Abstract
This article analyzes the history of the employment of women in the Israel Police and explores the status of women in the force in terms of their number, rank, and assignment. It indicates the social, personal and organizational factors that explain women’s entrance and integration into the police. It suggests that the simultaneous processes of progression and retrogression regarding women’s integration are operating in the work environment as well as in the society at large. The article also considers conservative and feminist interpretations of this state of affairs.
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Erella Shadmi has a Ph.D. in criminology from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, and an M.A. in industrial relations from the University of Minnesota. Formerly a senior police officer in the Israel Police, she is currently a lecturer in women’s studies and criminal justice at Beit Berl College and Ben Gurion University. Dr. Shadmi is the author of a book on the history of the Israel Police (forthcoming). Her main theoretical and research interests include feminist critique of the Israeli society and the development of and relations between feminist theory and practice in Israel.
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Shadmi, E. Female police officers in Israel: Patterns of integration and discrimination. Feminist Issues 13, 23–45 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02685733
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02685733