Implications of police occupational culture in discriminatory experiences of senior women in police forces in England and Wales.

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An on-line survey (N=1776) was conducted with support staff to explore both the type and incidence of sexual harassment within the police working environment and the explanatory value of known antecedent factors. Uni-variate results indicated highest levels of sexual harassment were associated with what has been termed sexual 'banter', reported by three quarters of those surveyed, with a diminishing level of exposure to more serious types of harassment. Respondents reported adverse impacts whether sexual harassment experienced as a target or bystander. Multivariate analyses found statistically significant associations between perceived levels of organisational justice and confidence in the organisation's ability to deal with its occurrence and two types of sexual harassment. Having established a better understanding of salient risk factors the discussion identifies implications for organisational preventative interventions.

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Stranger violence can have a variety of different physical, psychological, social, and economic effects on the victim. In this article, we address one possible impact, namely, a heightened sense of uncertainty, risk, and fear of violent crime. Drawing on recent advances in the psychology of risk, we make three contributions. First, we differentiate in our analysis between primary experience of violence (where the individual in question has been attacked by a stranger in the local streets) and secondary experience of violence (where the individual knows somebody who has been attacked in the local streets by a stranger). Second, we assess whether risk perception (beliefs about the likelihood, impact, and controllability of future victimization) mediates the empirical links between primary and secondary experience of violence and worry about violent crime. Finally, we examine whether victimization experience seems to have a greater impact on risk perception and worry among people with a high need for cognitive closure (who are averse to uncertainty and desire order and structure in their lives). Our findings indicate a number of potentially important mediating and moderating effects regarding the impact of stranger violence on fear of violent crime. We conclude with some implications for research and policy.