the organisation and to ensure efficient, orderly production. Watch management always bears the responsibility if the harassment is not stopped.
Max Weber’s “Iron cage of bureaucracy”
Looking at the alternative arguments we can see that the bureaucratic machinery of the UK fire and rescue service and British social policy can also have an impact on the implementation of EU equal treatment directives, but it can be argued that there is resistance from below due to watch culture being under democratic control by its workers. This means that any out-group stereotyped firefighter will have to rely on the watch manager of that particular watch to deal with harassment effectively. There needs to be communication between the democratically controlled watch and the bureaucracy of the fire and rescue service. To explain this, an examination of the EU casual chain from central government to the workplace is necessary. The EU race discrimination and general framework Directive required each member state to make harassment unlawful during 2003 but Dimitrakopoulos and Richardson (2001, pp343) makes the point that; “ co-ordination between these bodies(local government) and central governments is a crucial issue, because the different sets of actors might have very different perspectives on Brussels.” In order for the directives to be implemented into the workplace control must be exercised through procedures and bureaucracy. When this happens, it is easy to ignore the problems of groupthink in watch culture.
Karl Marx and Max Weber both had an interest in inequality except where Marx argued solely on capitalism, Weber went beyond this to also argue that it is “The iron cage of bureaucracy” that can account for constant conflicts and struggles due to the exercise of power and authority between bureaucratic elites, thus having an effect on various societal tasks being accomplished. A fire authority is run by local government and can be seen to display features of bureaucracy. Weber (in Gerth and Mills, 1968) identified these as:
• The organisation contains a clear-cut division of labour: every member is responsible for particular tasks.
• Authority is organised on a hierarchy: everyone (except of course the individual at the top) reports to someone whose directives are considered legitimate and to be obeyed.
• The activities of all members of the organisation are governed by a set of formally established, written rules and regulations.
• Members are to carry out their organisational responsibilities impartially and without the exercise of favouritism or biased towards others.
• Recognition, rewards, and status in the organisation are based upon meritorious performance.
On the other hand, watch culture can be seen to display characteristics of a
democratically controlled workplace. A study by sociologists (Rothschild and
Whitt 1986) describes these as:
• Power is shared within the membership as a whole, and decision-making involves discussion, negotiation, and consensus.
• Rules are minimal: members are assumed to be capable of using discretion and common sense in conducting their activities.
• There is a sense of community. People do not limit their interactions to the work tasks at hand, but feel free to develop close relationships with one another.
• The division of labour is minimal. Members share their knowledge and take turns rotating jobs when possible.
• Material rewards are secondary to those otherwise derived from involvement in the group. Just as there is no hierarchy of authority, rewards are shared equally or nearly so.
Bureaucracy involves control of people whereas democracy involves control by people. By the time any social policy reaches the watch, the political and social ideologies of that particular watch shapes the policies differently to the way it has been formulated through the bureaucratic machinery of EU to local government at ground level. Cultural norms reflect society, and in order to explain this there needs to be an understanding of the relationship between politics and society. The UK has implemented European policy directives on equal treatment of workers since the 1970’s. The key ideologies that have traditionally been associated with British social policy are known as the new right approach and the social democratic approach. In the UK, the new right and social democratic ideologies have strongly influenced the social policy approaches of the Conservative party and the Labour Party, respectively, during the latter part of the 20th-century.
Currently, there is the third way politics of the new Labour and Giddens claims (1998 pp102) “The new politics defines equality as inclusion and inequality as exclusion…” prior to this, there was the new right ideologies based on the free market, and American economist Milton Friedman’s ‘rational choice theory’, explains all manner of human social behaviour on the basis of self-interest and supply and demand. This included the unemployed and so for example, in their book operation underclass, Masden Pirie and Ian Smedley (1994) argue that the urban unemployed would be helped by social policies that promote free market ethics. The free market can have it’s drawbacks as in an advanced industrial society, disturbances in production and administration are very costly. On the other hand, advanced societies have to provide their citizens with greater security and health care, in order to maintain the so-called industrial culture. At the same time, citizens demand more security and integrity. According to the theories of John Maynard Keynes, whose famous book ‘The general theory of employment, interest and money (1936)’ founded modern macro-economics, they can help policy makers to build a full employment society. Societies gain prosperity by maintaining law and order and arranging talents in order to further a enhance prosperity.
In order to focus on this goal, it is easy to forget other values such as the psychosocial climate in the organisation of ‘watch culture’ that may result in groupthink tendencies. An Authortarian personality on the watch with racist attitudes as a peer leader may constitute a cohesive group as decision makers which will have an impact on the EU race directives implementation. Language and humour can be a powerful social force that could lead to harassment towards a firefighter thus violating the equal treatment directives new concept on discrimination which includes harassment.
III. CONCLUSION
The research has explored whether watch culture groupthink has an impact on the implementation of the EU equal treatment directives in the UK fire and rescue service, with a focus on the race equality directives with the FBU black and ethnic minority members as a case study. The findings from the semi-structured interviews are used in the data analysis.
Data Analysis
Poststructuralists argue that language creates a site to build identities. In watch culture a cohesive in-group of firefighters can use language as a form of power. An outgroup stereotyped firefighter on the same watch can simply be excluded from the group by the use of language. The cohesive in-group does this because, as Firefighter A puts it “they want to protect this little club.” (sic) In order to join in this “club” you will need to share the same social identity.
The social identity theories say that the action or social cognition elevates
the identities and image to in-groups. This will create the primary condition
for groupthink, as the cohesive in-group of firefighters on the watch will be
the decision-makers. Firefighter D explains that some black and ethnic minority
firefighters will “suppress their identity in order to fit-in” and
firefighter B explains further that language is also used to fit in such as
the ‘N’ word and “a lot of the black firefighters would do
that just to fit in with their peers.” What can happen here of course
is that the firefighters are encouraged to take the cohesive in-groups behavioural
‘norms’ for granted and this can develop into the potential for
ethnocentrism. There is a danger that the phenomenon of ethnocentrisim in the
UK fire and rescue service can lead to racism due to out-group stereotyping.
Firefighter D points out that this is because “they are scared of their
own little in-house culture being undermined.” and Fire fighter B explains
that “we’re an easy target because of the visual thing.”
The concept of new racism can be explained because firefighter A explains that
“the whole culture of the fire service is about fitting in” and
firefighter E confirms this on watch culture because “a watch has a set
way, and if it’s a long standing watch it could be difficult for anybody
and the pressure to conform could be quite immense.” Therefore new racism
can be experienced from a black and ethnic minority firefighter within the cohesive
in-group towards an out-group stereotyped black and ethnic minority firefighter.
This groupthink tendency contributes to the cohesiveness of decision making
in-group.
The cohesive in-group could have one or two central charismatic peer leaders on the watch more than likely of authoritarian personality. These peer leaders will be the strong characters of the watch and this will be worse if one of the peer leaders has fascist/racist attitudes. What can happen here is that this one central charismatic peer leader can influence the decision making of the watch as firefighter C points out “all it takes is just one person on that watch” and firefighter D adds that “if they hold racist views, then the rest of the watch usually would accommodate for those racist views and not contest them.” It can of course work both ways and the central peer leader could indeed hold other ideological values and this is especially true if there is more than one peer leader on the watch with opposing views. Here, the decision makers that constitute the cohesive in-group are the strong charismatic peer leaders.
According to Focults theory of power, if the watch has two or more equally strong
characters with opposing views then there will be a power struggle and this
resistance and struggle will lead to conflict. This is especially true if there
is a cultural difference between the peer leaders. This can be explained by
Firefighter A as “expecting an individual to come round to their way of
thinking, without giving anything up, they are not willing to take on or understand
another culture, so there’s always going to be a bit of conflict.”
As the watch will be democratically controlled and led by firefighters, there
will tend to be dominant decision makers on the watch who will constitute a
cohesive in-group after the conflict. This is particularly so if the peer leader
has racist attitudes and has an authoritarian personality.
Due to the social and power organisation of the watch this can lead to groupthink particularly if there is a firefighter on the watch challenging the status quo, even if educated in the art of argumentation. This groupthink will include humour which is aimed at the out-group stereotyped firefighter on the watch after which hostility, harassment ,victimisation and scapegoating occurs. The humour can take the form of biased negative stereotyping, thus the watch is exhibiting symptoms of outgroup stereotyping. When this happens the out-group stereotyped firefighter does not take the culture of the watch for granted thus does not fit-in and becomes excluded. Firefighter A points out that “It is down to the watch officer to be ‘on side’”. If the watch officer does not manage this groupthink on the watch then this can lead to symptoms of defective decision-making. Watch culture will have an impact on the implementation of the EU race equality directives and the new concept of discrimination will be violated. Most watches in the UK Fire and Rescue service are now moving towards diversity and it is just the ‘old school’ watch culture that needs to be eradicated but Firefighter D asserts that “they’re not going without resistance.”
However, taking Max Weber’s “ Iron cage of bureaucracy” into consideration, there are some watch managers that have the desire to implement the EU race directives but are hampered by social and political issues outside the watches control. Serena Gray (Black Britain 2005) reports that "the FBU wants firefighters with racist views weeded out of the service." She reported that "Gloucestershire Fire and Rescue Service is the first authority to publicly promise to discipline or sack any of its employees who are affiliated with the British National Party (BNP) or similar right wing groups." She goes on to say that they wrote to every chief fire officer in the country asking for their position on this issue after Ian Johnson, a part-time firefighter in Hampshire stood for the BNP in the European elections last year, but his employers refused to sack him because he has not broken the law." What can be seen here is a demonstration from Gloucestershire Fire and Rescue service that policy can be used to control people by breaking through the iron cage thus achieving the societal task of eradication any form of racist/fascist values from its organisation. It will then be reliant upon the democratic control of the firefighters and watch managers in watch culture if there is to be successful policy implementation.
Conclusion
This research has demonstrated that, by using the groupthink model, some black and ethnic minority firefighters can be culturally excluded due to watch culture groupthink, and there is evidence of antecedent conditions and observable consequences from the group think model resulting in-groupthink. This is due to a dominant cohesive group of decision making firefighters, and the symptoms of out-group stereotyping towards some black and ethnic minority firefighters. This leads to symptoms of defective decision making, and this will have an impact on policy decision-making and the implementation of the EU race equality directives. However, there is a move towards change and diversity in the UK Fire and Rescue Service, and policy making is moving towards breaking through the “iron cage” and dealing with the issues that have an impact on implementing the EU equal treatment policies at ground level, thus addressing the psychosocial issues in the workplace and in society.
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Appendix 1
SEMI-STUCTURED QUESTIONS FOR INTERVIEWS
1. Do you feel there is a culture of ‘them and us’ on stations when it comes to policies like equality training, B&EMM, positive action etc. ?
2. Do you feel firefighters create a disruptive informal working relationships as a form of resistance against these policies?
3. Do you think that the general attitude of firefighters to the implementation
of any policies that they see as a threat applies to policies on race equality?
4. Dave Baigent’s work cited a number of incidences when “informal hierarchies” on watches use horseplay/humour/teasing as harassment. He comments that it is easy to see why “fire service humour” is aimed at certain groups: “it is an attempt to drive them out or bring them into line”. To what extent would you agree this is a problem for B&EMM members?
5. Is harassment aimed at certain B&EMM members in an attempt to resist cultural change?
6. In your opinion do firefighters differentiate between those who can or cannot do the job to protect their image?
7. Do you think firefighters stereotype those they would like to work with to
the exclusion of others?
8. Do some B&EMM members find it difficult to fit-in on a watch due to the stereotyping?
9. “Informal ‘peer leaders’, i.e. certain individual firefighters
running a watch, can hold sway over the watch to uphold racist agendas.”
What’s your take on this statement?
10. Have you experienced any cases or examples of B&EMM members being excluded or marginalised by watch culture?
11. Have you anything further to add?
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