POLICE CULTURE AND PROCESS OF INTEGRATING WOMEN IN THE

POLICE1

Danijela Spasić2
Academy of Criminalistic and Police Studies, Zemun
danijela.spasic@kpa.edu.rs
Goran Vučković
Academy of Criminalistic and Police Studies, Zemun
goran.vuckovic@kpa.edu.rs

ABSTRACT: Gender issues within the police organisation, personnel structure and police culture
have only recently become the subject of detaild academic research. There are still relatively few
culture studies dealing with cross-analysis of the position, role, perspective and barriers to
inegration of women police officers. Available studies mostly compare the experiences of Great
Britain and the United States of America.
This paper is of analytical nature. Its hypothetical basis starts from conceptual determinants
of the notion of police culture and the objective and subjective barriers to the integration of women
into the police based on that culture. The subject of the research is the experience (barriers,
opportunities and challenges) of the women employed in the police during the process of their
integration and acceptance in a male dominated work environment in different parts of the world:
America, Japan, Canada, India, Ukraine. The research findings confirmed that the woman employed
in the police, primarily the uniformed police, are exposed to many stressful situations, challenges of
the specific police tasks and to various forms of discrimination. The following are recognized as the
sources of discrimination: hostile work environment with a steady bases of police culture, built up
for decades, and various forms of harassment.
The analysed results are presented as illustrative trends, not as a definitive findings.
Key words: masculinity, police culture, women, integration, police

INTRODUCTION

In the predominantly masculine environment most men show, at least at times, extremely hostile
attitude toward women, manifested as inhospitality, withholding information, sabotage, mobing,
sexual harassment, etc. Slightly less extreme rejection is expressed through various forms of
labeling women as outsiders including the relationship full of sexual insinuations, a paternalistic
attitude and other degrading relations (ridicule, distrust, mocking, etc.). 3
Through paternalistic treatment women suffer the negative consequences of subordination, although
they do the same tasks as men, even though they are qualified the same as them, and although they
invest the same amount of effort and knowledge into work as men, masculinity does not allow
women to progress, because they are perceived as less capable, and less valuable. Men in male-

1
This paper is the result of the implementation of the Scientific Research Project entitled “Development of Institutional
Capacities, Standards and Procedures for Fighting Organised Crime and Terrorism in Climate of International
Integrations“. The Project is financed by the Ministry of Science and Technological Development of the Republic of
Serbia (No 179045), and carried out by the Academy of Criminalistics and Police Studies in Belgrade (2011−2014). The
leader of the Project is Associate Professor Saša Mijalković, PhD.
2
Corresponding author, danijela.spasic@kpa.edu.rs
3
Tomić, M., Spasić, D. (2010) Maskulinitet u profesijama. Antropologija: casopis Centra za etnoloska i antropoloska
istrazivanja, 10, 1, 95-110.

1
dominated collective tend to behave towards women through the lens of disguised sexual
insinuations, either verbally or through open conditioning as the cost of affirmation, keeping the
position or advancement. 4 Propensity to exert dominance in the male collectives is a part of
musculin cultural form, no matter whether the domination is manifested in relation to women or in
relation to men. In almost all professions dominated by men, the desire to maintain the relationship
of subordination is very firmly rooted. Although men tend to form an informal system of
relationships at work and outside it, constant presence of authoritarianism and subordination is,
nevertheless, a part of the musculine structure of relationships.

POLICE CULTURE

The police is traditionally a male profession. The following are recognised as the objective barriers
to the entry of women primarily into the uniformed police, which has traditionally been destined for
men: the determination of the police as an organisation and human resource system, which,
performing its functions, can also use the means of coercion, and the basic characteristics of police
(masculine, macho) culture which has been formed for centuries. Today there are a number of
unexamined assumptions underpinning beliefs about the roles of men and women, their abilities and
values. Preserving these beliefs isalso helped by the prevalent stereotypes of the dominant
characteristics of the two sexes according to which men are rational and women are emotional; men
cope with crisis situations better than women and are able to perform difficult and dangerous tasks,
while women are content with simple repetitive tasks; men are active, and their superiority
commands respect, while women are passive and can not command. In addition, these beliefs are
learned and are the consequence of generational transmission.

The woman within the civic civilization is defined, accepted and recognized only to the
extent in which she exists and acts as a bearer of her sexual and biological functions provided by the
nature. So, a woman is convinced that the necessity of her position is natural. What is characteristic
for professions dominated by men is the lack of women and their low numbers, and especially their
exclusion from the highest positions on the professional ladder. Despite the increased participation
of women in the labor market, over the past few decades most of them are expected to have a
profession and not a career, which is reserved for men.
In order to maintain the masculine culture in a profession such as police, the processes that
contribute to maintaining low rates of entry of women take place. There is no doubt that the
elements of self-selection are present, because if the profession is seen as typically male, then a
woman who wants to do that work is ready in advance for a number of difficulties and problems in
the course of her career.

In accordance with the organisational and functional specificities of the police, police
culture determines the behavior of police officers on the job and off the job. 5 It represents a certain
set of values, attitudes and beliefs that officers adopt in relation to their job, management, certain
categories of citizens, courts, law and various social phenomena relevant to their work. Police
culture is particularly emphasized by the feelings of social isolation, job risks, specific powers and
responsibilities, the necessity of mutual solidarity in the common actions, frequent contact with

4
Padavic, I., Reskin, B. (1990). Men's Behavior and Women's Interest in Blue-Collar Jobs. Social Problems, 37, 4, 613-
628.
5
Spasić, D. (2011). Police Culture and Gender Identity. Western Balkans Security Observer 6, 25-35.

2
anti-social behavior and certain types of people, the internal system of training and professional
knowledge acquired in practice, the nature of information used on the job and the like. 6
According to Nickels, specificities related to the police profession and define its
professional culture are identified as: danger, the possibility of legitimate use of force, discretionary
power, detachment of police officers from the citizens and general public, the bureaucracy, shift
work, routine contacts with "problem people" and antagonism between police officers and
management. 7

Current research on police culture tend to support one of the two theoretical schools.
According to one, police culture is traditionally perceived as a professional phenomenon and
includes all officers. However, other studies are focused on identifying different types of police
officers and officials, and the forming of their subcultures, which are connected and as such form a
professional police culture. 8 Regarded as specific professional phenomenon, the police culture in
most studies is seen as a byproduct of some standard and largely unchanging aspects of
contemporary policing. 9

Some other theoretical standpoints try to depict the police culture in a negative way, by
looking at this concept through the lens of adaptation to hostile working conditions. In this regard,
police culture is defined as a comprehensive set of beliefs and behaviours shared by all police
officers, which is built through socialisation and professional solidarity. 10
In these theoretical assumptions police officers are presented as an isolated group of cynical
and authoritarian people who have low self-esteem and a sense of "receiving" little respect. 11 Police
culture is regarded here as a social problem incompatible with changes and progress, as institutional
pathology of the innate human weakness and corrupt environment. This formulation was the
guiding idea of many early works and police studies 12, but also the basis for wider political
pressures in the postwar period, to increase the degree of transparency, accountability and passing
regulations governing the work of police.
The view according to which police culture prevents expression of emotion is important for
the entry of women into the police system and their integration into professional police work
environment.

6
Milosavljević, B. (1997). Nauka o policiji (Police Science). Belgrade: Policijska akademija (Police
Academy).
7
Nickels, E. (2008). "Good guys wear black: uniform color and citizen impressions of police", Policing: An International
Journal of Police Strategies & Management, Vol. 31, 1, 77 – 92.
8
Paoline, Eugene A. III (2004). “Shedding Light on Police Culture: An Examination of Officers’ Occupational
Attitudes.” Police Quarterly, 7, 2, 205-236. p. 205
9
See also: Niederhoffer, Arthur.(1969). Behind the Shield: The Police in Urban Society. Garden City, N.Y.: Anchor
Books;
Prenzler, T. (1997). “Is There a Police Culture?” Australian Journal of Public Administration, 56,4, 47-65;
Van Maanen, J., & Barley, S. R. (1985). Cultural organisation: Fragments of a theory. In P. J. Frost, L. F. Louis, M. R.
Louis, C. C. Lundberg, & J. Martin (Eds.), Organisational culture (pp. 31 – 53). Beverly Hills, CA: Sage;
Westley, W. A. (1970). Violence and the police: A sociological study of law, custom, and morality. Cambridge,
Massachusetts: The MIT Press.
10
Crank, P. John (1998). Understanding police culture. Cincinnati, OH: Anderson Publishing.
Skolnick, J. (1994). ``A sketch of the policemen’s working personality’’, in Justice without Trial:
Law Enforcement in Democratic Society, 3rd ed., New York,NY: Wiley, pp. 41-68.
11
Carter, D., & Radelet, L. (1999). The police and the community (6th ed.). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
12
Davis, K.C. (1969). Discretionary justice - a preliminary inquiry. NCJRS: Louisiana State University Press.

3
 Pogrebin and Poole (1991) 13 list five reasons why they believe that the police inhibit
personal and other expressions of emotion:
1) Emotions make people feel uncomfortable;
2) Police repress emotions for fear of being seen as incompetent;
3) Police repress emotions for fear that their partners do not think they are unreliable.
4) Police suppress emotions because of looking up to "macho man";
5) Police officers do not want to create a resemblance to the "social workers" prone to
express emotions or to talk about them.
In other words, to be equated with the "social worker" means loss of status. Many
researchers have recognized the tendency of police officers to suppress emotional expression as a
coping mechanism. 14,15 However, Jermier et al., in a study about 208 police officers employed in
small towns (96% of the total police force) found a very strong link between expecting violence
(fear) and exposure to violence. 16

WOMEN AND POLICE WORK: CHALLENGES

Research in the differences of degree of the experienced stress of uniformed police officers and
detectives while performing operational tasks, showed that men experience higher levels of stress
during arrests of violent persons in situations of extreme violation of public peace and order. 17
Women police officers experience stress due to discrimination and various prejudices expressed by
their male colleagues, but also when working with victims of violence and sexual offenses, as well
as during the repetitive tasks. 18 The men reported to have a higher degree of stress when performing
tasks in isolation, and when they are unable to plan their vacations. Women reported that they
experience stress during every arrest of a violent person, when notifying relatives of those killed, as
well as when working with victims of violence. 19 Gender differences also exist in what the newly
recruited policemen and policewomen experience in the first year on the job. Out of ten traumatic
experiences during the year, men mostly experienced physical assault, while women most often
experienced various forms of sexual harassment. Women in the traffic police feel the highest degree
of anxiety, depression and aggression, because, every day, in traffic patrol or during a traffic
regulation, they are subject to various comments or actions of the participants in traffic, primarily

13
Pogrebin, R. Mark & Poole D. E. (1991). Police and tragic events: The management of emotions. Journal of
Criminal Justice, 19, 4, 395–403.
14
Ibid.
15
Violanti G.M. & Aron F. (1993). Sources of police stressors, job attitudes, and psychological distress. Psychological
reports, 72, pp. 899-904.
16
Lennings, C.J. (1997). Police and occupationally related violence: a review. Policing, 20, 3, 556-566. 
17
See also: Alkus, S. & Padesky, C. (1983). “Special problems of police officers: stress-related issues and interventions”.
Counseling Psychologist, 11, 55-64.
Anshel, M.H. (2000). “A conceptual model and implications for coping with stressful events in police work”. Criminal
Justice and Behavior, 27, 375-400.
Brown, J.A. & Campbell, E.A. (1990). “Sources of occupational stress in the police”. Work and Stress, 4, 4, 305-318.
Coman, G. & Evans, B. (1991). “Stressors facing Australian police in the 1990s”. Stress Medicine, 9, 171-180.
18
Brown, J. & Fielding, J. (1993). “Qualitative differences in men and women police officers’ experience of occupational
stress”. Work and Stress, 7, 327-340.
Gershon, R. (1999). Police Stress and Domestic Violence in Police Families in Baltimore, Maryland, 1997-1999, ICPSR
#2976, Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research, Ann Arbor, MI.
19
Wexler; J.G. & Logan, D.D. ( 1983). Sources of Stress Among Women Police Officers. Journal of Police Science and
Administration, 11, 1, 46-53.

4
men. 20
During the research of gender and ethical aspects of social interaction of police officers,
women reported more negative interactions, especially related to verbal harassment, sexual
harassment and slander. Women also reported that they participate more in social networks,
particularly when it comes to members of related organisations. However, the data show that they
have a lower percentage of close friends who work in the police. Finally, women have more family
support to do police work. Research on the degree of suicides among police officers during the
nineteen years, 1977-1996, established that the total number of suicides, of which there were 80,
more men commited suicide than women (73 vs. 7). The suicide rate of women officers was nearly
four times the suicide rate of the general population during this period (13.1% on a sample of
100,000 interviewees compared to 3.4% of suicides in the same sample). Therefore, we conclude
that "there is much higher probability for female police officers to commit suicide, than for women
in general to do it." 21

WOMEN IN POLICE: EXPERIENCE AROUND THE WORLD

Women from police services around the world, primarily those in the uniformed police, have been
facing the same stereotypical attitudes within the police organisation for decades.

India: From the late 1980's, a larger number of women have entered the Indian uniformed police,
mainly through the Indian Police Service system. Women police officers were employed for the
first time in 1972 and since then, number of women who hold key positions in various state police
organisations has increased every year. However, their absolute number, regardless of rank, is small
(29%). Women in uniformed police and women employed in the secret police are mostly deployed
in New Delhi, as members of the Anti-Eve Teasing Squad, the squad that fights against sexual
harassment of women. About 80 women police stations were founded in India, which bear the main
burden of the fight against gender-based violence in this country, primarily domestic violence. 22

Canada: The number of women police officers in police services across Canada continued to rise in
2011, while the number of male police officers reduced. There were 285 more women officers in
2011. than in 2010, while the number of male police officers was reduced by 97. The rise in the
number of women officers recorded in the last few years is a continuation of long-standing trend.
For example, in 2001. women accounted for 14% of all officers, and by 2011. this ratio had risen to
20%. The presence of women officers is particularly evident in the ranks of senior non-
commissioned officers and senior officers. Over the past decade, the percentage of women officers
in these ranks has nearly tripled, and the proportion of women in the rank of police officer has risen
from 18% to 22%. 
In the country interior, Quebec and Ontario have the highest percentage of female police
officers. In contrast, Manitoba, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island have the lowest
proportions among the provinces. As in previous years, the proportion of female officers were lower
in the territories than in the provinces. 23

20
Symonds, M. (1970). “Emotional hazards of police work”. American Journal of Psychoanalysis, 30, 155-160.
Bloch, P. & Anderson, D. (1974). Policewomen on Patrol. Washington, DC: Police Foundation.
Martin, S. (1990). " Outsider within" the station house: The impact of race and gender on black women police.
Social Problems , 41, 3, 383-400.
21
Hem, E., Berg, A.M. & Ekeberg, Q. (2011), “Suicide in Police—A Critical Review”. Suicide and Life-Threatening
Behavior, 33, 2, 224-233.
22
Verma, A. (1999). Cultural roots of police corruption in India. Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies &
Management, 22,3, 264-278.

5
Japan: Law enforcement in Japan is provided by the prefecture of police under the supervision of
the National Police Agency (NPA). NPA is the head of the National Public Safety Commission,
which ensures that the Japanese police is apolitical body and without direct executive control of the
central government. Their work is verified by an independent judiciary and monitored by the free
and active media. Since 2010 the police force had about 291,475 personnel. NPA had a total of
7,709 members with 1,969 police officers, 901 imperial guards and 4,839 civilians. Prefectural
police had a total of 283,766 employees, with 255,156 police officers and 28,610 civilians. Across
the country, the police forces employed approximately 14,900 female police officers and about
11,800 women civilians. 24

Ukraine: Since its founding in the early nineteenth century, the police has been and remains a
profession dominated by men and the service is clearly linked to masculinity. 25 Police in Ukraine is
no exception. Although 54% of the Ukrainian population are women (State Committee of Statistics
of Ukraine, 2000), and where women make up 52% of the economically active population 26
(Lavrinenko, 1999), they make up only 8% of the Ukrainian militia (Ukrainian Ministry of Interior,
2000).
  This compares with 14.3% in the USA and 13% in the UK (Cok, 1996; Brovn, 1998). In addition,
compared with their male counterparts, Ukrainian women officers generally have lower ranks, do
more paperwork and logistics work. For example, 65% of all employees on issuing passports, visas
and registrations are women, as are 43% of investigators and 41% of employees who work in the
Human Resources Department. Most young women are privates, only 7% reaches the lieutenant
colonel rank, 1% the colonel rank, and no woman has the rank of general (Ukrainian Ministry of
Interior, 2000).

USA: In the 1970, only two percent of all police officers were women, but already in 1991, nine
percent of police officers are women (Statistics Bureau of the Ministry of Justice, 1993). At
executive and managerial levels of the police, we find very limited representation of women. Less
than two percent of the police (1.4%) in the very top echelon of the uniformed officers are women.
In the lower ranks (from lieutenant to sergeant) between 2.5% and 3.7% are women.
  Today, in New York police, 15% of all uniformed officers in police departments are
women, but only 9% are staff sergeants, 6% are lieutenants, 3% are captains and 4% have the rank
above captain. Research showed that women in the police force are not easily accepted by their
male colleagues, their supervisors, or their own female colleagues in the police force. Women are
regarded with skepticism and as inferior by their male counterparts, despite the fact that women did
police work more than a hundred years ago. The public, however, had a much more positive
assessments of the work of women in the police, often welcoming their presence. In recent years,
the acceptance by the public has contributed to the increase in the number of uniformed women
police officers on patrol in the streets. 27

23
Police Resources in Canada, 2011, http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/85-225-x/2011000/part-partie1-eng.htm, last
accessed on 15.01.2013.
24
Law_enforcement_in_Japan, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_enforcement_in_Japan, last accessed on 13.01.2013.
25
Sutton, J. (1996). “Keeping the faith: women in policing: a New South Wales perspective”, paper presented at the First
Australasian Women Police Conference, Sydney, July.
26
Lavrynenko, N. (1999). Zhenshchina: Samorealizatsija v Semje I Obshchestve (Gendernyj Aspect), Kyiv.
27
Price, B.R. (1996). Female police officers in the United States. POLICING IN CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE:
Comparing Firsthand Knowledge with Experience from the West, College of Police and Security Studies, Slovenia.

6
PROCESS OF ACCEPTANCE AND INTEGRATION: BARRIERS AND LIMITATIONS

As numerous studies all over the world have shown, the police profession implies the environment
characterized by a large impact on the personality of police officers, authoritarian orientation among
officers, conflict of roles, alienation and emphasised awareness of power over others. 28 Such an
environment as traditionally male is burdened with many forms of discriminatory behaviour against
women employed in it. All forms of discrimination, be it verbal or physical, based on stereotypes
and/or prejudices, have their origin in the deeply rooted understanding of gender differences and
defining of gender identities in traditional patriarchal socialization. In the research, through
informal conversations with women working in the police force, mainly in uniformed police, two
main sources of discrimination are identified: hostile work environment (which consists mostly of
men) with a steady basis of police culture built for decades and various forms of verbal and sexual
harassment.

Hostile work environment

Hostile work environment encompasses a wide range of verbal and nonverbal behaviour that
favours offensive, hostile and degrading attitudes about women. It is manifested through
inappropriate jokes by the colleagues, isolation, physical attacks, and denial of performed tasks, ie,
the so-called female tasks. At the same time, the position and role of women is defined as the
position of the "outsider" within the police culture. 29 This is supported by the fact, confirmed in
numerous studies around the world, that the police officers themselves-the vast majority of them
(sometimes even around 95%), state that they, personally, would never have accepted the
employment of women in the police if it was not for the political, that is, external pressure to do so.
30
Many of them justify this attitude stating that they are often in situations to have to help their
female colleagues on patrol and to rescue them from the "dangerous situations" because they
themselves are not capable of protecting themselves. 31
In addition to the resistance of male colleagues, women employed in the police are faced
with the "glass ceiling" in terms of promotion and advancement, as a form of discrimination, ie,
depreciation of their work and professional skills, qualities and achievements. This deficiency

28
Verma, A. & Das, D.K. (2002). Teaching police officers human rights: some observations. International Journal of
Human Rights, 6,2, 35-48.
Gibbs, P. and Phillips, H. (2000). The History of the British South Africa Police 1889-1980, Something of Value, North
Ringwood. In: Goldsmith, A.J. (ed.) (1991). Complaints against the Police: The Trend to External Review, Oxford:
Clarendon Press.
Reiser, S. (1983). Cultural and political influences on police discretion: the case of religion in Israel. Police Studies, 6,3,
13-23.
Hovav, M. & Amir, M. (1979). Israel police: history and analysis. Police Studies, 2,2, 5-31.
Fairchild, E.S. (1988). German Police: Ideals and Reality in the Post-war Years. Springfield, IL: Thomas.
Dick, P. & Jankowicz, D. (2001) A social constructionist account of police culture and its influence on the representation
and progression of female officers: a repertory grid analysis in a UK police force. Policing: An International Journal of
Police Strategies & Management, 24,2, 181-199.
29
Martin, S. (1990). " Outsider within" the station house: The impact of race and gender on black women  police.
Social Problems , 41, 3. 383-400.
30
Balkin, J. (1988). Why policemen don’t like policewomen. Journal of Police Science and Administration, 16,1, 29-36.
31
Vučković, G., Spasić, D. i Antić, T. (2011). Povezanost morfoloških karakteristika i tačnost upotrebe pištolja kod žena
policajaca u Srbiji (Correlation of morphological characteristics and accuracy of use of weapons of female police officers
in Serbia). In: Mijalković, S. (Ed.), Suprotstavljanje savremenom organizovanom kriminalu i terorizmu, (druga knjiga),
(Opposition of modern organized crime and terrorism, (second book). Kriminalističko-policijska akademija, Beograd:
(Belgrade: Academy of Criminalistic and Police Studies), pp. 27-43.

7
directly causes new barriers for younger women police officers and can stimulate their feelings of
isolation in the police organisation. Even women who have achieved personal promotion in their
careers, show little or no interest in achieving a better status in the police organisation. Most
commonly stated reasons for this are: obligations to family and child care, intentional avoiding of
the "glass ceiling" and negative experiences with previous attempts of promotion.
The potential for isolation and discrimination exist in greater extent in the rural police
outposts, where the presence of women in the uniformed police is minor compared to police stations
in urban areas. These conditions also refer to the lower levels of the structure of police ranks.
Women employed in the police force in the world have accepted working segregation as
real, ie, the division into typical men tasks and specific "women tasks". They are, in great majority,
allocated to jobs that deal with children and women as victims, or administrative duties, that is, the
jobs that make their status inferior.

Verbal and sexual harassment

Various forms of verbal and/or sexual harassment include situations in which getting and/or
keeping a job or some terms of employment are conditioned by the provision of sexual favors or
other forms of sexual activity. One large study32 that involved 804 women - police officers from 35
countries in Europe and the Americas, found that 77 percent of women in the sample reported
sexual harassment by male colleagues. The study also found that women officers considered
harassment by male colleagues to be a larger problem than the violent encounters that they
experienced while they were on patrol.
In these circumstances, many male officers in the research said they deliberately and
consciously avoid to accept women into their working environment, for fear that they could be
charged with some form of sexual harassment. 33

Defense mechanisms and acceptance

In order to overcome various forms of discrimination and/or rejection, that is to acquire and
maintain their status, in a situation where they do not use the existing legal possibilities, women
police officers often have to sffirm themselves in the implementation of power and authority in
other ways:
(1) by demonstration of force;
(2) by achieving the titles or ranks which demanded respect.
Some of the participants of the survey confirm that only after ten or more years of working
in an environment and constant resistance, they felt accepted by their male colleagues. They define
acceptance as less open discrimination and harassment by male colleagues or other women, as the
ability to achieve high ranks, but also through less visible signs of change, such as uniforms and
vests designed specifically for women.
Absurdity also exists when it comes to relations between the tasks they perform and the
marital status of women police officers. All those who have managed to do the so-called "male

32
Brown, J. & Heidensohn, F. (2000). Gender and Policing: Comparative Perspectives. New York, NY: St Martin’s
Press.
33
Dick, P. & Jankowicz, D. (2001). A social constructionist account of police culture and its influence on the
representation and progression of female officers: a repertory grid analysis in a UK police force. Policing: An
International Journal of Police Strategies & Management, 24,2, 181-199.

8
jobs", are mainly unmarried or have no children. By comparison, women without a family feel
acutely isolated within the accepted police culture, many because of the relationships that are
established only with colleagues at work. Outside these frameworks and the relationships they do
not have friendly relations with persons of other professions. Women who have sucessfully fought
off different types of resistance in a police environment, connect with others outside the police work
environment and are less burdened by the values and norms of the police culture.

Promotion

The possibility of promotion of women, in their personal opinion, is directly correlated to various
forms of discrimination, which is reflected in the work on the night shift, which requires a change in
lifestyle, or to fear, that is, the risk of isolation and harassment. Promoting women is also in a
negative relation with family responsibilities and child care. However, in urban police stations and
outposts there is a greater potential for the promotion and advancement of women, since there
already are a number of women officers and women in leadership positions, in positions of
responsibility and administrative structures. It also means fewer opportunities and more restrictions
on women working in rural law enforcement agencies. This "working environment" and a
professional environment also cause a higher percentage of stress, depressive behaviour and other
psychosomatic illnesses. Faced with this situation, many of them voluntarily "deprive" themselves
of any promotion or advancement opportunities, supressing personal enthusiasm.

CONCLUSION

In a number of studies that have attempted to identify the forms of discrimination against women
employed in the police, women police officers testified about a wide range of stereotypes which
burdens their position within the police organisation. However, after a 50-year battle for equal
opportunities, women officers have described a number of divergent behaviours in their relations
with the public, which included more empathy and communication.
In defining specific forms of disagreement and differentiation, women stressed not only that
they are often isolated and discriminated against by their male counterparts within the organisation,
but also often by female colleagues who had integrated and who do not accept cooperation in doing
the police work. 34
Gender balance is the need and necessity of quality police organisation. In order to achieve
this, it is necessary to conduct and implement active policy to motivate women to work in the police
and to promote the police profession, but also to raise the quality of the process of integration of
those women who have already joined the police organisation. 35 This is not just the responsibility of
women. Now it is up to the management (who are mostly men) to strengthen and implement this
policy. Only then can the policy of "silence" as a phase in the development cycle of the police
organisation be broken, which will form the basis of a police organisation in which "quality through
equality" will be the dominant paradigm.
The potential for lasting change in the development of the police will be evident in the
extent to which women manage to take great steps in achieving a high rank, breaking down barriers
and prejudice and providing diverse and broad prospects for future generations of women police
officers.

34
West, C., & Zimmerman, D. H. (1987). Doing gender. Gender & Society, 1, 125-151.
35
Spasić, D. (2008). Žene u sistemu policijskog obrazovanja. Temida, 11, 3, 41-61.

9
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REZIME: Rodna pitanja u okviru policijske organizacije, kadrovske strukture i policijske kulture
tek su nedavno postala predmet detaljnih akademskih ispitivanja. I dalje ima relativno malo studija
kulture koje se unakrsno bave analizom položaja, uloge, perspektive i prepreka integraciji žena
policajaca. Istraživanja koja su dostupna uglavnom upoređuju iskustva Velike Britanija i
Sjedinjenih Američkih Država.
Ovaj rad je analitičkog karaktera. Njegova hipotetička osnova polazi od konceptualnih
odrednica pojma policijske kulture i na njoj zasnovanih objektivnih i subjektivnih prepreka
integraciji žena u policiju. Predmet istraživanja su iskustva (prepreke, prilike i izazovi) žena
zaposlenih u policiji u procesima njihove integracije i prihvatanja u dominantno muškom radnom
okruženju u različitim delovima sveta: Americi, Japanu, Kanadi, Indiji, Ukrajini. Rezultati
istraživanja potvrđuju da su žene, zaposlene u policiji, pre svega, u uniformisanom sastavu, izložene
brojnim stresnim situacijama, izazovima specifičnih policijskih poslova i različitim vidovima
diskriminacije. Kao izvori diskriminacije prepoznati su: neprijateljski raspoloženo radno okruženje
sa ustaljenim, i decenijama izgrađivanim osnovama policijske kulture i različiti oblici
uznemiravanja.
Analizirani rezultati predstavljeni su kao ilustrativni trendovi, a ne kao konačni nalazi.

Ključne reči: maskulinitet, policijska kultura, žene, integracija, policija

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