Women in Policing - Sexual Integration in American Law Enforcement

• NCJ Number: 92406
• Author(s): B R Price
• Date Published: 1982
• Length: 15 pages
• Sale Source: National Institute of Justice/
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: Paper presented at the Conference on Police Ethics, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, 22-25 April, 1982 New York

Annotation

Law enforcement has moved slowly in integrating women into its ranks because of the interrelationship between organizational structure and the traditional view of policing as a male occupation, the workings of the opportunity structure within the organization, the shrinking size of most American police departments, and the general ideology of male superiority.

Abstract

Although police agencies eliminated formal barriers to hiring women as officers in the 1970's to comply with Federal laws barring sexual discrimination in public-sector employment, according to the most recent national survey, women police officers have only increased from 1.5 percent in 1972 to 3.38 percent in 1979. Further, a Police Foundation report indicates that only 1.69 percent of all municipal officers above the rank of officer are women, and almost all of these are corporals or sergeants. This slow integration of women into law enforcement work compared to other occupations is largely due to the traditional view of policing as order maintenance through intimidation and the use of force, which has been viewed as requiring a physical strength and authoritative quality not possessed by women. Even after the hiring of women as officers, they were not assigned to patrol duty. Vertical mobility is also limited in police organizations, and it is in the self-interest of the male majority to deny females access to the limited number of management positions. Limited promotional opportunities have also been aggravated by the shrinking size of most police departments. Finally, the accustomed role of male dominance in the family and the work setting has made the prospect of a female officer particularly offensive to some male police officers. It appears that the status of women in policing will remain marginal until there is either strong support for female officer hiring and advancement in the command structure or a significant alteration of the command structure itself. Six footnotes and 19 references are provided.