Akademik

n.

The tendency for some female rookie police officers to use excessive force to try to live up to preconceived "tough-guy" images.

But women are not immune from using excessive force. Ms. Fletcher identified a tendency by some rookie female officers to over-react, trying to live up to a tough image. "The cops call it the Dirty Harriet or Jane Wayne syndrome," she said.

—Timothy Egan, "New Faces, and New Roles, for the Police," The New York Times, April 25, 1991

Many police psychologists say that youth is a major contributing factor to violence on a police force — Los Angeles police psychologist Marty Reiser calls it the "John and Jane Wayne" syndrome — and most view it as a developmental phase.

—John J. Sullivan, Psychology Today, January 1, 1984 (approx)