NCJ Number
138268
Journal
Policing and Society Volume: 2 Issue: 3 Dated: (1992) Pages: 219-232
Date Published
1992
Length
14 pages
Annotation
An analysis of public images of male and female police officers was formulated based on references gathered from 153 successful applicants to a British police force. The process yielded 253 viable references, 105 written for women applicants and 148 for male applicants.
Abstract
The data related only to successful applicants and reflected the referee's images of prospective policemen as compared with prospective policewomen. The referees were predominantly male and employed in middle-class occupations. This analysis was based on the qualities most frequently attributed to both male and female applicants, the different qualities attributed to them, and the differential rate at which these qualities were cited. While there were many qualities cited for both females and males, including athletic ability, pleasant personality, leadership, motivation, and family background, the quality of level- headedness was at the top of the list for males and the bottom of the list for females. Intelligence and sense of humor were qualities frequently listed for males, but not listed with any recordable frequency for females. Instead, the female applicants' moral values, reliability, and dedication were qualities noted by referees. The author suggests that these results reflect a patriarchally structured concern to control women's moral behavior that extends to the role of female officers in the typical police organization. 5 tables and 28 references