Results

The inspiration for exploring naivete’s relationships to policing and community-conflict originated with one

response from an officer concerning why they joined. According to them, they were “naive, ridiculously

naive”(Officer 5) about how the Troubles would affect their career. Building upon that, 19 out of 34 officers noted

areas where they felt they lacked particular knowledge when they considered policing as a career that would have

impacted their eventual decision to join.

Assessing the Risk of the Troubles’ Violence

One area of “naivete” identified by the officers was the larger political context and impact of the violence in

Northern Irish society as a result of the ongoing conflict. A few officers discussed how various aspects of their

knowledge of the Troubles would become a reflection point for their careers, especially their choice to join. For

example, one officer (Officer 13, joined in 1976) says about the Troubles:

“...I think the main motivation was it seemed an exciting and worthwhile thing to do during the ‘The Troubles’. I

had been in the Army, so it wasn’t such a big transition to go into a uniformed, disciplined force and the

comradeship element would have appealed to me, but I think it was a sense of purpose that was the real driving

force. Because if it hadn't been for that…I would have gone overseas. I would have traveled, possibly gone to South

Africa, or Rhodesia or whatever…It was probably ‘The Troubles’ really that drew me back, plus the prospect of a

career in the RUC.”

Another officer (1) reflected on the impact the Troubles had on their view of British policing overall, and thus their

decision to join:

“You know, I can remember what my motives were, some of them seem sort of high minded now when I look back,

and, maybe not the way I would approach things nowadays. But, at that time I thought, if you’re going to be a UK

Police Officer and take a reasonable pension after 30 years service, you shouldn’t do it if your 30 years was spent

cycling around the Norfolk Broads, you really should put yourself on offer for some of the more difficult challenges

UK policing has to offer…I thought, I live in the United Kingdom, there’s one part of the United Kingdom which is
manifestly different in its Policing problems, and, if I am going to have any claims to take a pension or get to a

higher rank in due course then I ought to put myself on offer for that.”

Officers (2,3,6) also touched on how they may have been relatively sheltered from the violence at the time and

so were only exposed to violence through media or television programs.

For instance, one interviewee (Officer 3, joined in 1973) noted:

“I came from a little country town and when I joined the job (RUC) in 1973 it hadn’t experienced any ‘Trouble’ as

such, I saw it on the TV, but it was remote, it didn’t really have any great bearing on me. I suppose it was a folly of

youth that I dismissed any risk that was associated with joining ‘The Job’ at the time.”

Officers also revealed that they overlooked religion’s role in fomenting community-conflict because they were

either raised in a non-religious or mixed-religious household (4,5,10,18,19).

For instance, Officer 5 (joined in 1982) stated:

“I had no great sense to serve the community…looking back, I was very immature, I just wanted to get into work…

it was funny, I was naive at the time and, being brought up in a mixed working-class housing estate, I was sort of

sheltered from ‘The Troubles’…I didn’t see or experience anything dramatic before I joined the police…both me

and my mate were very naive, ridiculously naïve.”- Officer 5

Officer 10 (joined in 1978) furthermore mentioned their family’s nonreligious background when asked how their

religious beliefs affected their decision to join:

“Did I join the RUC for sectarian reasons? No, my family was never sectarian; my father, the biggest influence in

my life, probably would have described his politics as Socialist. I went to the Church of Ireland and believed that

people were entitled to hold their own views and opinions…I never saw the job of the Police to dominate one

section of the community. I saw the Police as being there to uphold the law and that’s all, nothing more and nothing

less.”
Another officer (19, joined in 1969) noted that due to living in a mixed-community, he did not expect the Troubles

to increase the tension in his area:

“It was very much a mixed community…Before I joined, the police and the community got on really well, but after I

joined in 69 (when the Troubles hit their area) it became a different picture. When I applied, I didn’t envisage things

would go the way they did, but they did...”

Additionally, some respondents indicated that the composition of their neighborhoods framed their own ideas

about religion’s importance in daily interactions with communities for policing (12,14).

For example, Officer 12 (joined in 1981), mentioned how living in a mixed community affected their view of the

importance of building positive relationships with both religious communities:

“I grew up in a town outside Belfast. My mum and dad were a mixed marriage, my dad was Catholic, and my

younger brother and I were brought up in a fairly religious family inspired by both my parents…The local

community where I grew up were broadly supportive of the police. I think from my background and upbringing, I

was broadminded and decided that I wanted to be a policeman, and to do my best for the people I served…My

overarching sense in joining was to be fair to all.”

One officer expressed that the timing of an event during the Troubles, Bloody Sunday, in retrospect, may

have influenced their viewpoints on joining in 1972 during intense community conflict (14).

Dwelling on when he joined, he mentioned how his recruitment coincided with when the British Army shot 26

Catholics that protested internment (imprisonment) without trial. They noted:

“…if somebody had set me down that same night in the Training Centre and said these are the things you are going

to face many times in the future, it probably would have given me cause for thought.”(Officer 14).

Interviewees who were mainly more likely to become RUC officers failed to assess policing’s risks due to the

Troubles, their sheltered or mixed-family upbringing, and timing of events affecting their worldview.

Desire to Help or Address Violence in Society Through Policing

Many other officers were influenced by the Troubles’ effect on violence in Northern Ireland, causing them to want

to address the issue by joining.

Terrorism’s impact on Northern Irish society during this period especially motivated interviewees to join the

police (8,10,11,16, 17,18,19).

For example, Officer 8 (joined in 1975) became an officer since because they wanted to help stop terrorism overall:

“ …I realised there was no military way to counter the threat posed by the Provisional IRA and the Loyalist

paramilitaries…I have to say, I didn’t have much interest in normal policing, but then we didn’t have normal

policing, the situation we had was the RUC was stuck in the middle between Republican terrorists and Loyalist

terrorists. My motivation to join was to help bring peace.”

Another officer (11, joined in 1973) was impacted by a terrorist killing their friend and a Catholic dying due to a

retailiation killing in response:

“A friend was shot dead in a random shooting. He had gotten off the bus in Duncairn Gardens and was walking into

Edlingham Street when…a female opened fire with a machine gun from the New Lodge Road direction and shot 10

people, my friend was hit and died, the others survived…Sadly, the night after his death, a Catholic was shot in

retaliation in the New Lodge, which his family didn’t want. That spurred me on and strengthened my determination

to join the police.”

Officer 10 grew up in a mixed-religion community and noted how terrorism’s negative impact on their community

affected their decision to join later on:

“I went to school in the centre of Belfast and right through my school days the events of 1969-1973 had a big

impact. For example, during the month I was doing my A Levels there were something like 20 explosions within

100 yards of the school-that was really disruptive. I knew people who had been killed, a young lad who lived around

the corner from us was shot dead by the IRA, he saw them planting a bomb and when he ran off, they shot him.

Things like that were horrendous, and there were lots of them. On the other side, you had the Loyalist paramilitaries.

I remember about 1973, I was out walking with my late father and we saw these guys walking around Belvoir
Estate, they were UDA types. I asked my father what he thought of them. He replied, ‘They are scum, thugs and

criminals, have nothing to do with them’, and he was absolutely right, they are parasites living off the people who

lived there…I never gave much thought to joining the Police when I was growing up. So, I…got a degree and did a

Postgraduate Business course. By the time I was 22, I thought, ‘I should be doing something to help create a bit of

normality, I can’t just sit back and do nothing’, so I thought about the UDR… but I didn’t think it was for me, then I

thought about the Police Part Time Reserve and I joined it.”

Other officers ( 4,7,9,14, 15, 16) elaborated on why they joined for violence unrelated to terrorism, such as

Officer 7 (joined in 1972), who joined since they wanted to create just communities:

“I think I joined because of the way I was brought up. My Dad had a strong sense of justice, and I was brought up

that if somebody was being bullied or whatever, I shouldn't allow it to happen... I joined the RUC, not so much

because of ‘The Troubles’, but because of the way I was brought up to have a sense of justice, a sense of fairness,

and a feeling that I could make a difference; perhaps that is naive, I was only 16 at the time.”

Another officer, Officer 9, (joined in 1980) described how she joined since she wanted to stop violence overall in

her community, not just the terrorism, and how later on she viewed that reason as “twee”. The Merriam-Webster

defines this British expression as “affectedly or excessively dainty, delicate, cute, or quaint”().

“I was brought up in Protestant East Belfast, my parents had friends on both sides of the Community and they never

said anything against anyone because of their religion, but they did criticize people because of what they did and

that was on both sides…. I witnessed lots of things, I saw the Army coming onto the streets, the vigilantes and the

UDA being formed. I didn’t want anything to do with those groups; I wanted to help stop the trouble continuing…I

wanted to help people, and I thought I could do that as a police officer. It doesn’t matter where they come from or

who they are, I just want to help people and make this place, it sounds terribly twee, a safer place...”

Officer 16 is an interesting case since he joined the RUC for both violence related and nonrelated to terrorism

during the Troubles, as he stated:

“Growing up in the 60s, I was aware of the past, but I was also aware there was a future. I could see a shared future,

and I just saw it being ripped apart. There was a bomb planted outside a nearby Orange Hall where I lived and after
it exploded, I ran down to see if anybody was hurt. I thought I could have been walking past and blown to bits, in

fact anybody could have been killed. I just couldn’t understand why people were bombing and shooting. I worked in

the Shipyard and lived outside Belfast, so I was only aware of ‘The Troubles’ from the TV as there wasn’t much

trouble around where I lived. Seeing things on TV and hearing the guys who lived in Belfast talking about it, I just

couldn’t help wondering why? So, I decided I should do something.”

Overall, interviewees who grew up in NI neighborhoods entangled in violence caused by terrorism and other sources

were more likely to become RUC officers later on.