Police force or police service? Gender and emotional labor

Police work involves substantial emotional labor by officers, who must cont rol their own emotional displays and those of citizens, who often are encou ntered at their worst-injured, upset, or angry. Although policing often is viewed as masculine work that focuses on lighting crime, it also requires t hat officers maintain order and provide diverse services, which officers te nd to disdain as feminine activities. This article explores the varieties o f emotional labor, the rules regulating emotional displays in policing, and the role of gender in shaping these occupational and organizational norms. It identifies variations in the norms regulating emotional labor across po licing assignments, interactional situations, and the gender of both the of ficers and the citizens in an encounter. It also reviews coping mechanisms for regulating emotions-including socialization, organizational rituals, hu mor, and off-duty social activities-and the dilemmas that norms related to emotional labor pose for women officers.