Female Police Officers on the Move? A Status Report on Women in Policing (From Critical Issues in Policing: Contemporary Readings, P 312-330, 1989, Roger G Dunham and Geoffrey P Alpert, eds. -- See NCJ-114674)

• NCJ Number: 114682
• Author(s): S E Martin
• Date Published: 1989
• Length: 19 pages
• Sale Source: Waveland Press, Inc.
• Publication Type: Issue Overview
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This discussion of female police examined the changes that have occurred in the status of women in policing in this decade, the nature of the resistance of male officers to women in policing and the problems the women officers face as a result, and current research and policy issues related to women and policing.

Abstract

Since 1972 many of the discriminatory practices that restricted the selection and deployment of female police have been eliminated. Women have increased in numbers and proportions in law enforcement agencies, but they still make up only a token proportion of all police personnel. The barriers to women in policing come from both the structural characteristics of policing and police agencies and the ways that cultural mandates and behavioral norms related to gender shape interpersonal interactions in specific occupations. Structural factors include the opportunity structure, the power structure, and relative numbers. The dangers involved in police work also heighten the barriers to informal acceptance of anyone regarded as an outsider. Male officers' language, attitudes, sexual harassment, and informal social exclusion can also remind female officers that they are desired sexual objects, visible outsiders, and feared competitors. Interactions with male citizens can also be problematic for female police officers. Future issues to be addressed are the effects of moving beyond token status in numbers, the assignment of women officers, the use of women as supervisors, turnover, and pregnancy policies. Footnotes, table, and 48 references.