Officer Preferences for Male Backup: The Influence
of Gender and Police Partnering
Philip E. Carlan & Lisa S. Nored & Ragan A. Downey
Published online: 16 June 2010
# Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2011
Abstract Much of the extant literature regarding women in
policing focuses on job stress, perceptions of job perfor-
mance, and inherent difficulties associated with thei
immersion in a traditionally male-dominated profession.
Little attention, however, has been given to perceptions
egarding gender and backup preferences among police
officers. This study sought to examine the impact of
professional and demographic characteristics of municipal
police officers in a southern state on preferences for male
police officers as backup. Multivariate analysis indicated
that gender, partner status, race, and marital status signif-
icantly impacted officer preferences for male backup.
However, further examination of the interaction effect
etween gender and partner status revealed a gap in the
preferences for officers with no partners. Although officers
with no partners reported lower overall preferences for male
ackup than officers with female or male partners, the
disparity of preference between male and female officers
with no partners was sizeable.
Keywords Gender bias . Police partnering . Officer backup
preferences
Introduction
Prejudicial attitudes against policewomen are abundant
(Jacobs 1987; Worden XXXXXXXXXXMale officers widely regard
women as physically (Garcia 2003), psychologically (Paoline
III and Te
ill 2004; Vega and Silverman 1982) and
emotionally ill-equipped to perform what they regard as
masculine police duties (Jones XXXXXXXXXXAs such, policewomen
are considered best suited for victim assistance, public
elations and crime prevention duties. It is not surprising,
then, that many policemen resent female intrusion into
the ‘
otherhood’ (Brown 1994; Remmington 1983).
Despite such resentment, optimism concerning the prog-
ess of policewomen appears justified. Recruitment and
selection of women into policing has increased, the
frequency of sex discrimination has lessened, and promo-
tional opportunities opened (Martin XXXXXXXXXXFurthermore,
policewomen have become symbols of change for an
occupation preoccupied with masculine priorities. Despite
progress, however, policewomen continue to be on the
defensive (Van Wormer 1981).
Attitudes Regarding Policewomen
Public attitudes toward policewomen are mixed. On a
positive note, the general public appears to believe female
officers are quite capable of managing violence (Lege
1997) and performing work duties with equal effectiveness
as male officers (Breci XXXXXXXXXXThese positive societal
perceptions regarding the nature of police duties do appear,
however, to primarily focus on child abuse and family
distu
ances, and as such continue to reflect stereotypical
attitudes. This situational bias has been detected in othe
examinations too, with female officers favored rape
P. E. Carlan (*) : L. S. Nored :R. A. Downey
The University of Southern Mississippi,
118 College Drive # 5127,
Hattiesburg, MS XXXXXXXXXX, USA
e-mail: XXXXXXXXXX
L. S. Nored
e-mail: XXXXXXXXXX
R. A. Downey
e-mail: XXXXXXXXXX
J Police Crim Psych XXXXXXXXXX:4–10
DOI XXXXXXXXXX/s XXXXXXXXXX
(Winnard 1986) and spousal abuse victims (Kennedy and
Homant XXXXXXXXXXIn short, it appears that public attitudes are
favorable as long as they are not focused on specific
policing tasks (Homant XXXXXXXXXXPolicemen, though, do not
seem as open to the idea of women in policing.
The longstanding and engrained hostilities of policemen
toward policewomen have been elsewhere well-
documented. It has been suggested that male officers
construct ba
iers to keep women in subordinate roles as a
means to protect the masculine integrity of police organ-
izations (Hunt 1990; Martin and Jurik XXXXXXXXXXOne study
found that one-third of surveyed officers in four northwest-
ern states exuded opposition to policewomen, with more
than one-half refusing to support women as backup
(especially in shootouts) and one-third prefe
ing a male
partner (Brown XXXXXXXXXXFlorida policemen also overwhelm-
ingly prefe
ed men as partners and backups; and experi-
ence working with policewomen did not alter that
pessimism (Vega and Silverman XXXXXXXXXXEven the future
generation of policing—college students—project some-
what negative attitudes toward women in policing (Austin
and Hummer 1994).
One female police cadet reported that male officers
frequently used derogatory sexual terms such as whore and
dyke in the training academy. It was the cadet’s opinion that
the comments were “to confirm the masculine nature of the
job by showing women to be unfit for it” (Prokos and
Padavic 2002, p XXXXXXXXXXMoreover, Remmington’s (1983)
interviews within the Atlanta Police Department also found
that most policemen did not regard women as real officers.
As observed (p. 128), females exhibiting masculine
qualities “had doubts cast upon her sexuality—the impli-
cation being that a female with ‘masculine’ traits was not a
‘real’ woman.” Conversely, though, women failing to adopt
masculine characteristics were treated as sexual objects and
secretarial assistants, and subjected to sexual innuendo and
teasing.
Self Concept and Mental Fortitude of Policewomen
Even though women have made significant progress within
the police culture (Martin 1991), resistance to thei
inclusion in the police profession continues to be formida-
le. For example, male officers often construct ba
iers to
ensure that women do not encroach on their rightful
te
itory; differential assignments and sexual harassment
serve as two such weapons (Martin and Jurik 1996).
Furthermore, it has been argued that this bias is so
engrained that it functions within police training academies
as a mechanism to reinforce the message that women are
unwelcome (Prokos and Padavic XXXXXXXXXXAs such, police-
women often fail to acquire adequate integration into the
police culture, of which the most significant consequence is
career restriction. Women appear committed to the police
force even though the police force does not necessarily
eciprocate that affection (Metcalfe and Dick XXXXXXXXXXThis
emotional stability alone demonstrates a remarkable mental
toughness. Considering the obstacles faced by these
women, however, some degree of emotional turmoil is
expected.
Most policewomen are well aware of the psychological
obstacles associated with police careers (Poole and Pogrebin
1988; Wertsch XXXXXXXXXXStudies have found that policewomen
experience: 1) moderate degrees of regret over caree
choices; 2) mistrust of co-workers; and 3) feelings of
isolation (Hunt and McCladden XXXXXXXXXXIt also has been
eported that policewomen are more cynical about human
motivation (Davis 1984); one such example is their common
elief that no amount of accomplishment will prompt male
officers to accept them in the cu
ent cultural landscape
(Belknap and Shelley XXXXXXXXXXConfirming these cognitive
notions, some studies conclude that policewomen have: 1)
higher rates of depression (Vega and Silverman 1982; Zhao
et al. 2003); 2) lower career advancement expectations
(Worden 1993); and 3) lower perceptions of confidence
and competence in police duties (Davis 1984) compared to
those exhibited among male peers.
The mental approach and commitment of policemen and
policewomen toward law enforcement functions are essen-
tially the same (Metcalfe and Dick 2002; Worden 1993).
For example, policewomen exhibit similar stress levels and
a general state of psychological well-being compared with
their male counterparts (Krimmel and Gormley 2003).
Policewomen, too, experience internal burnout; males,
however, experience a greater degree of external burnout
when dealing with others (Johnson XXXXXXXXXXStudies also
conclude that policewomen regard themselves as equally
effective and authoritarian when compared with male
officers (Davis 1984; Kakar XXXXXXXXXXIn short, the future of
policewomen appears stable for several reasons: 1) college
female students remain positive about the roles of police-
women (Austin and Hummer 1999), and 2) policewomen
do not want to be regarded as one of the boys, instead
prefe
ing to maintain their distinctive femininity (Jacobs
1987).
Inadequate training and organizational rumors are the
greatest stressors for policewomen. In fact, 80% of the
female officers in one study cited significant stress as a
direct product of male officer behaviors (Wexler and Logan
1983). The women in that study stated they were not
accepted as real officers, and that the hostilities were so
substantial that it was “harder to be around them [male
officers] than the bad guys” (p. 52). Garcia (2003, p. 337)
points out that “cultural definitions of femininity” underlie
the general consensus that women are incompetent police
J Police Crim Psych XXXXXXXXXX:4–10 5
performers. As a consequence, policewomen feel pressure
to adopt masculine qualities to survive in male-dominated
police environments (Berg and Budnick 1986).
The Cu
ent Study
It has been suggested that policemen construct and maintain
a patriarchal police structure to control female behavior.
Traditionally, males overprotect females, and then complain
that women are a handicap. This study specifically
hypothesizes that both male officers and female officers
will exhibit a preference for males as backup officers.
Methods
Municipal police departments with fifty or more sworn
officers (N=21) across one southern state served as the data
collection sites. Based on information extracted from the
state law enforcement directory, surveys were mailed to
police chiefs with a request to distribute the instrument at
oll call. This data-collection strategy produced 1,114
completed questionnaires from sixteen participating police
departments, representing response rates of 57% (officers)
and 76% (departments). Eighty percent of the responses
originated from eight departments (all with a minimum of
fifty-one officers), and department representation ranged
from 10 to 379 sworn police officers. The dependent
variable ‘preference for male backup’ was measured by
officers’ responses to an item that read: “When in need of
ackup, I prefer a male officer,” utilizing a five-point Likert
scale (strongly agree to strongly disagree). Respondents
also reported professional and demographic characteristics.
Results
Nine officer characteristics were examined in this study.
Table 1 presents distributions for the four variables that
failed to exhibit statistically significant differences regard-
ing the dependent variable. The majority of respondents
had six or more years of police experience (65%) and were
etween the ages of 29 and 44 (60%). Officers also tended
to lack college education (51%) or have no cu
ent
management responsibilities (70%).
Table 2 provides distributions for the five variables that
did manifest statistically significant differences for the
dependent variable. Respondents were disproportionately
male (n=992, or 92%) and white (n=873, or 80%). Officers
also tended to be ma
ied (n=759, or 69%), worked without
a partner (n=902, or 83%), and did not participate in
special operations units (n=810, or 75%). Initial examina-
tion of group means indicated that male (t=5.15, p<.01),
white (F=6.80, p<.01), and ma
ied (F=5.58, p<.01)
officers prefe
ed male officers significantly more as
ackup. Officers working in special operations units also
prefe
ed males as backup significantly more than officers
without such assignments (t=2.10, p<.05). Furthermore,
officers (male or female) partnered with females reported
the greatest preference for male officers as backup, but
officers (male or female) partnered with male officers also
prefe
ed males as backup more than officers without
partners.
Prior to conducting multivariate analysis, a zero-orde
co
elation matrix (see Table 3) was constructed to examine
all possible associations among variables. Although mod-
erate co
elations were evident between some variables,
diagnostic coefficients (tolerance and VIF) indicated an
absence of multicollinearity. Subsequently, a forward step-
wise regression model was constructed to assess the relative
impact of each officer characteristic on the dependent
variable—preference for male backup.
The fourth and final iteration of the step-wise procedure
evealed four significant variables