Differences Between Female And Female Officers

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“Men are from mars, women are from Venus”. Most people are aware of this quote. It refers to the different characteristics of men and women. Unfortunately, the characteristics that differentiate women from men have historically been disvalued and seen as inferior especially in a field such as the police force. However, this paper will argue in favour of “feminine traits” such as emotional labor skills, use of less physical force and empathy. In doing so, it will make it evident that the factors which differentiate female officers from their male colleagues allow them to not only outperform their male counterparts but also enhance the view and level of trust that people have of the police force.
One major difference between male and female…show more content…
Having more emotional labor skills allow female officers to be more effective at policing because these skills can greatly affect the outcome of the citizen and officer encounter. Research has concluded that officers who were mostly female had better emotional labor skills and in return did not encounter rude citizens (Martin 1999:25). Moreover, officers that portrayed empathy and compassion were also significantly less likely to be subjected to formal complaints by citizens (Schuck 2014:161). Many are often under the false impression that in order for the police to be able to perform their duties well and be safe, they need to adhere to traditional masculine roles and therefore need to come across as being dominant and stern. However, research further makes it clear that these roles are not only ineffective, but also dangerous. That is because officers utilizing strategies which were based on the traditional hyper masculine values of the police force led to a higher probability of “negative police-citizen encounters” (Schuck 2014:165) and were “less likely to be productive in maintaining the legitimacy of the organization” (Schuck 2014:165). These findings convey that the police culture needs to be redefined from one that was based on masculinity to one that is more open minded and empathic because “successful policing for both the individual officer and the police organization requires a significant amount of emotional
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