The Trouble with Women in Policing: Attitudes Aren't Changing

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Abstract
One hundred sixteen male and female undergraduate criminal justice students indicated the extent of their agreement or disagreement with statements on a questionnaire taken from interviews with police officers about women in policing. A factor analysis of the responses revealed four major attitudinal sets regarding women in policing: Limited Role -the role offemales in patrol should be limited; Equality -women should be treated just like men; Trait Advantage -women possess certain traits which especially suit them for policing; and Anti-female-women have no place in policing. Males andfemales differed significantly on their responses to the four factors. Males agreed most with the idea that policing was essentially a male occupation and a physical task and that women were more suited for handling juveniles and office work. Females, however, felt that they possessed certain traits which especially suited them for patrol work. The results are discussed in terms of the stability of male resistance to females in policing.

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