Women Law Enforcement Officers - Essay Example

Women Law Enforcement Officers A woman police officer in an interview, has estimated that the current number of women police officers at about onethird of the police force, but observed that more and more women are joining the force (Collins, 2006). While law enforcement was once a male dominated bastion, women have gradually been entering the ranks of the police forces after the feminist movement in the 1960s which brought women out of their roles as protectors of home and hearth and out into the workplace, including male dominated professions. This has also changed the responsiveness of women from the public towards the police forces and women are now more likely to come forward to report crimes against them, such as rape and sexual harassment. From a historical perspective, joining the police force was not an option that was open to women of earlier generations, because it appeared to be a job that called for violence and brute strength, while also placing the individual police officer in a dangerous situation. As a result, it was not deemed an appropriate profession for women to be in. The stereotypical role that women had to assume was that of homemaker rather than that of provider. They were seen to be weak creatures who possessed limited levels of physical strength and were therefore to be protected. In describing the present attitude of male police officers, one-woman police officer points out that they may still have a fatherly attitude towards the women officers and believe they must be protected.(Collins, 2006). Alternatively, male police officers balk at working with a female officer, on the grounds that she would not likely to be of much help in a dangerous situation, thereby adhering to gender stereotypes about women being weak and unable to handle violent or criminal situations. Bevecqua (2000) points out that different patterns of socialization in men and women is the reason why male dominance was perpetuated in earlier times, keeping women in a state of fear and passivity, thereby confining them to home and hearth. In her discussion of how the social context and male dominance influenced the police attitude towards rape, she points out that women bringing a complaint of rape were seen to be partly to blame for their fate. The reason for such an outlook lay in the way the law viewed women, as property belonging to men over whom it was the males who had the ultimate authority. But with the emergence of the feminist movement of the 1960s, women began to play a more active role in changing the hitherto existing perceptions about their race and moving into the workforce. (Bevecqua, 2000). The number of police officers has been slowly increasing, partly due to the changing role of women in society and partly because of the higher pay and benefits that are offered by the police force, which encourages more females to come forward to become police officers. In the 1980s, it was suggested that women police officers were likely to use coercion, thereby providing an inference that the historical perception of women as the weaker sex could play a role in their performance as police officers. Moreover, in general, among police officer teams, the stronger member of the duo was generally perceived as possessing more masculine traits. Gerber (2001) has developed a status model of stereotyping according to gender and suggests that in a male-female police team partnership, the man may be more assertive and decisive because he views himself as being cast in a higher status role due to his gender. Similarly, in female duos, the stronger partner often developed more masculine traits, while in male duos, the weaker partner developed more feminine traits. This suggests that existing stereotypes about men and women may still be playing out in the police force. But this may be undergoing a process of slow change. Paoline and Territt (2004) carried out a study to examine the use of coercion by male and female police officers and (Paoline and Territt, 2004) but it concluded that women generally possessed better communication skills and were able to achieve the desired objectives mainly through verbal coercion without the need to resort to physical force. (Paoline and Territt, 2004:97-119). They found that gender does not play a significant role in impacting upon the manner in which a police officer, male or female uses coercion. Their analysis appeared to suggest that male and female officers may use coercion in a similar manner and in almost identical proportions – the only significant difference was that male police officers were likely to use higher levels of coercion with male suspects. One specific area, which the higher representation of women officers on the police forces has affected, is sexual assault cases. Meier and Nicholson-Crotty (2006) have examined the correlation between women police officers and sexual assault reports and arrests. In their study, the number of women police officers was the independent variable, while data on sexual assault arrests for 60 of the largest metropolitan counties in the United States from 1990 to 1997 was taken into account. They found a higher incidence of reporting and prosecution of rape and sexual harassment when female police officers are involved, because they may also be bringing about changes in the attitudes of their male partners and enhancing their sensitivity to women’s issues. Meier and Nicholson-Crotty (2006) also take into account the historical perspective of low reporting on sexually related crimes. Earlier, the levels of prosecution for rape were low because women who brought complaints about rape to male police officers, often faced a disbelieving attitude (Brownmiller, 1975). Victims of rape were made to feel socially stigmatized and that they were to blame in some way; the humiliation they had to face often kept women victims away. Since the police force was largely male dominated, they were predisposed in favor of males rather than of the female victims. In their study, Meier and Nicholson-Croty found that men and women police officers responded differently to the report of a rape. While male police officers approached a complaint with skepticism, women police officers seemed to realize the importance of collection of evidence within 72 hours and that they approached the case without an inbuilt bias against the victim. On this basis, Meier and Nicholson-Crotty (2006) have concluded that the gender of police bureaucrats does in fact affect its policy outputs. More active representation of women is likely to when (a) women as a group benefit from a policy (b) when an issue is politically defined as a gendered issue and (c) when the gender of the officer affects the relationship between the officer and the client. In the context of changes within the police force and the increased representation of women, it may be noted that it was only after the feminist movement in the 1960s that there has been a push towards increasing the number of women in male dominated occupations. On the basis of the above, it may be concluded that the role and percentage of women police officers has been changing over the years. Factors that may be responsible for this change are the feminist movement and changing attitudes in society towards women in male dominated occupations. It may also be noted that the improved pay and salaries in the police force serves as a factor drawing more women into this profession. Since police divisions across the country are starting out on their drive to enroll more women officers and training them to perform well, there is less of a stigma attached to women in the police forces. All of these reasons have produced a trend for a slow but definite increase in enrolment of women in the police forces and improved efficiency in their performance of their role as officers. Bibliography: * Bevacqua, Maria. 2000. “Rape on the Public Agenda: Feminism and the Politics of Sexual Assault”, Boston: Northeastern University Press. * Brownmiller, Susan, 1975. “Against Our Will: Men, Women, and Rape”, New York: Ballantine Books. * Collins, Michael S, 2006. “Officer Sabrina Richardson with Michael S. Collins”, John Hopkins University Press, 29(4): 1355-1366 * Gerber, Gwendolyn L, 2001. “Women and Men police officers: Status, gender and personality”, CT: Praeger Publishers. * Meier, Kenneth J and Nicholson-Crotty, Jill, 2006. “Gender, Representative bureaucracy and Law enforcement: the case of sexual assault”, Public Administration Review, 66(6): 850-861 * Paoline, Eugene A and Territt, William, 2004. “Women police officers and the use of coercion”, Women and Criminal justice, 15(4): 97-119 Read More