Women in Policing: A Tale of Cultural Conformity (From Contemporary Issues in Crime and Criminal Justice: Essays in Honor of Gilbert Geis, P 287-306, 2001, Henry N. Pontell and David Shichor, eds. -- See NCJ-193102)

• NCJ Number: 193115
• Author(s): Deborah Parsons; Paul Jesilow
• Date Published: 2001
• Length: 20 pages
• Sale Source: Prentice Hall Publishing
• Publication Format: Book (Softbound)
• Publication Type: Historical Overview
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This essay reviews the history of women in policing and discusses how the conflict between the crime-fighting and service roles of the police have undermined most efforts to integrate women into the occupation.

Abstract

Women were grudgingly accepted into police work, but almost exclusively because they handled situations disliked by the men, in particular, incidents that involved women and children. Almost everywhere they were employed as police officers, for example, policewomen were assigned to patrol theaters in search of truants and disruptive children. Efforts by the women to define their mission as crime prevention, however, were often disregarded by police chiefs. Across the United States, policewomen were required to perform many tasks that resembled standard police work, such as interviewing sexual assault victims, interrogating women felons, keeping records, disseminating information to the public, taking complaints, serving as decoys, and patrolling areas of prostitution. Revolutionary changes occurred in women's roles during the 1960's and 1970's, both in the larger society and in policing. In policing, women sought occupational equality with men in patrol work. Since their integration into patrol, efforts to attract and hire women into law enforcement have been minimal, and litigation has often been required to achieve change; however, such suits have failed to result in equality, in part because judicial decisions that require police departments to hire minorities and females continue to underrepresent women. Pervasive negative beliefs regarding the abilities of women to perform the police role continue to exist, despite research findings that women perform equally as well as their male counterparts. Efforts to integrate women into police work have fallen short, largely because they have not altered the police value system, which supports certain attitudes and personality traits. In the police value system, law enforcement is viewed as the primary responsibility. Studies have shown, however, that actual police activities consist mostly of service activities and problem-solving. The continued focus of the police subculture on crime-fighting subverts the primary leadership values of policewomen, who tend to focus on the service role in policing. 101 references