Gender and PTSD: What can we learn from female police officers?

2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. M. Lilly ◽  
N. Pole ◽  
S. R. Best ◽  
T. Metzler ◽  
C. R. Marmar
Keyword(s):  
Police Officers ◽  
Female Police Officers

Empowering Women in Blue Uniforms—Gender and Police in South Africa

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shanta Singh ◽  
Sultan Khan
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Police Officers ◽  
Police Work ◽  
Police Force ◽  
Police Culture ◽  
The South ◽  
South African Police Service ◽  
Female Police Officers ◽  
South African Police ◽  
Female Officers

Gender in the police force has received scant attention by researchers, although there are complex social dimensions at play in how male and female law enforcement officers relate to each other in the workplace. Given the fact that males predominate in the police force, their female counterparts are often marginalised due to their sexual orientation and certain stereotypes that prevail about their femininity. Male officers perceive female officers as physically weak individuals who cannot go about their duties as this is an area of work deemed more appropriate to men. Based on this perception, female officers are discriminated against in active policing and often confined to administrative duties. This study looks at how female police officers are discriminated against in the global police culture across the globe, the logic of sexism and women’s threat to police work, men’s opposition to female police work, gender representivity in the police force, and the integration and transformation of the South African Police Service to accommodate female police officers. The study highlights that although police officers are discriminated against globally, in the South African context positive steps have been taken to accommodate them through legislative reform.

scholarly journals Effect of Self-reported Height on Occupational Rank Among Police Officers: Especially for Women it Pays to be Tall

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abraham P. Buunk ◽  
Gert Stulp ◽  
Wilmar B. Schaufeli
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Selection ◽  
The Netherlands ◽  
Police Officers ◽  
Educational Level ◽  
Leadership Positions ◽  
Male And Female ◽  
Similar Percentage ◽  
Average Population ◽  
Female Police Officers

AbstractThis study among 725 male and 247 female police officers from The Netherlands examined the association between self-reported height and occupational rank from the perspective of sexual selection. Male and female police officers were taller than the average population. A larger percentage of women than of men was found in the lowest ranks, but in the leadership positions, there was a similar percentage of women as of men. Overall, but especially among women, height was linearly associated with occupational rank: the taller one was, the higher one’s rank. These effects were independent of educational level and age. The implications for evolutionary theorizing from the perspective of sexual selection on the effect of tallness on status and dominance among women are discussed.

scholarly journals Negotiating Gender and Police Culture: Exploring the Barriers to Retention and Progression of Female Police Officers in New Zealand

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Shannon M. Chan
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Predominantly White ◽  
Police Officers ◽  
Working Environment ◽  
Police Culture ◽  
Women Officers ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
New Rhetoric ◽  
Women's Narratives ◽  
Female Police Officers

<p>Women officers represent a minority within the New Zealand Police (Police) particularly within the senior ranks. In recent years, Police have made concerted efforts to increase women’s representation as well as improve the working environment. However, recent reviews of the 2007 Commission of Inquiry into Police Conduct have reported that women continue to face barriers to full integration and furthermore, that the changes to the police culture have reached a plateau. New Zealand and international research have established that police culture continues to pose a barrier to women’s full acceptance within policing. This culture is characterised by predominantly white, heterosexual males, who form what has been described as a “cult of masculinity”. Therefore, women find they must adopt the culture in order to “fit in” and be accepted as “one of the boys”.  Adopting a qualitative framework, this research involved semi-structured face-to-face interviews with sworn female police officers. Exploring female police officers’ experiences identified five pertinent barriers to women’s retention and progression. These were the emphasis on physical skills and excitement, the police camaraderie and the cult of masculinity, sexual harassment within the workplace, women’s minority status, and balancing motherhood with policing. It was found that the persistence of these barriers came back to core features of police culture. Due to the strong allegiance to the positive aspects of the police culture, such as the camaraderie, negative features such as sexual banter and harassment were subsumed within the wider culture. Negative features were tolerated and accepted as part and parcel of working in the Police. Women’s narratives demonstrated that they adhered to core police culture features and thus contributed to the sustenance of the culture. Furthermore, how women articulated their experiences and perceptions of barriers was complex and nuanced. Many held the belief that there were no longer any barriers for women in the Police, yet such positive views were in contradiction with their own experiences. The tension between “perceptions” and “reality” creates a situation where the Police currently sit at a crossroads between the “old” culture and the new rhetoric of “change”.</p>

scholarly journals Age-Related Body Composition Differences in Female Police Officers

2019 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 302-307
Author(s):  
Filip Kukic ◽  
Aleksandra Scekic ◽  
Nenad Koropanovski ◽  
Aleksandar Cvorovic ◽  
Jay J Dawes ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Body Composition ◽  
Police Officers ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Female Police Officers

The code of silence and female police officers in Slovenia

2016 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
pp. 387-400 ◽  
Author(s):  
Branko Lobnikar ◽  
Kaja Prislan ◽  
Barbara Čuvan ◽  
Gorazd Meško
Keyword(s):  
Police Officers ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Police Misconduct ◽  
Police Chiefs ◽  
Police Corruption ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Code Of Silence ◽  
Female Police Officers ◽  
Willingness To Report ◽  
Police Integrity

Purpose – For some time now, research conducted in the field of human behavior and criminology has pertained to the contemporary question as to whether there are any relevant differences between the genders regarding their integrity and opinions held and, if so, which of these lead to different behaviors. The purpose of this paper is to determine whether there are any gender differences in willingness to report police misconduct and if so, what is the nature of these differences. Design/methodology/approach – In spring 2011, the study was conducted on a representative sample of 408 frontline Slovenian police officers (87.3 percent were male and 12.7 percent were female). The assessment of the code of silence was conducted using the method developed by Klockars and Kutnjak Ivković (2004), and consisted of 14 hypothetical scenarios describing a range of various forms of police misconduct, from those that merely give the appearance of a conflict of interest, to incidents of bribery and theft. One of the questions explored in relation to the police code of silence was the police officer’s willingness to report misconduct. Findings – Authors discovered significant differences in 11 of the 14 analyzed cases on the willingness to report police misconduct. Interestingly, female police officers were less willing than their male colleagues to report different forms of police misconduct. Female police officers are less willing to report police corruption in seven cases e.g. shooting runaway suspect, supervisor abusing his/her power, excessive force – punching a suspect, falsification of evidence, supervisor not prevent beating a suspect, police officer take bribes, and doing nothing when juveniles paint graffiti. The results were further analyzed from the group dynamic in Slovenian police point of view. The survey findings could be useful for police chiefs, leaders, and managers who want to achieve the main objective of every modern police organization: to prevent corruption and increase social responsibility. Originality/value – The study analyzes, comprehensively and originally, whether the female police officers differ from their male colleagues in the level of police integrity and willingness to report the cases of police corruption and/or other forms of police misbehavior.

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