Role And Status Of Women In The Police

Role And Status Of Women In The Police Q. Its not blatant sexism, its more like a sexual undercurrent (Female Police Officer cited in Foster et al. 2005). From your reading of the broader research literature, how well does this statement describe police working culture? Review the implications of your answer for the role and status of women in the police. I do not wish them (women) to have power over men, but over themselves. Women have historically played the role of the protected not the protector. The police force is historically a male orientated domain. Policing was seen as a job allocated to tough, manful acts of crime-fighting and thief-taking. This lent itself to a male, macho culture in which women played no part. As aptly put by Malcolm Young, the opportunities for women are constrained by hierarchies of dominance in which the masculine view prioritizes. For this reason gender is a difficult concept in the masculine culture it creates. For the few women who did enter into this male club they were assigned to station duties as opposed to pounding the street. The initial idea of policing was strongly linked to masculinity, historically males were responsible for physical labour and protection of the family. Women have had to fight hard against this stereotype and it is an uphill struggle they seem still to be fighting today, h owever with the emergence of this discrimination brought forth by the Stephen Lawrence tragedy, policing has come under tight scrutiny. In order to fully examine whether there is discrimination towards women in the police force there needs to be a discussion on womens history, outlining any progress over the years, and experience in modern day policing. This will uncover the dominance of any discrimination and the steps taken to counter it. Before any such analysis can take place there must be analysis into what constitutes an undercurrent. Is it present if one officer said something weekly, should it be rather a group of officers and what is the frequency of this behaviour? conversely what is the definition of blatant sexism. Is it blatant if the comment is directed straight to a women about an issue solely related to women, quote about period. Also can this be said to be sexism as a concept or simply miss placed humour? Blatant is defined as, without any attempt at concealment; completely obvious. These two ideas are not easily categorised, they appear to have a fluid quality rather than definite perimeters. In order to understand these things as a concept there needs to be an examination of modern and past policing and the resulting experiences. Women being fully integrated into the police force is a recent development. Previously women police officers were a separate part of the police. Margaret Damer Dawson, an anti-white slavery campaigner, and Nina Boyle, a militant suffragette journalist founded the Women Police Service in 1914. This was made up of women volunteers and it was not until 1930, women police were fully attested and given limited powers of arrest. In 1969 the womens branch of officers was dissolved in anticipation of the Equal Pay Act. Despite this women police were still treated as a separate section of the service. Women were not completely integrated into the police force until 1973. This suggests any discrimination faced by women may not be direct as could be seen towards women in the army, where women are excluded from positions which require face-to-face combat with the enemy. There has been legislation put in place to help with this integration but despite the apparent willingness to treat women as eq uals there may still be an undercurrent of sexism throughout the force. The first step seen to integrate women in the UK was the Sex Discrimination Act 1975. This Act made it unlawful to discriminate against women, either directly or indirectly, in the field of employment. It seemed optimistic at best to think that one act of parliament could change a history of discrimination and ingrained ideas about gender. The male culture was not keen for radical change from their conservative origins. This prevalent masculine culture is shown from a quote taken after the legislation was passed from sergeant Sheena Thomas, before I was promoted, a senior officer told me that once I remembered I was a mere woman and not police officer, I would get on far better. A challenge to the male dominated structure was not welcome making application not openly enforced. The history of policing is important in discussing modern policing as it allows for a better understanding of society ideals, as Reiner said, An understanding of how police officers see the social world and the ir role in it cop culture is crucial to an analysis of what they do and their broad political function. In recent statistics a division between women and male officers is prominent in not only the amount of female officers but also in promotional positions. According to the official statistics dated 31st March 2009 across England and Wales, women are not a particularly well represented group in the police force. The number of full time officers reached 141,647, out of these 32.8% were female police officers. This illustrates how women are still a minority group in the police force however there is further data that may give more weight to a claim of sexism in police practice. Women, in the same year of statistical data, were also shown to be under represented in positions of authority in the police. Examples are as follows; Male Female Total percentage Chief superintendent 448 60 508 12% Superintendent 938 120 1,058 11% However at the lowest position there is a greater equality in distribution; Male Female Total percentage Constable 79,430 30,801 110,231 28% The difference in numbers between women and men in the powerful positions could relate to the lower numbers of women applying to the police force. The question has to be asked is why are so few women applying to the force? There could be many reasons why women do not apply to the force, the obvious issue which stands out when thinking about police work and the gender divide is the nature of the work. This is generally thought to be male orientated due to the notion of the physical aspect attached to the job and the danger involved in it. Womens bodies have become a way of defining their readiness for the job. The idea of women as weak creatures is reflected in the police force, mainly in regard to physical strength. This presumed weakness reflects both physical and mental readiness, for the crime fighting nature of the job. In reality however this stereotypical idea of what police work involves may not be representative of reality. Much of police work involves administration and petty crime prevention, it is not the fast pace, dangerous profession TV may imply. For this reason it is hard to see why any physical differences between male and females should make a real difference in the active duty of a p olice officer, self image of the police is that of crime-fighters and this is not just a distortion of what they do, it is virtually a collective delusion Another aspect that leads the police to a more male orientated idea is the offenders with which they deal. As the majority of crimes are committed by men the job lends itself to male officers. This is to do with matching strength, males are seen as the stronger of the two and viewed as better equipped to deal with male offenders. The above statistics show that women are under represented in the police force, but what of the distribution of males and females in positions of power, does the unequal distribution reflect the smaller numbers of women in the force or sexual discrimination? The ratio of men to women in the constable role almost parallels the percentage of the overall police force between women and men, at 28%. This cannot be said of the higher positions. For example the total number of superintendents is merely 11%. This percentage discrepancy between males and females in positions of authority does not match that of the lower ranks, making me more inclined to agree with Sandra and her opinion of womens promotional opportunities: once recruited, their road to the top is certainly a greasy pole'. Research which supports this claim is evident over the years. Kinsey (1985) took empirical evidence in Merseyside that showed 43% of officers under 30 on station duty (least prestigious job) were women. Coffey, Brown and Savage (1992) showed findings that women were under represented in many special departments and totally absent from others. Brown, Maidment and Bull (1992) researched deployment patterns of women police officers which showed that they gravitated towards low frequency labour intensive specialised tasks. An example given for such tasks was supporting rape victims. Anderson, Brown and Campbell said women officers are limited in the amount and type of experiences they are able to gain. This in turn affects their job satisfaction and may inhibit their promotion prospects. That fewer women than men achieve promotion in turn can reinforce male stereotype about womens abilities Research had shown that women feel undermined and undervalued by the predominantly male, heterosexual culture. They felt that their roles in the team were often restricted and that they had to work a great deal harder than their male counterparts to prove themselves. As one officer said, the only thing I can do is just put my head down, work hard and prove myself. Which is depressing, but its reality isnt it. The only way I can earn respect is to work harder than everybody else. This apparent sexual discrimination has not managed to escape the courts when in 1992 Alison Halford, who was the highest ranked serving female officer with the position of assistant chief constable, pursued a sexual discrimination case against Merseyside police Authority. This was a high profile case widely reported in the media about Alison not getting a promotion she felt she deserved after nine attempts to secure the job. The case resulted in a victory and subsequently encouraged other women to take action and in that same year a number of other cases were reported in the media. . However for some it was seen as a step backwards when one senior female police officer said, It has not improved the image of the police and for that reason I wonder whether it has not ultimately damaged the cause of equal opportunities. The case did not go unnoticed with three female duty Chief Constables being appointed by 1994 and the first women Chief Constable, Pauline Clare, who headed the Lancash ire Police Having analysed the recruitment of women into the police and some of the reasons why fewer women go on to join the force than men it leads us to discuss the experiences of women who become policewomen. The police are nested in society so it could be said the female role in society, reflects their role in the police. By this I refer to women not being allow to join the front line of the army or other protective stances society takes towards women. In the research by Wersch it was found that women were associated with suspect specialisms which was known as warm, fuzzy policing. This reflects the idea of protecting women from the harder crimes, which involved more danger, by limiting their roles within the force. So does this mean that roles in the police force are gendered or simply that women find this sort of work easier than their male counterparts? In a US study by Miller it was concluded that women find it not only more comfortable to deal with the image of social work, the touchy -feely type tasks it involved, but were also better at that particular type of job. However it appears that a general statement such as this is sweeping in its assumption that all women as a category find this work comfortable. Many women in the police force feel there is no choice being assigned duties based on their gender and however hard they tried to be just one of the boys all had to face questions about their role and status. The aforementioned need to be one of the boys has been researched as a coping mechanism in order to be treated on a equal footing as their male counter parts. Women feel pressure by the macho culture to either get on with the job given or take on the characteristics of their male counterparts, macho characteristics. Both this idea and that of promotional opportunities are seen in the writing on Malcolm Young, Women who do breach the boundary to penetrate this masculine world can only ever be partially successful and will often have to subsume male characteristics to achieve even limited social acceptability. This apparent adoption of masculine qualities make women who stay in the force, tolerated almost as honorary men. The idea was excellently summarised by Ehrlich-Martin (1980) by identifying strategies of POLICEwomen or policeWOMEN, the choice between fulfilling their traditional role associated with women in society or adopting the male culture. However even women who do not adop t these characteristics and instead opt for traditionally female posts have a hard time. A male officer described a female officers work in the schools liaison department, No cold Saturday nights working the town and lots of school holidays what does she do when the kids are off? (male PC 1994). Women appear to be at a disadvantage no matter what road they choose. Discrimination within the police force came to a head with the tragedy of Steven Lawrence sparking great debate about discrimination within society. Steven was a young black youth who was killed by a group of white youths. The police inquiry was said to be led by racial discrimination and initiated an inquiry. The Stephen Lawrence inquiry led to an exclusion of racial language in the force. For many this was reduced through risk of being disciplined rather than a change in attitude. It was said by a PC in site 7 that officers did not use racist language because it was too risky: Too many people are scared of not grassing you up. This would suggest that without changing attitude through education and understanding the once canteen culture will be driven under ground and felt in less overt forms of discrimination. This infamous inquiry led to a close scrutiny of the force and a home Officer research project entitled Assessing the impact of the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry . The main aim of which was to evaluate the impact of the inquiry, examining the changes it made and the relationships within the force. While it recognised progress made such as the recording, monitoring and responses to hate crime and the general excision of racist language from the police service, there was evidence that these developments were not employed uniformly across the force. The inquiry drew out, not only the structural dimensions of the police in relation to women, but also their treatment day to day through the observational nature of the research. Its clear that structurally the force is kinder to the male in terms of numbers and promotional opportunities but what of the day to day treatment women face. The Stephen Lawrence inquiry was said by many police officers to have removed the workplace banter with one officer saying, you cant have a laugh and a joke like you could However for many minority groups and women this was not a negative thing as they often found themselves on the end of such banter. One female officer stated she, developed quite a hard skin. The issue relating to the womens responses to the question, in my option, lies in the question itself. So what is this banter and does it in fact reflect a sexism undertone. This idea of humiliation was identified in Chaplins work by saying that with pre-existing social structures, defining women as domestic beings and men in the public sphere is enhanced in the police force creating social conflict and humiliation. Policewomen are often on the end of so called banter whi ch reflects their body or that of women around them. The body of women are discussed, measured and laughed at. It is ogled and lusted over, sneered at, ridiculed, drooled over and constrained into a repressed form. Women are seen as over sensitive creatures meaning women feel to complain about this banter between work colleagues would be to reaffirm the male suspicion. Evidence of this is shown in Malcolm Youngs research when he states that, In the 300 nicknames in my fieldname collection, those relating to women almost always symbolize size and ugliness or fasten onto an allegedly sexual potency. Much of the research on this subject agree that there is sexism in the police with the discussion centring around the degree of its prominence however this is not a completely accepted view. Criticism has been made of some literature based on their assumption that police sub-culture is the principal guide to action Waddington argues that this overlooks wider culture, which in turn makes police culture not an insular idea, but a reflection of stories, myths and anecdotes of their wider culture Although much of his other arguments appear unfounded this does strike a cord concerning what annotation the term brings up. Perhaps as Janet Chan said, police culture has become a convenient label for a range of negative values, attitudes and practice norms among officers. This term, by way of its implied expectations of behaviour, causes people who have had no experience with the police to become armchair critics, overlooking the honest, polite, non-violent, non-racist and non-sexist officers evidently in the force. Any marginalisation in the police appears to stem from societies traditional role of women. With the police being nested in society and many of the officers being working class males from lower class backgrounds it appears less of a blatant sexism and more of a lack of education and social upbringing. Sexism cannot be said to be blatant due to the progress of womens integration into the police force. However there is clearly some form of sexual undercurrent stemming from promotional opportunities available to female officers and the banter they experience in everyday work. With society changing there is a new perception as to a women and their place and abilities, so as to womens future in the police I would be inclined to look on it favourably recognising a better understanding in society as a whole. With the emergence of new police officers there will hopefully be a change in stereotypical views of women, through better education and understanding. Throughout this analysis women ha ve been seen as a category and not individuals, perhaps it is in this generalisation that the problem finds it routes, Because I am a woman, I must make unusual efforts to succeed. If I fail, no one will say, She doesnt have what it takes. They will say, Women dont have what it takes.

Alcoholism is a Disease Essay -- essays research papers

Alcoholism has been a problem throughout the history of humanity, a disease which has caused many people to be overcome with burdens, problems, and debts. Alcoholism is a term that is widely recognized throughout the United States and the World. Alcoholism is a chronic disease, progressive and often fatal; it is a disorder and not due to other diseases or emotional problems. Many scientists have tried to define what Alcoholism is, and what this disease may be rooted from. Some people would argue that alcoholism is simply the over-consumption of alcohol, this statement is only somewhat true. An alcoholic is a person who relies on alcohol as a medium to help him or her deal with physical, emotional, or spiritual needs. To understand alcoholism, it must first be understood what this affliction is dependent on. Alcohol is a substance that is made by the fermentation of fruits, grains, or miscellaneous other organic materials. The chemical, alcohol, is a depressant and acts on every cell in the human body. Due to this, the central nervous system, along with the pleasure centers of the brain, are affected resulting in a feeling of euphoria and a sense of well being. After repeated exposure, the brain becomes dependent on this drug to unburden itself whenever it feels the compulsion. Several factors that contribute to alcoholism are the individual’s psychology, genetics, culture, and the individual’s response to physical pain. In order to understand alcoholism, we must first de...

Comparisons of The Parthenon in Athens and the Pantheon in Rome Essay

The Parthenon and the Pantheon are temples built by ancient peoples are alike in so many ways but dissimilar in others.  Ã‚   Both were built to honor the Gods of their builders. The Parthenon built by the Greeks in Athens and the Pantheon in Rome built by the Romans.   On first looking at the buildings, the Parthenon is rectangular and the Pantheon primarily circular.  Ã‚   The Parthenon is built of white marble blocks; the Pantheon is built of concrete and was only faced in marble.   Concrete was a Roman invention and came after the Greek civilization.   Both structures were built to honor Gods.   The Greek structure was built to honor Athena, patron of Athens, Athena Parthenos; the Roman structure was built to honor all the Gods in their pantheon of deities.   Both structures were lighted by only natural light of the sun.   The Parthenon was illuminated only by light coming in through the open doors at the front of the temple.   The Pantheon was lighted by illumination coming in through a circular opening in the ceiling called the oculus.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The Parthenon in Athens was built according to the Doric order.   The Pantheon was built to the Corinthian order.   The three orders being Doric, Ionic and Corinthian.   Doric is the most simple or the types and Corinthian the most ornate. It is said that one can tell plain to fancy by the syllables.   Doric having one syllable, Ionic two and Corinthian three. Roman architecture coming after the Greek, it is generally acknowledged that the Roman architecture was derived from the Greek as were most of the Roman Gods, but they refined and added to both to get them Roman.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   As for the architectural elements of the buildings, the Parthenon is basically a rectangle with slab on column architecture.   The Pantheon, a Greek word meaning â€Å"all the Gods†, by the way, is a product of Roman advanced architecture with the arch (a Roman invention) made into a dome (essentially an arch completely turned round on its central axis).   The front is a barrel vault (an arch, repeated endlessly on the central axis), attached to the dome.   Both structures have columns, but on both structures they are plain.   The Doric column is a round plain shaft, but on the Pantheon they are plain by choice.   The ordinary Corinthian column most often being fluted.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Another distinctive feature of the Pantheon is the dome.   An invention of the much later Romans is heavier at the base.   The dome is made of cement wider and heavier at the base with progressive thinness graduating toward the top.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Both structures have had multiple uses since its completion.   Both have been reported being built for worship.   That factor has been debated for centuries.   The Parthenon could have been a treasury.  Ã‚   With each succeeding conquering entity, the use of the building changed.   As with the Parthenon, the Pantheon uses have changed.   Most notably, from pagan temple to Catholic church.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Although both buildings are from the Classical period, both buildings survived into the 20th century.   The Pantheon being built of concrete and so fireproof, survived in better condition.   Both structures in their time were used as marble quarries for the conquering entity of the time.   Sculpture was taken from both also.  Ã‚   Enough remains of the structures with descriptions of each through all their existence, to give a picture of them the moment completion was finished.   Enough remains of each, to give a picture of how magnificent they looked in their time, to the people that conceived and built them. References: Sullivan, MA. Images of The Pantheon. March 21, 2007 Platner, SB and Ashby, T.   A  Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome, London: Oxford University Press, 1929.   March 21, 2007 < http://penelope.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  uchicago.edu /Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Places/Europe/Italy/Lazio/   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Roma/Rome/_Texts/PLATOP*/Pantheon.html> The British Museum. The Parthenon. March 22, 2007 The Parthenon.   March 22, 2007 The Parthenon. March 22, 2007 The Parthenon. March 22, 2007   

The Doomed Journey of Panfilo de Narvaez in Florida

Panfilo de Narvaez (1470-1528) was born to an upper-class family in Vallenda, Spain. Although he was older than most Spaniards who sought their fortunes in the New World, he nevertheless was extremely active in the early conquest period. He was an important figure in the conquests of Jamaica and Cuba in the years between 1509 and 1512. He acquired a reputation for ruthlessness; Bartolome de Las Casas, who was a chaplain on the Cuba campaign, recounted horrible tales of massacres and chiefs being burned alive. In Pursuit of Cortes In 1518, the governor of Cuba, Diego Velazquez, had sent the young conquistador Hernan Cortes off to Mexico to begin the conquest of the mainland. Velazquez soon regretted his actions, however, and decided to place someone else in charge. He sent Narvaez, with a large force of more than 1,000 Spanish soldiers, to Mexico to take command of the expedition and send Cortes back to Cuba. Cortes, who was in the process of defeating the Aztec Empire, had to leave the recently subdued capital of Tenochtitlan to return to the coast to fight Narvaez. The Battle of Cempoala On May 28, 1520, the forces of the two conquistadores clashed at Cempoala, near present-day Veracruz, and Cortes won. Many of Narvaez’s soldiers deserted before and after the battle, joining Cortes. Narvaez himself was jailed in the port of Veracruz for the next two years, while Cortes retained control of the expedition and the vast wealth that came with it. A New Expedition Narvaez returned to Spain after being released. Convinced that there were more wealthy empires like the Aztecs to the north, he mounted an expedition that was doomed to become one of the most monumental failures in history. Narvaez got permission from King Charles V of Spain to mount an expedition into Florida. He set sail in April of 1527 with five ships and about 600 Spanish soldiers and adventurers. Word of the riches earned by Cortes and his men made finding volunteers easy. In April 1528, the expedition landed in Florida, near present-day Tampa Bay. By then, many of the soldiers had deserted, and only about 300 men remained. Narvaez in Florida Narvaez and his men clumsily made their way inland, attacking every tribe they met. The expedition had brought insufficient supplies and survived by pillaging meager Native American storehouses, which caused violent retaliation. The conditions and lack of food caused many in the company to become ill, and within a few weeks, a third of the members of the expedition were severely incapacitated. The going was tough because Florida was then full of rivers, swamps, and forests. The Spanish were killed and picked off by irate natives, and Narvaez made a series of tactical blunders, including frequently dividing his forces and never seeking allies. The Mission Fails The men were dying, picked off individually and in small groups by native attacks. Supplies had run out, and the expedition had alienated every native tribe it had encountered. With no hope to establish any sort of settlement and with no help coming, Narvaez decided to abort the mission and return to Cuba. He had lost touch with his ships and ordered the construction of four large rafts. The Death of Panfilo de Narvaez It is not known for certain where and when Narvaez died. The last man to see Narvaez alive and tell of it was Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca, a junior officer of the expedition. He recounted that in their final conversation, he asked Narvaez for help -- the men on Narvaezs raft were better fed and stronger than those with Cabeza de Vaca. Narvaez refused, basically saying â€Å"every man for himself,† according to Cabeza de Vaca. The rafts were wrecked in a storm and only 80 men survived the sinking of the rafts; Narvaez was not among them. The Aftermath of the Narvaez Expedition The first major incursion into present-day Florida was a complete fiasco. Of the 300 men who landed with Narvaez, only four ultimately survived. Among them was Cabeza de Vaca, the junior officer who had asked for help but received none. After his raft sunk, Cabeza de Vaca was enslaved by a local tribe for several years somewhere along the Gulf Coast. He managed to escape and meet up with three other survivors, and together the four of them returned overland to Mexico, arriving some eight years after the expedition landed in Florida. The animosity caused by the Narvaez expedition was such that it took the Spanish years to establish a settlement in Florida. Narvaez has gone down in history as one of the most ruthless yet incompetent conquistadors of the colonial era.