NCJ Number
138710
Journal
Criminal Justice and Behavior Volume: 19 Issue: 3 Dated: (September 1992) Pages: 240-259
Date Published
1992
Length
20 pages
Annotation
Thirty female police officers from 19 police agencies in Vermont were compared with 30 male officers from the same agencies with respect to job performance and stress.
Abstract
The study data were gathered over a 15-year period and included psychological evaluations from the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory scores, self-reports of stress, and supervisory reports of stress. The female officers represented 91 percent of all full-time female municipal police officers in Vermont. The male officers were matched for experience. Results revealed that, to a large extent, male and female officers experienced the same stressors in small-town policing. One exception was for task-related stressors, with women reporting more stress when exposed to tragedy and feeling more stress associated with responsibility for the safety of the public and their professional colleagues. Women also reported stress associated with working in a male-dominated occupation. However, the increased stress did not affect job performance. Performance by supervisors indicated that female and male officers do the job equally well. Tables and 23 references (Author abstract modified)