Search results

The lot of policewomen has been a difficult adaptation to a predominantly male‐dominated organization. Being traditionally dominated by males, the police organization may become a problematic workplace for policewomen. In a patriarchal society, women are placed at a disadvantage because of gender‐related workplace problems that may arise. This study involves an assessment of the gender‐related problems experienced by the policewomen of the Philippine National Police in the central region of the Philippines. Likewise, the study provides analyses of the relationships of these gender‐related problems to the job performance of women officers. Using a survey questionnaire, gender‐related problems of policewomen are identified and related to their performance using both objective and subjective measures. The data indicate that women officers experience gender‐related problems. However, these problems do not seem to relate significantly to their job performances.

The purpose of this paper is to offer a state-of-the-art review of the research on women of color in American policing. Directions for future research are also highlighted.

Using several online databases, a literature search was performed to collect all relevant empirical studies on the topic. The review includes only studies that examined research questions about minority women officers in their own right.

The review identified 12 studies focused on recruitment, hiring, retention and the on-the-job experiences of this population. Most studies focused on black policewomen. All data analyzed in these studies are at least 20 years old.

Research on minorities in policing tends to concentrate on either black men or white women. For decades, scholars have called for more research on policewomen of color, yet little progress has been made. The current study takes stock of the existing research and provides a much-needed agenda to fill this research gap.

This article aims to examine the sexual harassment experiences of US policewomen by using the Sexual Experience Questionnaire (SEQ) and asking them to describe incidents in which male colleagues’ behavior made them uncomfortable. It seeks to identify areas of discomfort and patterns of response in the context of current harassment policies.

A convenience sample included 117 female law enforcement officers in the USA from two sheriff, two police, and one state police department. Participants completed surveys in small groups with the researcher present.

Study participants were especially concerned about male colleagues' view that women could not “do the job”. Sexual harassment policies and the integration of women into work groups with men influenced how women viewed and reacted to discomforting behaviors.

The findings are consistent with those from a broader national sample and international research. Further study of the effects of US women's tolerance of sexual joking and remarks is needed.

Organizational efforts to stop sexual harassment seemed to have brought some benefits to policewomen, as has their integration into all facets of police work. Still, women's concern that male colleagues think they cannot “do the job” persists, and tolerated harassment may negatively affect some women.

The qualitative data analysis shows the complexity of women's tolerance of behaviors in the workplace in order to fit in, and how working along with men heightens concerns about being seen as incapable of doing certain aspects of the job well.

Assumptions are often made that women police officers will respond more sympathetically to rape complainants than their male colleagues. In the research study presented here, 48 women complainants of rape and sexual assault expressed their views of the extent to which they considered the gender of the interviewing officer to be important and commented on the ways in which the men and women involved with their case interacted with them. The results showed that, overall, gender per se was not the determining factor of complainant satisfaction. Professionalism, warmth and sensitivity were the qualities most desired and these were not exclusively associated with gender. This suggests that not only is it possible for some male officers to be sensitive victim interviewers, but also that being female does not automatically denote possession of the key attributes required for victim interviewing. Some rape complainants, however, expressed a strong preference for women officers. This places the onus on the police not simply to provide a woman officer – the “any woman will do” scenario – but to ensure the availability of trained and experienced women and men officers.

Questions a sample of criminal justice students to show that when officer competence is evaluated in terms of professionalism rather than confrontational issues, bias against women is not found, whereas evaluation variables based on potentially violent situations promote the belief that women are not as well fitted as men for constant exposure to violent confrontation. Cautions against the danger of presenting discrete images of a male “brute force” and a female “professional force”. Finds indications that increased recruitment of women, gender sensitivity training and a higher level of officers’ education may change existing attitudes toward the police.

Explores the professional, job‐related relationships of African‐American policewomen. The difficulties black women police officers face often are exacerbated by the intersection of race and gender that influence their self‐perceptions and the perceptions of those with whom they interact, including other officers and members of the community. Additionally, job‐related issues and interactions appear to impact community relations, particularly in circumstances involving minorities. The experiences of the women suggest that marginalization continues to be problematic for some minorities working in law enforcement. The research is based on qualitative data obtained from black female police officers in a large urban city.

This article reports a study conducted in Pakistan with the assistance of the police service there on the reasons why women police officers enter this profession, given that policing in Pakistan is traditionally hostile towards women, and the tactics they employ in order to gain promotion. It outlines the difficulties in attempting to conduct research on this topic as baseline data did not exist, prior to this study, on women in the police in Pakistan. In general, the reasons given by the interviewees who took part in the study for taking up a career in the police service, were to ensure personal security and to help other women. The article discusses the problems posed for policewomen’s career progression, which includes glass walls and glass ceilings, the need for women’s policing to be segregated from that for men, the lack of experiential training and numbers. It concludes by proposing some modest steps which could be taken to improve opportunities and progression for policewomen in Pakistan.

Police officers face a unique and challenging occupational experience and report elevated mental disorder symptoms relative to the general population. While gender differences appear to be present in police mental health, this study aims to find which factors foster and promote resilience in these workers and how gender may relate to police resilience.

The present study was designed to explore how protective factors, sexual harassment and personality dysfunction impacted resilience among police officers (n = 380; 44% women). Furthermore, gender differences were also examined on these factors as well as on resilience rate.

Men and women police officers did not differ significantly in terms of resilience, protective factors and overall experiences of sexual harassment behaviors; yet, policewomen subjectively reported having experienced more sexual harassment in the past 12 months than policemen. Men reported greater personality difficulties than women, according to the alternative Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5) model for personality disorders. Personality dysfunction was the most robust predictor of poor resilience (ß = −0.465; p < 0.001).

Personality fragilities appear to have an important negative impact on the resilience of police officers, over and above protective factors and gendered experiences. Interventions targeting emotion regulation, self-appraisal and self-reflection could help promote resilience and foster well-being in this population.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the experiences of policewomen to determine the extent to which female officers face resistance and obstacles to police work, to examine the coping mechanisms female officers utilized to overcome impediments encountered, and to establish common themes in female officers' success stories of acceptance and integration.

Owing to the difficulty in accessing female officers, the current research utilizes in‐depth qualitative interviews through snowball sampling. This methodology provided a rich sample of tenured female officers' experiences to explore resistance and integration.

The findings suggest despite early occupational experiences of sexual harassment, discrimination, and disrespect, after long tenures, female officers do achieve acceptance in police work. Female officers are holding high civil service ranks in police agencies and achieving new “firsts” every day, including breaking into stereotypically masculine assignments.

As police departments nationwide are having difficulties maintaining recruitment standards and full rosters, the current study can provide insight into the obstacles women face when joining police agencies and methods to alleviate these impediments, revealing an under‐recruited population for police agencies nationwide.

This study extends past literature by: examining female officers' experiences in a variety of agencies previously ignored in the literature; analyzing the tenure of the officers' careers to determine the onset and desistance of female officers' experiences with resistance and acceptance; and suggesting women do survive and, in some instances, thrive in an “all boys club.”

For some time now, research conducted in the field of human behavior and criminology has pertained to the contemporary question as to whether there are any relevant differences between the genders regarding their integrity and opinions held and, if so, which of these lead to different behaviors. The purpose of this paper is to determine whether there are any gender differences in willingness to report police misconduct and if so, what is the nature of these differences.

In spring 2011, the study was conducted on a representative sample of 408 frontline Slovenian police officers (87.3 percent were male and 12.7 percent were female). The assessment of the code of silence was conducted using the method developed by Klockars and Kutnjak Ivković (2004), and consisted of 14 hypothetical scenarios describing a range of various forms of police misconduct, from those that merely give the appearance of a conflict of interest, to incidents of bribery and theft. One of the questions explored in relation to the police code of silence was the police officer’s willingness to report misconduct.

Authors discovered significant differences in 11 of the 14 analyzed cases on the willingness to report police misconduct. Interestingly, female police officers were less willing than their male colleagues to report different forms of police misconduct. Female police officers are less willing to report police corruption in seven cases e.g. shooting runaway suspect, supervisor abusing his/her power, excessive force – punching a suspect, falsification of evidence, supervisor not prevent beating a suspect, police officer take bribes, and doing nothing when juveniles paint graffiti. The results were further analyzed from the group dynamic in Slovenian police point of view. The survey findings could be useful for police chiefs, leaders, and managers who want to achieve the main objective of every modern police organization: to prevent corruption and increase social responsibility.

The study analyzes, comprehensively and originally, whether the female police officers differ from their male colleagues in the level of police integrity and willingness to report the cases of police corruption and/or other forms of police misbehavior.