Discrimination of Women in the Police Force Essay

Female police officers have been saddled with a stigma ever since they were allowed to join the force with male officers. Female police officers performance and ability to do their job and perform well is often questioned because they are women. Female officers are not given the same respect as male officers because of their gender; however, they bring different skills and assets to the profession that male officers do not. Female officers are less likely to use force or become aggressive because they have better communication skills and empathize. However, female officers will resort to using aggressive behaviors or force when necessary. Superior officers and male patrol officers feel that women are only on the force because it is a matter of social integration and an HR requirement. They feel that this is a man’s profession, and women have no business trying to be a part of it.

TV shows have made some changes since then but policewomen are still being shown as unrealistic, for example the show “Hawaii Five-0” has a female police officer and she is over sexualized. “Hawaii Five-0” last week put on a skimpy bikini to go undercover to make contact with three female surfers who had just killed a business executive during an armed robbery they staged on a Waikiki tourist trolley bus” and “Kono in her tight jeans and high-heeled boots is not only a thin, beautiful, champion surfer but also a skilled sniper who can fire a steady shot from a moving car to knock off a thug rushing to escape on the upper floors of a high-rise”(Fawcett, 2015).

“But policewoman’s presence was still not wholly welcome, they were there because chiefs succumbed to pressure from outside reform groups, not because male administrators or officers saw any need for them. Policewomen’s allies remained other male and female social workers, progressives, clubwomen, and other reformers.” (Miller, 1999)

In recent years, recruitment and retention of police officers has been a pain point for many departments across the nation. Odd and inflexible hours, uncompetitive pay, para-militaristic organizational structures, and a negative public perception have all worked to diminish the pool of applicants interested in careers in law enforcement. Add to the mix the sexist “brotherhood” police culture, emphasis on masculinity and aggression, and the nearly non-existent opportunities for advancement for women, and over half of the eligible workforce has been discouraged from even considering a career in law enforcement. In 2013, women comprised just over 57% of the labor force, but accounted for only 13% of sworn police officers (USDOL, 2013; Crooke, 2013). Not only are women sorely underrepresented in the field of law enforcement, but those who are employed experience discrimination at the hands of their supervisors and coworkers, and as a result, the attrition rate for women is often much higher than that of their male counterparts. Departments should pledge dedication to recruiting and retaining more female officers, as research indicates that not only do females perform just as well as males in patrol positions, but they also have a unique set of advantages to offer agencies when employed in law enforcement. In order to improve the recruitment and retention of females into policing roles, departments must determine the biggest deterrents for women who are considering the pursuit

. . the dominant position of men and the subordinate position of women” (Rabe-Hemp 94). As policewomen tend toward their stereotypes, they strengthen the patriarchal organization of the police subculture: the practice of females assuming “roles that male officers have historically not defined as ‘real police work’ . . . devalue[es] the tasks female officers engage in” (Rabe-Hemp 97). Conversely, “women who dare to challenge these roles are isolated [and] harassed” (Rabe-Hemp 94). Therefore, the police subculture strengthens the differences between male and female police officers that society has pre-established through gendered stereotypes. These findings can be viewed from an individualist perspective as opposed to an organizational perspective because the police officers were exposed to these stereotypes as they grew up, long before they began training. Although the police subculture does make it more difficult to break out of these sex-based stereotypes, these stereotypes do not originate from the subculture itself; as a result, the organization has less of an influence on worker performance than the individual’s

Not more than two years ago, I listened to three minority female officers conversing on the difficulties of being a female officer. Though women have been accepted into police force, it has been a very slow and difficult process. What follows is a brief chronology of their struggle to become assimilated into and become an important part NYC’s “finest” – the N.Y.P.D.

The United States criminal justice system, an outwardly fair organization of integrity and justice, is a perfect example of a seemingly equal situation, which turns out to be anything but for women. The policies imposed in the criminal justice system affect men and women in extremely dissimilar manners. I plan to examine how gender intersects with the understanding of crime and the criminal justice system. Gender plays a significant role in understanding who commits what types of crimes, why they do so, who is most often victimized, and how the criminal justice system responds to these victims and offenders. In order to understand the current state of women and the way in which gender relates to crime and criminal justice, it is first

There are many instances where minorities are not given the chance to prosper in American society. The same system that promises all men equal opportunity has turned its back in the face of minorities. We plan to examine some segments of this system, namely the media and the criminal justice system, exposing injustices burdening minorities in America.

A while ago when someone thinks of careers in criminal justice, they most likely imagine men in any positions that come to mind. Maybe because most feel the field of criminal justice is unsafe, stressful, and unpredictable. Before 1972, the number of women employed in the criminal justice system as police officers, correctional officers, lawyers, and judges was a small number. This is understandable: statistics from a study conducted by the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs – Bureau of Justice Statistics show that men outnumber women in all areas of federal law enforcement, in most places making up at least 75 percent of the workforce. Now according to the United States Department of Labor, women make up 46.8% of the US workforce.

Police agencies are becoming more accustomed to hiring police officers of all cultures and ethnicities. However, like most careers an individual will choose to pursue there is always the possibility of them being discriminated against. A common type of discrimination police officers face is one based on their race or ethnicity. An officer is likely might experience racial discrimination in the form of harassment in the workplace. An example of this is a co-worker using racial slurs or unfavourable remarks towards an individual. Another form of discrimination in the workplace is the degrading of an individual based on their race or ethnicity, suggesting that their race or ethnicity is what got them here and not their hard work.

The criminal justice system is a male dominated occupation. For many years women have tried to break down the barrier and some have succeeded. But unlike men, women have to fight to be respected and to be heard. There has always been a gender bias. Women have decided to work outside the home and “move in” on careers that were specified as male professions. Females unfortunately have to

There is also discrimination in the police force. According to Women and the Criminal Justice System, women are discriminated against when seeking a job in the police force (Wormer and Bartollas, 2007). Society and men who are already on the police force believes that women are too weak to carry out law and unable to capture criminals. This is an example of men being the dominant group over women. In society, women are known to be soft-hearted, loving, emotional and supportive. These characteristics make women look weak as a police officer. However, studies have shown that women are just as effective police

Gender inequality still plays a huge role in today’s society. Women comprise only a small percentage of the local law enforcement agencies across the nation. Women have been a part of law enforcement since the 20th century but have only been noticed within the last 40 years. Back in the 1970’s women rarely held positions in law enforcement and if they did it was mainly clerical/desk positions. Even though the amount of women in law enforcement today has increased, women still only make up roughly around 13 percent of the law enforcement work force (Public). Women can make such an impact in the Law Enforcement field if given a fair chance but they may face many problems when doing so. Some say that women don’t belong, while others suggest

When it comes to race within law enforcement, male police officers still question whether women can handle the dangerous situations and physical confrontations that officers may be confronted with, while it is shown that most police women have easily met the expectations of their superiors. Indeed, studies have found that, in general, male and female officers perform in similar ways. In addition, research has found that most citizens have positive things to say about the work of police women (Worden,

All feminist theorists share a common focus on gender inequality; however feminism can be described as a set of perspectives rather than a single viewpoint (Strider, N.d.). Therefore, challenging gender biasness in the criminal justice system from the feminist perspective can take many forms given the fact that there a lot of sources of gender inequality in the system. For example, the early theories of criminal behavior largely ignored gender all together and as a result the field has become largely male dominated and males have also been shown to commit more crimes than women on average.