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Gender bias and its effect
Gender inequalities in criminal justice
Gender inequalities in criminal justice
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Introduction
In the society today, there are many indicators on the impact of disparities in women sentencing as compared to men. Though women are not highly associated with crime as compared to men, there are significant disparities that tend to show favoritism towards women. Research indicates that men get 63 % longer custodial sentences than women. This essay portrays the disparities and variables that contribute to the gaps in sentencing both genders which mostly points to the role of women in the society and mainly as primary caregivers to children.
There are disagreements on whether women get preferential treatment or are accorded benefits as compared to men. Consequently there is evidence that draw conclusions that there is a bias which
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Gender effects on sentencing are not direct but move through the use of differences in gender in offending behaviour and through individual histories of women that see a more prominent extent of women preceding the court with a group of the combination of attributes that makes authentic moderating circumstances. These components in turn prompt the inconsistencies that are found in the sentencing outcomes for both genders. These disparities are as a result of gender characteristics and differences associated with feminism and not as a result of being female.
There are some justifications based on the role of women as primary caregivers as indicated above. In addition, there are concerns that laws that are meant to protect women turn to oppress them. Child custody and maternity policies are some of the blessings to women offenders because they have to be put in consideration while issuing sentences. The topic of gender discrimination derives strongly held opinions that conclude that the justice system cannot contest sentencing disparities derived from race, class and gender backgrounds (Fender et al.,
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An example is where a man is involved in drug related crimes which are transacted in a home, the woman is less likely to report the man because he is the source of livelihood as well as support for her and her children and in other instances a whole extended family.
Reasons for the Disparities
The reasons that are identified to be behind the sentencing disparities and gender bias in offender sentencing to be the following:
• The crime levels between men and women vary significantly with men having high crime trends as contrasted with women. The seriousness of the violations also shifts with women involved in less serious crimes and men in serious crimes such as murder and violent robbery.
• Women involved in crimes such as theft (generally shoplifting) do so out of desperation to feed their children as contrasted with men who thieve to fuel their bad habits such as drugs or just to have an expensive item in order to look better in the general public or among peers.
• When sentencing females, magistrates are mindful of their role in the society and family. Custodial sentences are more likely to break the family unit which is a cause other social ills. The sentence given is likewise given to the children as a result of the woman’s role as the primary
These women have been increasingly going to jail for longer periods of time for minor crimes, the most frequent crimes that are being convicted are mostly related to drug and alcohol related crimes as well as theft (Mental Health Coordinating Council, 2010). A survey conducted in New South Wales of female inmates had concluded that; 80% are current smokers, 78% have used an illicit drug(s), 67% were unemployed in the six months prior to incarceration, and 66% of these women had also been in a violent/abusive relationship (Mental Health Coordinating Council, 2010). It has been argued that the risk factors for offenders are derived from that of genetic theories of crime and that they are an adequate guide for correctional supervision and treatment-planning decisions for females, however others argue that this approach is highly flawed and does not take into account gender differences (Rettinger & Andrews 2010). This is an issue in the CJS and its importance cannot be undervalued, the assessment for the risk and need has implications for the assignment of female offenders to a correction option that is the least restrictive, the assignment to an appropriate intervention dosage, appropriate targeting of criminogenic needs, and an understanding of female offending (Rettinger & Andrews 2010). Due to the increasingly large number
In 1981 women only made up around 4 percent of inmates in prison. The criminal justice world is very set on race. For example in the book Criminal Justice a brief introduction by Frank Schmalleger, it says that race is so marginalized that even though in the united states population there are only about 13 percent of African Americans, African Americans that are incarcerated account for somewhere around 50 percent. This shows that African American women are more likely to encounter incarceration has opposed to white women. This is also why women’s prisons are study less than men’s prisons. Because there are less violent crimes committed in a women’s prison and there are significantly less women inmates than men. .However, this could soon change in the years coming if the crime rate in women keeps rising like it
The criminal justice system has been in place the United States for centuries. The system has endured many changes throughout the ages. The need for a checks and balances system has been a priority for just as long. Federal sentencing guidelines were created to help create equal punishments among offenders. Judges are given the power of sentencing and they are not immune to opinions, bias, and feelings. These guidelines are set in place to allow the judge to keep their power but keep them within a control group of equality. Although there are a lot of pros to sentencing guidelines there are also a lot of cons. Research has shown that sentencing guidelines have allowed the power to shift from judges to prosecutors and led to sentencing disparity based on sex, race, and social class.
The criminal justice system main focus has always been shifted towards male offenders and their responses to male crimes. Women and girls offending lacked attention simply because most crimes were known to be committed by males and not females. Nevertheless, towards the end of the 20th century, female incarceration tremendously took a turn for the worst, leading to more study on women/girls, women and crime offending, crimes, and the criminal justice system in regard to feminist. This increase rate of women incarceration was led in regard to “war on drugs”. It was explained that women’s and girl’s crime and deviance is trigger often by biological factors than by social or economic forces (Daly & Chesney-Lind, 1988). In the late 1960s, Bertrand
Sentencing disparity refers to the differences in sentences that are passed down in the same instances. This can happen on a variety of fronts. It can occur with judges, in different states, states v. federal, different prosecutors, among different victims, etc. (Criminal – Sentencing…2017 p.4) A more specific definition from USLegal.com states that, “Sentence disparity refers to an inequality in criminal sentencing which is the result of unfair or unexplained causes, rather than a legitimate use of discretion in the application of the law.”. There are a variety of ways that sentencing disparity affects the justice system. There are three factors that disparity looms around; they are gender disparity, racial disparity, and age disparity. (4
In theory if this trend continues it is estimated that about 1 in 3 black males being born can be expected to spend time in prison and some point in his life. One in nine African American males between the ages of 25 and 29 are currently incarcerated. Although the rate of imprisonment for women is considerably lower than males African American women are incarc... ... middle of paper ... ... King, R., and Mauer, M., (2007).
Historically, criminology was significantly ‘gender-blind’ with men constituting the majority of criminal offenders, criminal justice practitioners and criminologists to understand ‘male crimes’ (Carraine, Cox, South, Fussey, Turton, Theil & Hobbs, 2012). Consequently, women’s criminality was a greatly neglected area and women were typically seen as non-criminal. Although when women did commit crimes they were medicalised and pathologised, and sent to mental institutions not prisons (Carraine et al., 2012). Although women today are treated differently to how they were in the past, women still do get treated differently in the criminal justice system. Drawing upon social control theory, this essay argues that nature and extent of discrimination
One of the greatest stressors of women in prison is being apart from their children, Women inmates are more likely than fathers who are in prison to worry about the child’s living arrangements while they are serving their time. Women are usually the primary caregivers to their children before they enter the system, making the strain of separation difficult. Being able to communicate with each other, the mother and child are able to learn how to cope while b...
Women are being incarcerated at much higher rates, and child well being and future outcomes for those children are a growing concern (Luke, 2002). There has been an 839 percent increase in incarceration of women since 1997, two
Classical and contemporary theory helps to explain gendered crime patterns. The feminist school of criminology argue criminology and criminal theory is very masculine, all studies into criminal behaviour, have been developed from male statistics and tested on males. Very little research is conducted into female criminality, this may be because women who commit crime are more likely to be seen as evil or mentally ill rather than criminal, this is because women are labe...
This is excellently shown in books written by Freda Adler and Rita Simon as they generally state that once female emancipation became a large part of society, it allowed for women to create many opportunities for themselves that made them just as likely to be subject to crime as men. It was also predicted that men and women would ultimately be treated equally within the criminal justice system based on this fact. However history shows that men and women commit different crimes allowing for them to receive different punishments in regards to those crimes. Often when a man commits theft he is seen as greedy; however, when a women commits theft she is seen as needy. This allows sentencing to follow many different variables based on the interpretation of the crime and the criminal. Females often get away with crime because they often victimize themselves to the criminal justice system. Often women are viewed as fragile or even child-like and are often protected by the criminal justice system and backed up by the community. For example, when a women claims rape. It can be theorized that the man is ultimately at fault often when there is no evidence to back it up. Women in some cases take advantage of this role and use it in a way to get out of criminal
Erin G., 2010, A Woman Doing Life: Notes from a Prison for Women: The Southwest Journal of Criminal Justice. New York: Oxford University Press, 2010. Pp. vi, 202, Vol. 8(2)175.
This research essay discusses racial disparities in the sentencing policies and process, which is one of the major factors contributing to the current overrepresentation of minorities in the judicial system, further threatening the African American and Latino communities. This is also evident from the fact that Blacks are almost 7 times more likely to be incarcerated than are Whites (Kartz, 2000). The argument presented in the essay is that how the laws that have been established for sentencing tend to target the people of color more and therefore their chances of ending up on prison are higher than the whites. The essay further goes on to talk about the judges and the prosecutors who due to different factors, tend to make their decisions
While all feminist theorists share a common focus on gender inequality, there are differing views on the source of the problem and the ultimate solution. Liberal Feminists Freda Adler and Rita argued that sociological factors, not physiology, best explain women’s criminality. There is a strong relationship between women’s emancipation and the increase in female crime rates. As women become more liberated and become more involved in full time jobs, they are more likely to engage in the types of crime that men commit. Thrasher, a leading exponent of the social disorganization perspective, felt that girls and women committed less crime because they were more closely supervised by boys and men. These arguments lacked any factual support.
Stuart Van Wormer, K. & Bartollas, C. (2011). Women and the criminal justice system, Third Edition. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.