Explaining citizen support for women police in India

ABSTRACT

In this paper, we examine citizen support for female police officers in India. More specifically, we examined the relationship of citizens’ perceptions of police effectiveness, corruption, general satisfaction with police, and contact experiences with their support for women police in India, a society that is patriarchal with strong gender role stereotypes. Findings suggest that older residents living in urban areas are supportive of more women police, but contact has no bearing on the dependent variable. Perceived corruption of the police, in general, was a strong predictor for citizen support for female police officers. However, perceived police effectiveness and satisfaction is negatively related to support for women police. It is argued that apart from expanding the strength of female police officers in all female police stations, they should also be deployed more widely in patrol functions to enhance the visibility and value of women in crime and security responsibilities.

KEYWORDS:

• Female Police
• indian Police
• police Effectiveness
• police Corruption

Compliance with Ethical Standards

The survey was approved by an Institutional Review Board at Michigan State University.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Ethical approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Informed consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Additional information

Funding

Partial funding for this project came from The Center for Advanced Study of International Development (CASID), Michigan State University.

Notes on contributors

Mahesh K. Nalla

Mahesh K. Nalla is a professor in the School of Criminal Justice at Michigan State University. His primary research interests are focused in emerging and transitional democracies in the areas Security Governance, legitimacy, and social regulation (public & private policing). His research appeared in leading journals that include the Journal of Research and Crime and Delinquency, Annals of the American Political and Social Science, Justice Quarterly, and European Journal of Criminology, among others. Professor Nalla serves as Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Comparative and Applied Criminal Justice (IJCACJ).

Yongjae Nam

Yongjae Nam is a doctoral student in the School of Criminal Justice, Michigan State University. He holds an MS in Criminal Justice from Michigan State University and a BA in Police Administration from Dongguk University. Mr. Nam’s research focuses on public perception towards the police, police legitimacy, and procedural justice.