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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 their immersion in a traditionally male-dominated profession. Little attention, however, has been given to perceptions regarding 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 between 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 backup 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 1993). Male officers widely regard women as physically (Garcia 2003), psychologically (Paoline III and Terrill 2004; Vega and Silverman 1982) and emotionally ill-equipped to perform what they regard as masculine police duties (Jones 1986). As such, policewomen are considered best suited for victim assistance, public relations and crime prevention duties. It is not surprising, then, that many policemen resent female intrusion into the ‘brotherhood’ (Brown 1994; Remmington 1983). Despite such resentment, optimism concerning the prog- ress 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 1991). Furthermore, 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 (Leger 1997) and performing work duties with equal effectiveness as male officers (Breci 1997). These positive societal perceptions regarding the nature of police duties do appear, however, to primarily focus on child abuse and family disturbances, and as such continue to reflect stereotypical attitudes. This situational bias has been detected in other 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 39406-5127, USA e-mail: Philip.Carlan@usm.edu L. S. Nored e-mail: Lisa.Nored@usm.edu R. A. Downey e-mail: Ragan.Downey@yahoo.com J Police Crim Psych (2011) 26:4–10 DOI 10.1007/s11896-010-9068-5 (Winnard 1986) and spousal abuse victims (Kennedy and Homant 1983). In short, it appears that public attitudes are favorable as long as they are not focused on specific policing tasks (Homant 1983). Policemen, 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 barriers to keep women in subordinate roles as a means to protect the masculine integrity of police organ- izations (Hunt 1990; Martin and Jurik 1996). One 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 preferring a male partner (Brown 1994). Florida policemen also overwhelm- ingly preferred men as partners and backups; and experi- ence working with policewomen did not alter that pessimism (Vega and Silverman 1982). Even 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. 443). Moreover, 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 their inclusion in the police profession continues to be formida- ble. For example, male officers often construct barriers to ensure that women do not encroach on their rightful territory; 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 2002). As 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 reciprocate that affection (Metcalfe and Dick 2002). This 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 1998). Studies have found that policewomen experience: 1) moderate degrees of regret over career choices; 2) mistrust of co-workers; and 3) feelings of isolation (Hunt and McCladden 1985). It also has been reported that policewomen are more cynical about human motivation (Davis 1984); one such example is their common belief that no amount of accomplishment will prompt male officers to accept them in the current cultural landscape (Belknap and Shelley 1993). Confirming 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 1991). Studies also conclude that policewomen regard themselves as equally effective and authoritarian when compared with male officers (Davis 1984; Kakar 2002). In 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 preferring 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 (2011) 26:4–10 5 performers. As a consequence, policewomen feel pressure to adopt masculine qualities to survive in male-dominated police environments (Berg and Budnick 1986). The Current 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 roll 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 backup, 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 between the ages of 29 and 44 (60%). Officers also tended to lack college education (51%) or have no current 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 married (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,"><.01), and="" married="" (f="5.58,"><.01) officers="" preferred="" male="" officers="" significantly="" more="" as="" backup.="" officers="" working="" in="" special="" operations="" units="" also="" preferred="" males="" as="" backup="" significantly="" more="" than="" officers="" without="" such="" assignments="" (t="2.10,"><.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 preferred males as backup more than officers without partners. prior to conducting multivariate analysis, a zero-order correlation matrix (see table 3) was constructed to examine all possible associations among variables. although mod- erate correlations 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 revealed four significant variables 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="" preferred="" males="" as="" backup="" more="" than="" officers="" without="" partners.="" prior="" to="" conducting="" multivariate="" analysis,="" a="" zero-order="" correlation="" matrix="" (see="" table="" 3)="" was="" constructed="" to="" examine="" all="" possible="" associations="" among="" variables.="" although="" mod-="" erate="" correlations="" 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="" revealed="" four="" significant="">