Introduction
Citizen perception of police has for a long time been of prime importance to researchers, politicians, and law enforcement agencies. It is not arguable that communities often draw optimal benefit from a trusted and respected police force. Various researchers have asserted that communities that exhibit increased satisfaction with the police force often faceless victimization fear and are likely to corporate more with the police force in law enforcement (Sherman, 1986). This translates into a less likelihood of the police engaging in criminal activities. Additionally, it is vital to note that the police force is a representation of the most salient criminal justice branch. Consequently, perceptions of their services often transcend the individual department, jurisdiction, or agency to condition larger perceptions of the criminal justice system as a whole. Some argue that distrust toward the police is often a precursor to feeling that the justice system, in general, lacks legitimacy and therefore should not be supported or obeyed (Sherman, 1986). Although a significant number of citizens hold favorable perceptions of the police, recent, it is obvious that a large portion of the population holds contrary views. Various researches suggest that perceptions of the police force across diverse groups are dissimilar and often the view of one group contradicts the view of the other.
The group that is often subject to less satisfaction is of extreme importance to the various persons interested in the study of community satisfaction with the police. Though some of the studies have focused on individual-level satisfaction with the police, most have looked into the effect of diversity and minority groups’ perceptions on the works of the police. Most recently, studies have examined both aspects. At the individual level, minority groups at particularly racially affiliated groups have often expressed dissatisfaction with the police (Sherman, 1986). A recent study indicated that the general attitude towards the police is often negative in most neighborhoods.
The last decade has seen questions being raised about the intervention of police in cases involving women, and how the police have handled women suspects. Various studies have however focused resources on the study of how women perceive the policing solutions to their problems. However, it is not only the women which have their negative share with the police force, men have been recorded on many occasions claiming that policemen handle them with much physical force as compared to their female counterparts. Immigrant women, for instance, have often been cited as being the alienated group that has faced the wrath of the police force and had their rights as women disregarded. Unfortunately, the few studies to address women’s encounters with the police have cited a multitude of violations that women have had to suffer in their collision with the laws (Tonry, 1995). It is not surprising that various news articles highlighted a case where law enforcement agencies ignore the plight of abused women. One is left to question whether or not a raped woman would feel free reporting the same to the police or a whether a physically abused woman would find solace within the national police force. This paper explores how gender difference shapes the perceived satisfaction of the community with the work of the police.
Literature Review
Gender and the Police Force
Gender is undeniably a fundamental part of criminal justice perception with the public. However, racial interplay with gender cannot be ignored. For instance, it is estimated over 40% of incarcerated persons are black men. A recent US report indicated that of the incarcerated males, only 6% were white men. The statistics offer a clear reflection of the gender group which often finds itself on the wrong side of the law and hence rub shoulders with the police force. The level to which this disparity amounts to extra-legal or discriminatory behavior remains debatable. Evidence respondents indicate that these largely disproportionate numbers are a result of the view that the black men view the police force and hence the rates at which they commit various offenses including abuse of drugs and to some extent an underlying gender bias (Tonry, 1995). Still many point gender aspects in the approach employed by the police force in the fight against crime and drug abuse. Some argue that a woman can pass ten times the number of roadblocks a man would if they were both carrying illegal products in their car boots. In general gender disparity in public perception of the police remains largely a reality.
In Smith (1986) it is argued that men are more likely to be physically mistreated by the police while women are more likely to face sexual maltreatment. Shocking, a recent study revealed that most women viewed the police force, more as sex predators than law enforcers. In previous surveys, most women previously found on the wrong side of the law indicated that the best way to buy freedom was through sex. However, it must be appreciated that such a study represents over a decade ago (Smith, 1991). Few recent studies have attempted to explore the actual impact of gender differences on the perception of the work of the police. Apsler & Cummins presents a contrary opinion wherein their study, 80% of women who had fallen victim to cases of domestic violence indicated satisfaction with the way the police handled the matter and indicated a willingness to report the same in case of re-occurrence.
Additionally, most agreed they would advise their friends who fell victims to report the same to the police. However, their views were not 100% positive (Smith, 1991). While most of the victims seeking restraining orders and arrest of the perceived offenders found adequate assistance, those seeking counseling seem to believe that going to the police would be the worst choice. Generally, various researchers present varied results as to the citizen’s perception of police helpfulness as desired. Most men previously arrested using force and brutally mistreated by the police often express disdain for the police but most surprisingly would not shy away from reporting in cases where they are offended.
Generally, perception of gender between men and women remains relatively different across the spheres and there is an increased likelihood of one gender views being a direct contradiction of the other gender’s view and perception. But despite relatively inconsistent evidence of gender biases in the criminal justice system, one consistent finding is certain – men are less likely than women to trust, support, and be satisfied with the justice system. Even after relevant controls are taken into accounts, such as class, neighborhood, education, and criminal history, men remain more likely to see the system as unjust (Terrill & Michael, 2003). Arguably the strongest of these system-wide perceptions is attitudes toward the police, where, for example, a 1999 Gallup poll showed that 77% of men believed that gender profiling is widespread among the police (Webb & Chris, 1995). Due in part to their heightened visibility, both in the media and on the street, police officers represent the most salient branch of the justice system. Both personal interactions and second-hand accounts are more common with the police than with the court or correctional systems. Consequently, officers’ actions (or inactions) often engender strong opinions of their services among citizens (Weitzer & Steven, 2002). And as I have alluded, the difference in such opinions remains noticeable between men and women.
Indeed, gender is consistently one of the strongest individual-level predictors of satisfaction with the police (Tuch and Weitzer, 1997). But why is this case? Why do men, decade after decade, express less satisfaction with the police than women? To answer this question researchers typically explore aspects of at least one of the following three dimensions: police behavior, background differences between men and women, and neighborhood structure. Studies lack critical examination of the first dimension commonly look at officer’s discretionary behavior which may include use of force, the decision to arrest, vehicle stops and searches, procedural fairness, report filing, or victim treatment (Webb & Chris, 1995). Various studies have generally failed to show whether police actions vary according to the gender of the citizen encountered, or (importantly) if they are perceived to vary across gender. Indeed, personal contacts with the police (especially negative experiences) influence citizens’ larger views of the police (Terrill & Michael 2003; Weitzer & Tuch, 2002). Secondly, some feel that attitudes toward the police are due to larger background differences between men and women. This line of research attempts to show whether various genders are socialized to hold certain beliefs; one such belief is thought to be a general distrust of authority – in particular, distrust toward the police.
According to the cultural transmission argument, men are more likely to be raised with skepticism, if not downright disdain, toward the police. Most often, this dissatisfaction emanates from a conceptualization of police as the dominant men majority interested only in preserving display of authority and control of situations (Weitzer, 1999). Accordingly, the researches approach does little in the prediction of changes in men’s opinions toward the police as a result of changes in officer behavior (Sampson et al., 2002). Few studies have authoritatively asserted that men would be less satisfied than women with the work of the police.
Perhaps the direct effect of being black on attitudes toward the police is not a function of gender at all but is instead a manifestation of neighborhood context. Indeed, research has shown that police act differently in different neighborhoods and that the neighborhoods most commonly neglected or abused by officers are those which tend to contain a high percentage of minorities (Smith, 1986; Terrill and Reisig, 2003). Moreover, socioeconomic correlates of police satisfaction tend also to correlate with the concentration of African-Americans in the community. So despite individual-level factors known to shape these attitudes (gender being among the strongest), qualities of neighborhoods themselves might account for why individuals are more or less likely to be satisfied with the police (Weitzer, 1999).
A police officer’s attitude and communication skills were considered, primarily by the urban groups, to be an important factor in whether they believed the police were doing a good job or not. The minority ethnic focus groups were also more likely to think that the police were heavy-handed and sometimes violent towards suspects. Various persons from minority ethnic groups thought that the police were still ‘institutionally gender-biased, had negative attitudes towards minority communities and were slow in responding to them (this was felt most strongly by the non-English-speaking group) (Sampson et al., 2002). Some of the minority ethnic groups mentioned police recruitment of minority ethnic and women officers as a possible means of increasing trust and confidence and felt that they were underrepresented at present (Weitzer & Steven, 2005). There was a feeling amongst participants in a few of the groups that some police officers thought that they were ‘above the law’ because they broke the law and got away with it, for example by retiring on a full pension without being disciplined groups also mentioned the issue of police corruption more specifically, for example, the police dealing in drugs and abuses of power such as not reading suspects their rights when arresting them (Sampson et al., 2002). These were generally examples that they had heard about through the press or other media, or friends and relatives.
In short, the theoretical explanations paint a more detailed picture of who becomes less satisfied with the police and why. It seems as though attitudes toward the police may not simply be deconstructed to matters of gender or neighborhood, but more likely reflects important interactions between the two. Furthermore, a consistent direction for this interaction emerges from these explanations – gender should become a more salient predictor of satisfaction with the police as neighborhoods become more disadvantaged.
Methods
Hypotheses and strategy for analysis
The hypothesis developed will mainly focus on establishing the relation between gender and perception of the work of the police. The sample will consist of men and women to represent different genders and their perceived opinion of the work of the police. Firstly, based on the findings of the literature review, the sample will be expected to reflect a lesser satisfaction with the police work by men. The first hypothesis will therefore endeavor to replicate a common finding of various researches that a gender gap exists in terms of the attitude towards the work of the police.
H1: Men will show lesser satisfaction with the work of the police than women
The second hypothesis will test variability across various neighborhoods in terms of the relationship that exists between gender affiliation and satisfaction with the work of the police. If the research is to prove that neighborhoods influence the way different gender perceive the work of the police, it will be necessary for this hypothesis to hold.
H2: The relationship of gender to satisfaction with the work of the police varies across various neighborhoods
The hypothesis will be tested by running random co-efficient models containing one-level predictors (Robson, 1997). This will estimate the effect that gender has on the perception of police work (H1) while at the same time allowing the slope and intercept to exhibit a degree of variance across the neighborhoods included in the research (Neuman, 1997). The model will additionally show whether, or not gender perception of the police varies across the neighborhoods included in the research (H2).
The next hypothesis will incorporate an aggregate-level measure into the random co-efficient. It is expected to replicate common findings of other researches that neighborhood disadvantage has a negative correlation to satisfaction with the work of the police (Neuman, 1997). However, unlike other researches, it will focus on the effect of neighborhood disadvantage on gender satisfaction with the work of the police.
H3: Residents of disadvantaged neighborhoods will be less satisfied with the police than those living in non-disadvantaged neighborhoods
Given that the model includes both individual and aggregate level variables, it will allow testing of whether gender also predicts police work satisfaction after taking into consideration the neighborhood context and hence show whether neighborhood disadvantage results attenuates the effect of gender on police work satisfaction.
H4: Controlling for neighborhood disadvantage, gender will still predictor the attitude variations towards the work of the police
The hypothesis described above will not only test the effect of gender on perception of the work of the police but will further evaluate whether the gender gap in attitude toward the work of the police converges in affluent areas and diverges at the disadvantaged neighborhoods.
Data
Much of the data on police satisfaction will be generated through interviewing of the different genders across the state of Victoria. Victoria State is one of the most populous states in Australia and harbors a diverse population. These include the aboriginal community, the black population, and the majority of whites. Likewise social status varies across the state. The study will therefore partition the samples based on these groups to create an avenue for comparison of the gender attitudes within them. This will allow a comprehensive conclusion as to the actual effect of gender and whether such perceptions are shaped by the neighborhood in which the sample is selected.
References
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