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Police Matron Movement: Paving the Way for Policewomen

NCJ Number
123784
Journal
Police Studies Volume: 12 Issue: 3 Dated: (Fall 1989) Pages: 115-124
Author(s)
D M Schultz
Date Published
1989
Length
10 pages
Annotation
Although the police matron movement has received even less attention from historians and police than the policewomen's movement, analysis of the two movements indicates that it prefigured the policewomen's movement in many important ways.
Abstract
It, too, was based on the view that women were necessary for the proper handling of female and juvenile offenders. Also, as historian Samuel Walker notes, impetus for both movements came from private women's groups, not from police departments or governmental officials. Private groups provided the initial personnel (usually as volunteer visitors) and, in some cases, paid their salaries until municipalities could be convinced of the necessity of creating and maintaining these positions. 54 notes, 68 references. (Publisher abstract)