A descriptive historical content analysis of the disciplinary actions taken by the Criminal Justice Standards and Training Commission against policemen in Florida who were found guilty of sexual harassment between January 1, 1993 and December 31, 1997.

摘要

This is an exploratory study to describe and analyze the nature and severity of the corrective and disciplinary actions taken by the Criminal Justice Standards and Training Commission (CJSTC) between January 1, 1993, and December 31, 1997, against policemen charged with sexual harassment in cases involving policewomen victims. Content analysis served as the principal method used to analyze data extracted from thirty-three (33) officer discipline cases. The Officer Discipline Data Collection Instrument, incorporating a modified version of the Form SEQ-W, was used to obtain information on victim and offender demographics, the nature of the complaints, and the types and severity of discipline administered by the Commission. Supplemental data was obtained by using the CJSTC Comprehensive Questionnaire to guide interviews and discussions with a snowball sample of individuals who were knowledgeable about the Commission's disciplinary decisionmaking processes.; This study has important implications for the Commission and for law enforcement officials responsible for developing sexual harassment policies and administering discipline. Data analysis confirmed the findings of prior studies which concluded that sexual harassment occurs across all age, race, ethnic, and professional categories. The data also revealed that age, race and ethnicity, education level, and rank are not predictive factors that can be used to determine which policemen will commit acts of sexual harassment.; The Commission's current policy on disciplining officers charged with sexual harassment limits its jurisdiction to cases involving actual physical contact and misuse of official position. Data analysis suggests that this restriction effectively excludes most of the sexual harassment behavior, including hostile environment sexual harassment, to which women are subjected in the law enforcement workplace. Although the victims in this study reported that they experienced all forms of sexual harassment, the behavior complained of most frequently was gender harassment in the form of crude or offensive sexual remarks.; The administrative actions taken by the Commission against officers charged with sexual harassment was limited. The most common types of punitive discipline imposed by the Commission included probation, remedial training, and suspension. Although some officers received multiple forms of punitive discipline, none were required to attend counseling.