What reasons are there for inequalities in sentencing and arguments could be brought forward to justify the inequalities?
1800 WORDS
For the purposes of this dissertation an interview via email was conducted with local MSP Christine Grahame on the 10th of October 2015. The questions she was asked and her responses:
Do you believe within the criminal justice system a person’s gender plays a role in the severity of their punishment? Please explain your answer.
This is an issue I could prove and disprove. Women commit less crime on the whole. A first time offender, dependent on their crime, should receive a lesser sentence than someone who repeatedly reoffends. The crime in which a woman commits tends to be much less serious or severe as the crimes men commit –this will explain the difference in sentencing. However, as chair of the justice committee I’m completely aware woman are committing more similar crimes to men, now, more so than ever. I do believe if the crime is the same then the punishment should be, however a lot of factors come into play with this issue. The factor of chivalry, the success of the guilty party’s lawyer and the motives behind the crime. These issues all change a person’s punishment –it may be these issues more than gender.
If you believe this to be problem how do you suppose your government tackles it?
Gender equality within the criminal justice system. If the factor of chivalry is a dominating answer to this issue we need more females in
Most of the time, men try to justify female offenders just because they are women. One thing that should never be assumed is that everyone behaves like they do because of outside influences. Sometimes people are perfectly healthy (mentally, emotionally, and physically), but they simply make bad choices. In the end, chivalry is used to ‘protect’ those women; in other words, chivalry tends to be used to justify their actions by presenting them as victims. In most occasions, women use this stereotyping to their advantage because they know that if they do their sentencing will more likely be reduced.
Males have always made up a big percentage of the juvenile justice system because they have more aggression than females. Males are not afraid to commit delinquent act. They commit more serous crimes like vandalize property, get involved with arson acts, burglary, gangs, deal drugs, and commit motor vehicle theft. Males may not have a high rate of mental illness but they have a high rate of ADHD, conduct disorder, and other behavioral problems. With males committing more serious crimes, they are treated differently in the courtroom. Males per usual get stricter and longer sentences because it is normal for males to commit harsher crimes. Males should receive stricter sentences because it will deter a young male from committing any future
In the law a sentence is forms the final explicit act of judge rule process the sentence can generally involve a decree of imprisonment, a fine and or other punishments against a defendant convicted of a crime. We all have known this for years that this is that is how prison sentencing is done. Even though people should go away for the same crime, in reality prison sentencing is not fair because of people of different backgrounds, genders. and ethnicities face different sentences for the same crime. When it comes to society has high expectations for the criminal justice system. People expect a murderer, for example, to have the same sentence as another person. When a celebrity such as Bill Cosby gets put away for a rape he may go away for a shorter time than average Joe. The minimum sentencing for certain crimes, in this case, are longer than they should be. Why should people be sentenced to unlawful sentences and end up in jail until they are elderly and not a danger society?Unfair sentencing is a form of the unequal treatment often unexplained cause of why. We see a person go away for x amount of years and then someone else comes along and performs the same crime and gets less or longer than the other person.
In the multi-faceted dynamics of gender, the declaration of gender neutral is often in fact male oriented and dominated sexism. Gender roles are perhaps reinforced more strongly in law enforcement than any other of our societal systems. Consequently, the hegemonic masculinity (HM) of our patriarchal society has kept men and women in their place (Goodey, 1997), this male dominance that negatively impacts a female’s ability to advance in society appears to play a dual role of discrimination within the criminal justice system. Informal control of keeping women within their gender increases [the perception] of the likelihood of their being law abiding citizens, which may be why we see women being arrested for more incidents of prostitution and
There are many key issues impacting minorities and women in the criminal justice system . Sexism still exists in the United States. Sexism against women is shown in the media and indicates that sexism still pervades in our society. Another key issue is the overrepresentation and disparities among minorities in the criminal justice system. After the act of September 11, racial profiling and other acts of racial hate crimes suggests that racism occurs. Another key issue that indicates that racial disparities occur in the criminal justice system is the overrepresentation of minorities in the Juvenile Justice system.
The rate of men going to prison is increasing by 2.7%, however, the rate for women going to prison is increasing by 4.8% showing a greater disparity (Hatton and Fisher, 1304). Within that population, African American women are seven times more likely to spend time behind bars (Hatton and Fisher, 1305) with 3.8
The United States criminal justice system, an outwardly fair organization of integrity and justice, is a perfect example of a seemingly equal situation, which turns out to be anything but for women. The policies imposed in the criminal justice system affect men and women in extremely dissimilar manners. I plan to examine how gender intersects with the understanding of crime and the criminal justice system. Gender plays a significant role in understanding who commits what types of crimes, why they do so, who is most often victimized, and how the criminal justice system responds to these victims and offenders. In order to understand the current state of women and the way in which gender relates to crime and criminal justice, it is first
There have been many female serial killers throughout history. Two stand out in particular, Hannah Mary Tabbs and Lizzie Borden. Both women, brutally dismembered their victims before they killed them. Both women were tried for their murders and both went to jail for their crimes. Lack of forensic evidence helped both of these women in their cases. Even though it is pretty clear that these women were responsible for the murders. There was no proof that they actually committed their crimes. Judges often are more lenient on women. Why? Is it because they think that women need a lighter sentence? Could it be that the judges think about the roles of housewife or mother? Women, no doubt should be treated equally to men, especially when it comes to a sentencing. If the woman was man enough to do the crime, she is man enough to serve the time.
Recidivism rates are much higher in men than in women. Seventy-eight percent of men are rearrested for the same crime or a different one within five years of their first offense. The rates for women are much lower, ten percent lower as a matter of fact. This means that only sixty-eight percent of women are rearrested within five years. This is because women have less violent tendencies than men. Women are also better at expressing themselves than men. When women get angry they usually cry or find some
The reality is that there should be some differential treatment according to gender when it comes to the criminal justice
In viewing the information contained in the aforementioned articles, one can immediately understand the underlying reasons that women are committing more crimes than men. Through the mid-1990s, the arrest rates of both genders has increased steadily, with the male rate far exceeding that of females (Gross, 2009, pp. 84). However, in recent years, a shift has been seen, with the numbers of female offenders rising significantly, especially at the juvenile level, which significantly raises the likelihood of re-offending later in life. As such, an understanding of the differences between the sexes in terms of the reasoning behind their offenses has long been researched.
With regards to female sentences, it can be seen on the one hand that the criminal justice system deals with female crimes more leniently than with male criminality, as referred to as the chivalry theory (Pollok, 1983). As many female offences are usually petty wrongdoings, such as shoplifting which makes up for nearly a half of all indictable convictions (Ministry of Justice, 2014), due to their gender, it is most likely that females are to be cautioned over receiving a prison sentence. However, this was not the case for Maxine Carr in 2003. A whirlwind of media interest surrounding Carr’s involvement, with the murders of two young girls from Soham, is argued to be the definitive reason as to why Carr received a prison sentence of three years, all for perverting the course of justice.
All feminist theorists share a common focus on gender inequality; however feminism can be described as a set of perspectives rather than a single viewpoint (Strider, N.d.). Therefore, challenging gender biasness in the criminal justice system from the feminist perspective can take many forms given the fact that there a lot of sources of gender inequality in the system. For example, the early theories of criminal behavior largely ignored gender all together and as a result the field has become largely male dominated and males have also been shown to commit more crimes than women on average.
Gender is clearly one of the major factors in the causes of crime as men commit far more crimes than women. “90% of those found guilty are men.” – the poverty site
Feminist criminology was created out of the realization that criminology from its beginnings focused on the male criminal and the unlawful acts they committed. When in the fact it could be argued female crime was studied as far back as 1800's, female criminal activity, its causes and the effects in which it placed on public opinion were often disregarded. Over the past 20 years, there has been a significantly different approach in how females are being dealt with inside the criminal justice system. This has been the result of a more broadening law enforcement effort, stringent medication sentencing laws, and post-conviction limits to reentry that would greatly influence females.