Public Opinion, Crime, And Criminal Justice by Julian Roberts

Author:Julian Roberts [Roberts, Julian]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780813323183
Barnesnoble:
Goodreads: 3143545
Publisher: Westview Press
Published: 1997-08-03T00:00:00+00:00

Evaluations of Women Police Officers

On 12 September 1910, Alice Stebbins Wells of the Los Angeles Police Department became the first woman police officer. The humiliations began on her appointment. Showing her badge to obtain a free ride on a streetcar, she was accused of misusing her husband's. Despite her uniform, the public was reluctant to accept that she had any powers: the idea of police women had been a joke in comic weeklies since the 1850's. (Linda Grant, Independent on Sunday, 9/9/90, p. 23; as cited in Walklate, 1992)

Do stereotypes about gender roles still hamper the public acceptance of women police officers? Research in the 1970s and 80s suggests that the majority of the public accepts women police officers and perceives them as being as competent as men in performing most (but not all) police duties. A 1975 survey of residents in a midwest city clarifies further whether the public perceives women to be as competent as men in performing duties of a police officer (Kerber, Andes, and Mittler, 1977). Over half of the sample had no preference in terms of whether men and women officers handled most situations. However, a significant minority (38 percent) preferred male officers. When the public perceives a difference in competence between men and women officers, this reflects stereotypes about gender roles: Men are perceived as stronger and more aggressive and therefore better able to handle fights, whereas women are seen as more nurturing and therefore better at responding to young children and rape victims.

In addition, men were more likely to judge women officers as more competent in these traditional female roles than were women. The influence of gender stereotypes extends to how references for job candidates describe their candidates' characteristics. An analysis of the content of reference letters revealed that "level-headed" was used to describe male candidates more often than female candidates. Intelligence and a sense of humor were qualities attributed only to male candidates whereas good moral values, dedicated, and reliable were qualities attributed only to female candidates (Walklate, 1992). These different images of men and women in reference letters suggest that gender stereotypes affect both the public image of women officers and the departments' image of officers.

Gender stereotypes may also contribute to the ambivalence in public perceptions of the competence of police women to patrol in a squad car and to answer calls for assistance. These areas generated the most disagreement among respondents in a survey conducted in the 1970s (Kerber, Andes, and Mittler, 1977). For patrolling in a squad car, 55 percent believed that men were more competent while 42 percent believed that men and women were equally competent. For answering calls for personal assistance, 45 percent believed men were more competent than women whereas 49 percent believed men and women were equally competent. In summary, the public clearly was skeptical of women's ability to handle violent situations, and was divided on the ability of female police officers to handle routine police work such as patrolling and answering calls for assistance.

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