Written by Commander Shuli Meiri, Internal Audit Dept., Ministry of Public Security.

Presented here by permission of the managing editor of “Innovation Exchange”, a publication of the Ministry of Public Security.

The 15^th Knesset (Parliament), elected in May 1999, contains a mere fourteen women members out of a total of 120. Yet even this small fraction is the highest any of the fifteen Knessets has reached and demonstrates just how far Israeli women still have to go before they are properly represented at the centers of power.

Although women constitute 45% of Israel’s civilian labor-force, 75% of them work in what are considered classical “women’s jobs”. Only 25% work in “male” or non-gender-specific jobs. In addition, the average wage of men in the public service sector is 32% higher than that of women; one of the chief reasons is the segregation of women in lower-paid “women’s work” for a complex of objective and non-objective reasons. The higher the rank of the job, the fewer women are to be found in it.

In Israel’s police force, women make up 18% of the workforce but fill 70% of the clerical-administrative posts and only 12% of the posts performing specifically police work. The Israel Prison Service (I.P.S.) is no different. Women are 18.5% of the overall workforce but of the Security Division, which is the core of the prison system and enjoys better working conditions, they are only 6%. Of the I.P.S.’s twenty senior commanders, two are women and until recently there were no women at all at the three highest ranks.

What are the structural obstacles to the employment of women in the I.P.S.?

A conservative organizational culture;

1. The work of a prison guard is defined as “men’s work”’ always requiring physical strength and a physical presence and’ in emergency situations, the qualities of a combat-trained soldier;
2. A standard working pattern of 24 hours on (alternating 4-hour periods of work and rest) and 48 hours off;
3. Only officers with long seniority in the Security Division are promoted to senior command posts;
4. Women officers, it is claimed, have a higher absenteeism rate than men because of pregnancies and the care of sick children;
5. Educational and therapeutic work is not designated as part of the “security duties”.

In 1998 the I.P.S. decided on the experimental introduction of a small number of women guards in two men’s prisons. The women, all formerly guards or section commanders in women’s prisons, were employed as guards or guard lieutenants, a core “security” role involving daily personal contact with prisoners. The experiment was directed and supervised by the I.P.S. Personnel Dept. and concurrently evaluated by observation of the women ar work and interviews with all the parties concerned.

In-depth interviews with three of the women guards elicited the following findings:

1. In addition to the need to demonstrate authority and firmness there was a care-giving element to their work. They used the “female” qualities of listening, supportiveness and cooperativeness to cope with their work and saw no signs of weakness in this.
2. They found they exercised a moderating influence on the prisoners.
3. Work in a men’s prison was more prestigious and satisfying and generated higher motivation.
4. They measured their success on the job by their own personal criteria and coped with difficulties by the devices described in the professional literature – by finding meaning in everything, by enjoying the challenge of problem-solving, by drawing strength from a commitment to success, by building up a sense of control.
5. The senior officers and other guards (all men) gave them total backing.
6. They intended to continue in their new roles if permitted. The shift-work caused no problems in their domestic or social life.

The evaluators found no evidence that the women had been put in the role of what the literature terms the “symbolic woman”. They did not feel exposed to constant critical judgement, nor had any sense of being alien or not belonging. One hint of sexual harassment by a male colleague was dealt with immediately and the problem never recurred. They did not feel that the prisoners saw them as sex objects. They were not afraid of being attacked.

Male fellow guards interviewed stated that the new recruits’ were highly motivated, worked better than other male guards, invested a great deal in their work, and had a positive effect on the general working atmosphere. None had any problem obeying their orders.

The women’s section commanders expressed general satisfaction with their work. They showed high ability and a good work ethic and could cope without support with all the elements of the job. The special pre-job training the women had received from the Personnel Department’s Planning Division, had enabled them to overcome some slight initial resistance and their working relations with male guards were now problem-free.

The wardens of the two prisons in the experiment and senior headquarters managers were most concerned with the needs of the system as a whole and judged women’s work by this criterion alone. Some of them rejected the idea that, with respect to qualifications for the work and the system’s needs, women were on an equal footing with men. The ruling approach to work in Israel, they said, was that officially designated working hours were always exceeded and this was particularly hard on women: “They have problems staying on the job after their shift has officially finished”. Most of the interviewees were sure that women suffered from physical limitations too and that there were differences on the job between single women, married women, and mothers of children. Most agreed that the presence of women helped prevent trouble: they had a sharper sense for impending problems and demonstrated greater responsibility and professionalism than male guards. A few of the interviewees believed that the self-assurance that male guards felt compelled to constantly display, sometimes spoiled their judgement. The general opinion was that women had better and more useful communication with the prisoners on all matters.

Prisoner’s attitudes.

Eighty percent of the 77 prisoners who answered a closed written questionnaire said that the presence of women guards caused none or few problems and 93% were in favor of extending the experiment. Not a single one complained of any infringement of male privacy and the consensus verdict on the women guards was that they were “tough but okay”.

The claim that women guards were far more often absent from work than men was confirmed in fact only in the case of the all-female prison, Neve Tirtsah, where the average sick-leave rate was 1.26 days per month compared to the overall I.P.S. rate of 0.44 days per month. Interviews with Neve Tirtsah staff blamed this relatively high rate chiefly on the pattern of work, where guards stay on the job continuously until the prisoners are locked into their cells at night (compared to the “4 hours on- 4 hours off” pattern in men’s prisons). When the absentee list for a prison employing both male and female guards were examined, it was found that during the month the lists related to eight female guards who had received sick leave, compared to twenty-eight male guards.

The evaluators observed women guards carry out a head-count of prisoners, admit new prisoners, and handle prisoner’s requests and complaints with no more fuss or difficulty than any other guard. They took part in escort and security details for prisoners outside prison premises and, in general, performed every task that a guard or guard lieutenant is expected to perform, except for taking urine tests and carrying out body searches. Their “feminine” qualities proved an advantage rather than the opposite.

Observation and interview confirmed the conclusions found in the professional literature that women guards exercise a moderating and calming influe. Prisonhave no problem obeying their instructions because they know they have the authority of the system behind them. “Feminine” qualities are, in fact, well suited to the latest management methods for work in a changing, uncertain environment. All the women exercised firm and unquestioned authority. They enjoyed the respect of prisoners and male guards alike.

The success of the experiment led evaluators to the conclusion that women can function effectively and successfully un all types of I.P.S. work and at all ranks. For this to happen a number of alterations are needed:

1. A program for moving women into command and management positions.
2. The I.P.S. organizational code must incorporate equality of opportunity for men and women, without discrimination on the basis of refuted claims of female inferiorities.
3. I.P.S. training courses for male officers of all ranks must include training in how to incorporate women into “male” roles.
4. A reappraisal of the I.P.S. organizational structure must be made, in order to remove all obstacles at all levels, to employing women.

The I.P.S. has decided, after the success of this experiment, to employ some six or so women guards and guard lieutenants in every men’s prison. Two women have recently been appointed warden of a men’s prison; twelve out of the I.P.S.’s seventy section commanders are women; several case-work officers are women. At least one woman is a deputy warden, an intelligence officer, the I.P.S. spokesperson, and manager of the I.P.S. Construction Department. All these posts were, until not so long ago, considered suitable for men only. Recently, a woman Commissioner of the I.P.S. was appointed by the Minister.

This last year the I.P.S. instituted in-service workshops for all its female staff in command and management positions, at which invited experts taught organizational, supervisory, and leadership skills. The Service’s Officer Evaluation Center, designed to identify and evaluate candidates for promotion to senior positions, applies the same standards and requirements to male and female candidates.

Not withstanding the clear trend towards a much more extensive employment of women in the Service, there is still a long way to go before women are fully represented at the top of the organizational pyramid and in policy-making bodies. The Service should act firmly to reinforce this trend, for the world is changing and it cannot afford to misuse a huge proportion of its human capital.