Abstract:
This paper presents preliminary findings of an ethnographic doctoral study of police chaplaincy in
Australia focusing on strategies for understanding and cultivating a community of practice. It argues
that police chaplains are engaged in a complex community of practice with overlapping demands.
Whilst they share notions of purpose and a conceptual value system, developing appropriate ways to
understand and balance these demands has been a difficult process, especially since Continuing
Professional Education (CPE) has been a scarcity for these practitioners. Consequently, there is little
understanding of police chaplains' needs for CPE to facilitate their roles.
One major critical success factor emerging from this research is the need for a functioning system of
CPE. Using results from a written survey, completed by a representative sample, and findings from
fieldwork observations and interviews with police chaplains in New South Wales (NSW), a number of
key factors for understanding and sustaining this community of practice are identified and discussed.
These issues include the role of a chaplain, geographical location and work of police chaplains across
multiple communities, and the emergence of identity. In addition, strategies for learning and barriers to
developing further education and training are discussed. Finally, preliminary findings on criteria for
creating a fair, well-resourced system of CPE for a geographically dispersed community of practice
are proposed.
