This study examined Taiwanese female and male police officers’ perceptions of handling domestic violence. Specifically, it assessed officers’ attitudes toward whether female officers, male officers, or a combination of female and male officers are more suited for handling cases of battered women, offenders, and domestic violence overall. Survey data were collected from 96 female and 156 male officers from two police departments in Taiwan. Frequency distributions showed that a combination of male and female officers were most preferred by officers for handling abused women, offenders, and domestic violence overall. Regression analysis found that female officers were significantly more likely than male officers to favor a combination of male and female officers over female officers alone for handling battered women. Female officers were found to be more likely than male officers to favor male over female officers and a combination of male and female officers for handling offenders. Police supervisors’ attitudes toward domestic violence also influenced officers’ attitudes toward who is more suited for handling offenders. Implications for future research and policy are discussed.
The past three decades have witnessed a substantial increase in research on women in policing. One of the major concerns is whether female officers display patterns of occupational attitudes and operational styles that distinguish them from their male counterparts. Gender differences have been detected in officers’ attitudes toward police role (e.g., Brooks et al., 1993 and Sun, 2003), community and residents (A. Worden, 1993), community policing (Schafer, 2002), job satisfaction (Winfree et al., 1997 and Worden, 1993), stress (Haarr and Morash, 1999, He et al., 2002 and He et al., 2005), and domestic violence (Belknap, 1996, Homant and Kennedy, 1985 and Stalans and Finn, 2000). Nevertheless, an even greater number of studies found weak or no gender differences along the same line of investigation (see Poteyeva & Sun, 2009, for a review). Gender differences in policing clearly remain an unsettled issue.
The main purpose of this current study was to examine whether Taiwanese female and male officers differ in their attitudes toward the disposition of domestic violence incidents. Specifically, this research assessed officers’ attitudes toward whether female officers, male officers, or a combination of both are best suited for handling battered women, offenders, and domestic violence overall. Two reasons underlie this current research. Although police responses to domestic violence in Taiwan have become the subject of an increasing number of studies over the past two decades, very few studies had empirically tested attitudinal differences toward domestic violence between male and female officers and the results were far from conclusive. Thus, the existence or absence of gender difference in officers’ attitudes toward domestic violence stays an open question. Furthermore, while studies conducted in the U.S. had investigated similar issues and found gender difference (see, for example, Belknap, 1996), whether findings from research on Western police forces can be applied to police officers in an Asian society is largely unknown. This current study was designed to shed light on these unanswered questions.
Using survey data collected from 252 police officers in two Taiwanese departments, the study was designed to answer two questions: (1) Do female officers differ from their male counterparts in attitudes toward who is best suited for handling domestic violence; and (2) Are officers’ attitudes toward who is best suited for handling domestic violence influenced by demographic and attitudinal variables? The findings of this study would contribute to a better understanding of policing in general and gender difference (or similarity) in attitudes toward domestic violence in particular in a Chinese society. The findings are also relevant for effective policing and good police-community relations.
