Exploration 2

Since my last interview I have noticed some new observation in the probation community. I was observing probation officers in the state office and noticed probation officers greatly differ in attitude. I did my observation in the lobby of the state probation office. In the lobby I overheard offenders talking about a specific officer. They were talking about how nice she was. I was not really surprised by this, all of the officers I have met and interviewed so far have been nothing but nice. So when she opened the door and called for her offender I was expecting smiles and a warm welcome. What I saw was not a smile and far from a warm welcome. She was stern and cold. The officer came across as somewhat masculine when calling for her offender. After this encounter I noticed it was not just this officer who came across with a certain attitude. All female officers who came to call for their offender had a stern attitude. I noticed the male officers were smiling and not as stern when calling for their offenders.
This new bit of information has really altered what I wanted to focus on in my community. Are females in my community more harsh on there offenders? Is this attitude apart of the job? Do they teach women in probation to be more masculine? Is it just a front, or are they really as mean as they seem? How does this attitude affect offenders? Does the attitude change from state to federal probation officers? How often are female officers taken less serious because of their softer side? Does this tougher side really help? Does it give the officer more confidence when dealing with offenders? Why do males not have a similar attitude when dealing with offenders? Do women really act more masculine in traditional male roles? I never though about the attitudes of probation officers. What really interests me about this community is that they are nothing like what I thought. They are different in almost every aspect of what I was imagining.
I really need to find out why they have a specific attitude, And does it change in different situations. Through interviews and observations I plan to gain the information I need. I also plan to do research on women of authority. I really wish I would have noticed the differences between men and woman probation officers earlier in this project.It would have been nice to have more time to find new information.