37. Sarah Jane Lennie: Robocop - how police culture dehumanises

Dr Sarah-Jane Lennie is a Chartered Psychologist and Lecturer in the Police, Organisation and Practice Department of the Open University, UK. Sarah-Jane specialises in social psychology, emotions in the workplace and the mental health and well-being of police officers.  

Sarah Jane comes from a family with deep experience and comittment to the public services including the army and the police force and this brings exceptional weight to her observations of the systemic deficits relating to emotional wellbeing.

Prior to returning to academia Sarah-Jane served for 18 years as a police officer, to the rank of Detective Inspector. Sarah-Jane is an Associate to the College of Policing, as a subject matter expert in mental health and organisational culture.  Sarah-Jane’s research focus is on supporting police officer’s emotional wellbeing through the exploration of officer’s lived experience and the impact of organisational culture on individual mental health.  Sarah-Jane looks at the role of stigma, emotional suppression and dissociation in the increasing cases of PTSD within British officers.  

 

This conversation is part of a double bill we release along with Paul Bradford's reflections on police call centres and emotional literacy and implications for the police service as a whole