A criminological study of women in the South African Police Service

Abstract

In order to gain a better understanding of the position of women in the field of policing, it was necessary to study the attitudes of the policewomen, which presently exist with regard to the role of the woman in the South African Police Service. Although some studies have been done on policewomen world-wide, none have been done in the rural areas of the Vaalrand and this is where the research took place. Only women formed part of this survey. Detailed questions were asked concerning their role in policing.

This was an empirical qualitative study. The research procedures as stipulated for a descriptive study were followed, as the main objective of the research was to describe the circumstances of women in the predominantly male environment of policing. A survey interview was drawn up, containing semi-structured in-depth questions regarding their recruitment, motivation for joining and job-related satisfaction and other issues including discrimination and domination by men. Qualitative methods were applied not only for data collection but also for data analysis. The coding consisted of conceptualising the raw data. Open coding was used in this qualitative research. The researcher read through all the collected data and then assigned initial codes to condense the mass of data collected.

The following main issues were found: that discrimination still exists in the SAPS, as well as resentment, a lack of recognition, misunderstanding and unfulfilled challenges which relate to conflict being experienced. These respondents have aspirations in their work and aspire to better positions in the SAPS, as there have been major contributions by women in the police. They have also had an impact on policing, as they have become major role players in the field where victims are concerned.

The presence of policewomen in the SAPS is an important asset to modern law enforcement and their present day role in policing should be explored and expanded. Qualified women could also be utilised in important staff service units such as planning and research, training, intelligence, inspection, public information, community relations, and as legal advisors instead of being utilised only in administrative work.

Recommendations are made for further research on aspects highlighted by the findings.