Abstract

Women in the career field of criminal justice are severely underrepresented and face obstacles every day in the form of discrimination and sexual harassment. This work looks to investigate the frequency of perceived gender discrimination and harassment against women employed in the criminal justice system. This research was completed through a survey administered to those working for a department of the criminal justice system in the Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana regions to gage the gender discrimination present. Local and state police departments, law offices, jails, prisons, and federal law enforcement agencies in ten counties in each of the three states received the survey. Hypotheses included incidences of discrimination and sexual harassment being perceived by many women in all departments, local law enforcement and corrections reporting a higher frequency of discrimination and harassment than the legal field and federal law enforcement, and less populated areas having more instances of discrimination and harassment than metropolitan counties. Overall, results yielded from the study were in partial support of the first hypothesis, fully supported the second, and were inapplicable to the third hypothesis.

Keywords: women in criminal justice, discrimination, sexual harassment, law enforcement, honors thesis

Semester/Year of Award

Spring 2022

Mentor

Kristie R. Blevins

Mentor Department Affiliation

Justice Studies

Access Options

Open Access Thesis

Document Type

Bachelor Thesis

Degree Name

Honors Scholars

Degree Level

Bachelor's

Department

Justice Studies

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