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Previous research concerning women and policing in the US has explored numerous structural and cultural variables to explain how or why male and female police officers are the same or different, though the findings are equivocal in most areas ([7] Charles, 1982; [21] Hoffman and Hickey, 2005; [24] Kaker, 2002; [32] Koenig, 1978; [44] McElvain and Kposowa, 2008; [43] Milton, 1972; [45] Morash and Green, 1986; [51] Rabe-Hemp, 2008). Despite the considerable academic interest in women and law enforcement, studies examining women on SWAT teams are practically nonexistent. Female officers' low participation rate in SWAT is one possible reason. On the surface, it appears that as policing's last male-dominated stronghold SWAT represents an exclusive assignment that continues to eschew women. Accordingly, elite tactical teams' hyper-masculinity may be another reason why females are reluctant to participate ([28] Kraska, 2001). In fact, women officers express little interest in challenging the male hegemonic environment and remain reluctant to enter a policing area where proving competence means adopting the warrior mentality described by Kraska. Female officers also acknowledge the complex nature and interplay of gender and sex differences on SWAT teams that may necessitate taking on masculine qualities by being "one of the guys" ([12] Dodge et al. , 2010).
This study, which is exploratory in nature, represents the first quantitative attempt to compare male and female perceptions of women on SWAT teams fills an important gap in the literature. The research is designed to explore male and female police officers' attitudes on how, and if, women can gain acceptance as tactical team members. The study examines the perceived physical barriers, skills, and expectations that arise from the hyper-masculinity and male camaraderie identified by [28] Kraska (2001) that may or may not prevent women from joining SWAT.
Literature review
Masculinity and policing
Historically, women in law enforcement were considered to be obvious choices for working with children and female victims or suspects and were relegated almost solely to those positions ([18] Heidensohn, 1992; [22] Hutzel, 1929; [37] Martin and Jurik, 1996). By the second world war male and female officers occasionally performed comparable functions, but women were viewed as lacking the physical presence necessary to be competent street officers. Following the 1950s economic boom the number of female officers...