United Nations International Police Officers in Peacekeeping Missions: A Phenomenological Exploration of Complex Acculturation (Innovations in Policing)

Why do international policing missions often fail to achieve their mandate? Why do United Nations Police officers struggle when serving in foreign peacekeeping missions? __United Nations International Police Officers in Peacekeeping Missions: A Phenomenological Exploration of Complex Acculturation__ unravels these problems to find a causal thread: When working in hyper-diverse organizations such as the United Nations Police, United Nations police officers must grapple with adjusting to a kaleidoscope of different and competing cultures __simultaneously__―an issue the author identifies as complex acculturation. In this introduction to the novel concept of complex acculturation, Michael Sanchez explores the reasons behind the chronic performance troubles of the United Nations Police, and explains how the very fabric of the organization contributes to its ineffectiveness. While previous research has focused on private sector expatriate workers’ challenges when adapting to a single new culture, this timely book describes a previously unstudied phenomenon and applies this knowledge to help businesses, governments, organizations, and citizens navigate the increasingly diverse workplace of the future. This book lays the foundation for a new area of study and provides a forward-thinking perspective that will interest multinational companies, police agencies, international relations organizations, prospective expatriate workers, and academics alike. Cover 1 Half title 2 Title page 4 Copyright page 5 Table of contents 8 List of Illustrations 10 Author Biography 11 Preface 12 List of Abbreviations 17 1 Introduction 18 Study Method Sample and Population 20 Collection of Data 21 Analysis of Data 22 2 United Nations International Police 24 UNPOL Mission Mandates 26 UNPOL Mission Composition 27 UNPOL Missions and Hyper-Diversity 30 3 The UNPOL Experience 33 4 Exploring Expatriate and UNPOL Performance 38 Expatriate Performance and Acculturation 38 Expatriate Acculturation Theoretical Framework 42 Expatriate Acculturation and Performance 48 Cultural Intelligence 49 Expatriate Productivity Success and Failure 52 UNPOL Performance 56 5 Identifying Simple and Complex Acculturation 60 Simple Acculturation 61 Complex Acculturation 62 Public and Private Sector Expatriate Workers 64 Workgroup Diversity 65 6 Phenomenological Description of Complex Acculturation 67 Phenomenological Description of Complex Acculturation 68 7 Sources of Cultural Dissonance 81 National Differences 81 Religious Differences 90 Communication Difficulties 94 Perpetuation of Acculturative Stress 95 8 UNPOL Productivity and Complex Acculturation as a Construct 98 UNPOL Productivity 98 Complex Acculturation as a Construct 103 9 Successfully Coping with the Challenges of Complex Acculturation 113 Anticipate and Expect Cultural Dissonance 114 Be Prepared to Change 116 Cultural Socialization 117 Religious Differences 120 10 Implications of this Research 123 Implications of this Research for the United Nations Police 123 Implications Beyond International Policing 126 International Organizations and Non-Governmental Organizations 126 International Human Resource Management 127 Diversity Management and Complex Acculturation 128 Domestic Policing 129 Theoretical Implications 130 Complex Acculturation's Implications for Practice and Research 131 Glossary 135 References 137 Index 145 Why do international policing missions often fail to achieve their mandate? Why do United Nations Police officers struggle when serving in foreign peacekeeping missions? United Nations International Police Officers in Peacekeeping Missions: A Phenomenological Exploration of Complex Acculturation unravels these problems to find a causal thread: When working in hyper-diverse organizations such as the United Nations Police, United Nations police officers must grapple with adjusting to a kaleidoscope of different and competing cultures simultaneously ―an issue the author identifies as complex acculturation. In this introduction to the novel concept of complex acculturation, Michael Sanchez explores the reasons behind the chronic performance troubles of the United Nations Police, and explains how the very fabric of the organization contributes to its ineffectiveness. While previous research has focused on private sector expatriate workers’ challenges when adapting to a single new culture, this timely book describes a previously unstudied phenomenon and applies this knowledge to help businesses, governments, organizations, and citizens navigate the increasingly diverse workplace of the future. This book lays the foundation for a new area of study and provides a forward-thinking perspective that will interest multinational companies, police agencies, international relations organizations, prospective expatriate workers, and academics alike. This book explores the reasons behind the United Nations Police's chronic performance troubles and explains how the very fabric of the organization contributes to its ineffectiveness. This timely book focuses on the previously unstudied phenomenon of complex acculturation, i.e., adjusting to multiple different cultures simultaneously.