Managing the Organizational Culture of Law Enforcement bodies in the Dynamics of Coping with Social Fears related to COVID-19: the Gender Aspect

Introduction. The COVID-19 pandemic provides a unique opportunity to explore the concept of the organizational culture of law enforcement bodies, which is complex in its ambivalence. This possibility lies in the fact that its multi-level functionality and value-semantic contexts revealed through the analysis of law enforcement officers’ behavioral norms and relationship cannot be systematically studied without considering the mental states of police officers. The purpose is to study the organizational culture of law enforcement bodies in the dynamics of police officers' gender experiences of social fears related to COVID-19. Materials and Methods. The study was conducted in 2020 and the first half of 2021. The sample included 335 police officers, aged from 23 to 49 (231 men and 104 women). Psychodiagnostics using Google forms was carried out twice: in 2020 and in 2021. The following methods were used: L. N. Grosheva "Social fears" questionnaire, "The level of subjective control" questionnaire by E. F. Bazhin et al.; method for determining the dominant state (L.V. Kulikov DS-8). Results and Discussion. The authors revealed the differences in the dynamics of growth and the intensity of the experience of social fears among police officers, both women and men, as well as in the dynamics of the growth of instability of their mental state. With the identified dynamics of the growth of social fears, male police officers are characterized by a tendency towards transformation of the focus of the locus of control expressed in the desire to delegate responsibility for events in most spheres of their own lives. Another tendency is typical for female police women, who, despite the growth of social fears and instability of mental state, strive to increase responsibility for events in the field of interpersonal and family relations. Conclusions. The revealed dynamics of changes in mental states, including the increase in social fears among police officers during COVID-19, shows the increase in gender differences of organizational and cultural relations in the police departments. This may indicate the peculiarities of managing the organizational culture of the law enforcement bodies and signs of the formation of a new type of organizational culture. At the same time, the management of the organizational culture of law enforcement bodies is under a stronger influence of external factors, which contributes to its weakening.