Doctoral Dissertation Research: Policing Women Across Social Class Lines

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This project examines how social class affects the experiences of women with police. Few studies have researched police behavior against women across social class lines. This project addresses three questions: (1) How does social class influence women’s experiences with police? (2) How prevalent is police misbehavior involving women? (3) How do women draw on resources to contend with police misbehavior involving themselves and their communities? This study will provide empirical evidence regarding the impact of social class on police misbehavior involving women, including the documentation of various forms of misbehavior. Findings from this project will assist stakeholders at multiple levels of government in creating gender-inclusive police procedural and police reform policies. This project uses a mixed-methodological design consisting of interviews, field observations, and surveys. In-depth interviews are conducted with women from different social class backgrounds about their interactions with police. Field observations include attendance at community events regarding women, police misbehavior, or police reform. Local surveys are utilized to examine the specific types of policing women report experiencing. Based on an analysis of these data, a national survey was developed to examine the prevalence and scope of police misbehavior involving women. Findings from the national survey will provide insights regarding criminological theories of policing, as well as theories regarding racial inequality and gender inequality in the operation of the criminal justice system.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.