Women in Law Enforcement

Women in Law Enforcement

There are many stereotypes that women in the law enforcement field have to face. In order to recruit more women into policing, law enforcement agencies should attempt to overcome the idea that policing is a "male-oriented profession". This paper will cover parts of the history of women police officers, some views and stereotypes of the female officer, job related issues, life outside of the workforce and job satisfaction.

It used to be that only nursing, teaching, and clerical positions were open to women. A small number of women worked as correctional officers and their assignments were usually limited to peripheral tasks. The integration of women into law enforcement positions can be considered a large social change. Women were traditionally limited to working in juvenile facilities, handling crimes involving female offenders, and performing clerical tasks. In the past, women were not considered as capable as men in law enforcement.

“. The average policeman and police chief thought of policewomen as a fad and considered their entry into the police field an unjustified excursion into social work. They thought of punitive functions and not preventative ones as the duty of police. No real concerted opposition to policewomen arose in the United States (unlike Great Britain), but rather the attitude prevailed that women had to prove themselves good police officers which they most likely could not do.” (Horne, 1975)

Women were first let into the law enforcement work force because there seemed to be a need for women, due to the rise in young girls and female offenders in the system. Whether it was for domestic violence issues, sexual assault or what have you.

There is a lack of women law enforcem...

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...f policewomen.” (Allen, 1973)

This was then becoming the beginning of women being a mass part of the law enforcement field. Throughout all of the hardships and stereotypes through history that women in the field have had to overcome, women have made themselves a part of it all.

Bibliography:

Ø Allen, Mary S. (1973) The pioneer policewoman. New York, London, and Toronto: Ams Press INC.

Ø Horne, Peter (1975) Women in Law Enforcement. Illinois: (Charles c.) Thomas Books.

Ø Miller, Susan L. (1999) Gender and Community Policing: Walking the Talk. Boston, Northeastern University Press.

Ø Owings, Chloe (1969) Women Police: A study of the Development and Status of the Women’s Police Movement. New Jersey: Patterson Smith.

Ø The feminist majority foundation (1997).The Status of Women in Policing.

http://www.feminist.org/default.asp )