NCJ Number
197588
Date Published
2001
Length
18 pages
Annotation
This chapter discusses the difficulties women have had to address in various criminal justice professions, as well as the barriers that remain.
Abstract
Upper-middle-class women reformers entered the criminal justice arena in the 19th century as specialists to serve and protect poor, immigrant women and children. They aimed to reform corrupt and ineffective criminal justice practices by establishing women's prisons and police bureaus. By the end of the Civil War, upper-middle-class women's activities had moved beyond jails and prisons to encompass virtually all activities that placed government agencies in contact with women and children. In the 1880's, women gained paid employment as jail matrons in new, large city police departments. In 1910, Alice Stebbins Wells became the first sworn woman police officer. With help from social reformers outside policing, women established separate police bureaus. Through the 1920's, police women remained formally separate from male officers. Like policing, 19th and early 20th century corrections was characterized by competing organizational models of punishment and rehabilitation. Rehabilitative correctional models were more compatible with culturally dominant ideals of femininity. The 1960's began a period of change in women's policing and corrections work. In a 1961 lawsuit in New York City, police women gained the right to compete in a promotional process previously closed to them. In 1968 in Indianapolis, the first women were assigned to patrol duties. In the 1970's women also sought security positions in men's prisons. Through the end of the 20th century, women in policing and corrections battled legal, organizational, and interpersonal barriers to their full involvement in these professions. Although most formal restrictions on women in these fields have been removed, women today continue to face numerous informal barriers to job satisfaction and advancement. Informal interactions with male colleagues continue to reflect gender biases, and organizational policies and practices sometimes stem from overtly discriminatory approaches. Legal requirements that discrimination claims be based on either race or gender have posed considerable dilemmas for women of color who experience both forms of disadvantage. Informal organizational cultures continue to emphasize macho images of police as militaristic crime fighters; under such a model, women are morally threatening and physically problematic coworkers. Still, the inroads that women have already made in criminal justice professions should provide considerable momentum for continued advances. Women must network with each other and share work problems and strategies. Networks and alliances must be fluid and sensitive to differences and similarities among criminal justice employees. Workers must also develop more critical insights into the problems that oppressive forms of social control pose for criminal justice staff and clients. 101 references and 6 discussion questions