Психология и социология/12. Социальная психология

PhD in Psychology Lamash I. V.

Kharkiv national university of internal affairs, Ukraine

Men and Women in Policing: Foreign Psychological Studies

The police work environment primarily has been viewed in a pejorative context, synonymous with workers' stress, job burnout, cynicism, and alienation.

The influence of the "occupational culture" of police work on police behavior has been well established. However, past studies have dealt with male officers only, inasmuch as the entry of women into this profession in large numbers is a relatively recent occurrence.

Many observers believe that men and women bring to policing differences in attitude, values and perceptions that influence the way they do their work[4].

Female police officers have been assumed to have greater commitment to public service, more calming and reassuring demeanours, and less violent encounters with citizens[2].

Martin S. E. has recently argued that the inclusion of women in policing is particularly relevant to the current emphasis on community policing[6].

Wilson N.K. asserts that not only should there be more women police, but that there also should be room for women's perspectives on what policing ought to be (which assumes that such perspectives already exist among women, if not yet among women police)[9].

Differing socialization experiences of males and females incline men and women to adopt differing perspectives on justice for men, predominantly a morality of justice, and for women, predominantly a morality of care[5].

Extrapolations from the theories have led to the assumption that men and women differ in their conception of the police role, with men concentrating on law enforcement and women likely to perceive the role more broadly as service and community oriented. It has also been suggested that men may be more at ease than women with the rules, hierarchy and discipline of police organizations[10].

Although evaluation studies of policewomen show that they can do the job, studies of policemen's attitudes show that the men do not believe women can do the job. It is argued that commonly accepted cultural values about sex-roles and work help policemen maintain their irrational beliefs about the incompetence of policewomen[1].

Some research suggests that acceptance by co-workers requires a process of defeminization—the assumption of pseudomasculine traits. While women can assume traditional feminine roles, they may severely limit their careers. Conversely, women who become defeminized may be viewed as a threat by male co-workers[3].

Results show no significant differences in attitudes on measures of organization commitment, job satisfaction, work anxiety, role conflict, and role ambiguity. These results offer further support for the argument that personal and organizational factors are stronger predictors of attitudes in the work place than is gender[8].

Despite policewomen's fight for equality in policing, women not only differentiated themselves from their male counterparts, but also described “doing gender” and “doing police work” collaboratively. Women actively resisted and adopted stereotypical norms of femininity and policing, broadening their opportunities for work in the male dominated occupation while reinforcing their traditional conception of gender difference[7].

Accordingly, it can be suggested that women may bring to policing gender related qualities therefore police managers need to become aware of a number of issues pertinent to recruitment and training that may affect to the outcomes of police work.

References

1.Balkin J. Why policemen don't like policewomen/J.Balkin//Journal of Police Science & Administration. – 1988. – V.16. – P.29 – 38.

2.Bell D. J. Policewomen: Myths and reality/D.J. Bell//Journal of Police Science & Administration. – 1982. - Vol 10(1). – P.112-120.

3.Berg B. L.Defeminization of women in law enforcement: A new twist in the traditional police personality/B.L.Berg, K.J.Budnick//Journal of Police Science & Administration. – 1986. – V. 14. – Iss. 4. – P.314-319.

4.Christie G. The Police role: Studies of male and female police/G. Christie//Australian Institute of Criminology Conference: Sydney. Available from: http.//www.aic.gov.au/en/events/aic% 20upcoming% 20events/1996/~/medi a/conferences/policewomen/christie. Ashx

5.Gilligan C. In a different voice: Woman's conception of self and morality/Harvard Educational Review. - 1977. – V.47. – P.481-517.

6.Martin S. E. Police force or police service? Gender and emotional labor/S.E.Martin//The annals of the American academy of political and social science. – 1999. – №. 1. – P. 111-126.

7.Rabe-Hemp C. E. POLICEwomen or PoliceWOMEN? Doing gender and police work/ C.E.Rabe-Hamp//Feminist Criminology. – 2009. – V. 4. – №. 2. – P. 114-129.

8.Fry L. W. An examination of attitudinal differences between policewomen and policemen/L.W.Fry, S.Greenfilld//Journal of Applied Psychology. – 1980. – V. 65. – №.1. – С. 123.

9.Wilson N. K. Feminist pedagogy in criminology/N.K.Wilson//Journal of Criminal Justice Education. – 1991. – Т. 2. – №. 1. – P. 81-93.

10.Worden A.P. The attitudes of women and men in policing: Testing conventional and contemporary wisdom/A.P.Worden//Criminology.–1993.-№2.–P.203-237.