Constrained Agency Theory and Leadership: A New Perspective to Understand How Female Police Officers Overcome the Structural and Social Impediments to Promotion

• Author: Melissa S. Morabito,Tara O’Connor Shelley
• DOI: 10.1177/1557085118763104
• Published date: 01 July 2018
• Date: 01 July 2018
• Subject Matter: Articles

https://doi.org/10.1177/1557085118763104

Feminist Criminology

2018, Vol. 13(3) 287 –308

© The Author(s) 2018

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DOI: 10.1177/1557085118763104

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Article

Constrained Agency Theory

and Leadership: A New

Perspective to Understand

How Female Police Officers

Overcome the Structural

and Social Impediments to

Promotion

Melissa S. Morabito1 and Tara O’Connor Shelley2

Abstract

Substantial research has examined both the barriers preventing women from

entering and flourishing in policing and the coping mechanisms used to adapt to the

gendered institution of policing. However, there is scant research that examines the

mechanisms by which some women successfully navigate the police bureaucracy.

Drawing from in-depth, semi-structured interviews of 47 female officers from 30

law enforcement agencies across seven states, we apply Constrained Agency Theory

as a means to identify and understand how women capitalize on conditions and

opportunities to advance and/or gain promotion in gendered organizations. The

purpose of our research is to explore the efficacy of this theoretical framework

for the study of women in policing. Results suggest that Constrained Agency

Theory offers a promising way of understanding how female officers experience and

utilize opportunities and conditions for advancement across a variety of agencies,

generations, and organizational cultures.

Keywords

policing, women, women as professionals in the CJS, constrained agency, promotion,

gender, law enforcement

1University of Massachusetts Lowell, USA

2Tarleton State University, Stephenville, TX, USA

Corresponding Author:

Tara O’Connor Shelley, Institute for Criminal Justice Leadership and Public Policy, Institute on Violence

Against Women and Human Trafficking, School of Criminology, Criminal Justice and Strategic Studies,

Tarleton State University, 6777 Camp Bowie Blvd., Suite 455, Stephenville, TX 76402-0000, USA.

Email: Shelley@Tarleton.Edu

763104FCXXXX10.1177/1557085118763104Feminist CriminologyMorabito and Shelley

research-article2018

288 Feminist Criminology 13(3)

Scholars recognize that the percentage of women in police organizations is not repre-

sentative of the communities they serve (Morabito & Shelley, 2015). Decades of gen-

der discrimination have stymied the robust presence of women in leadership positions

in American policing. Moreover, historic patterns of exclusion have led to problems of

attrition whereby women in frontline positions either opt out of the promotion process

or leave policing altogether before they can advance to the upper echelons—a trend

referred to as a leaking pipeline (Bailyn, 2003).

Both the small numbers of women in policing and the smaller numbers of women

in leadership positions exemplify the leaking pipeline. In 1972, women comprised as

little as 2% of sworn officers, and current estimates indicate that women comprise

only 11.3% of all police officers (Hickman & Reeves, 2006). The employment data

further indicate that the hiring and retention of women has stalled (Lonsway et al.,

2002), which greatly reduces the likelihood of women advancing through the ranks. In

2001,1 women comprised 7.3% of top command positions in large agencies and only

3.8% in smaller agencies (Lonsway et al., 2002). Of central concern is the fact that

more than half of all police agencies that responded to the survey reported that no

women held high-level positions (Lonsway et al., 2002). These employment trends

suggest the presence of systemic social and institutional barriers that negatively affect

the retention and advancement of women in policing.

Although valuable scholarship explores how women cope in this male-dominated

field (Martin, 1979; Rabe-Hemp, 2008b), little is known about how women success-

fully2 navigate the gendered police hierarchy (e.g., Acker, 1990) to access the formal

(e.g., training) and informal opportunities (e.g., mentorship) that are necessary to earn

promotion, advancement, and status. Because these opportunities are often hidden or

outright denied to female officers, it is worthwhile to learn from those who were able

to access and capitalize on these opportunities even though the odds were stacked

against them. The dominant model for “how to promote” in policing is one whereby

an officer studies, works hard on patrol, gains notice from commanding or senior offi-

cers, and eventually advances to promotion due to hard work, individual efforts, and

social networking through unofficial channels.3 In reality, this narrative is highly gen-

dered whereby male officers benefit from the patriarchy of the traditional police orga-

nization. Male officers are inherently believed to be tough enough to do the hard work,

are considered to be good colleagues and partners, and have easy access to mentors

due to selective priming practices of senior male officers (Balkin, 1988; Franklin,

2007). These beliefs and practices constrain the opportunities of female officers who

then have to work harder to access these opportunities, often due to unfair assumptions

about limited capacity and/or diminished capacity (Shelley, Morabito, & Tobin-

Gurley, 2011). Thus, the existing narrative for advancement in policing does not ade-

quately explain the totality of the experiences of the female officers who seek to be

promoted.

Constrained Agency Theory (CAT), (Herndl & Licona, 2007) provides a potential

framework to increase our understanding of the experiences of female officers because

it can elucidate the conditions and opportunities necessary for advancement within

police agencies. Prior research indicates the theory is relevant for numerous workplaces