Gender, Indigeneity, and the Criminal Courts: A Narrative Exploration of Women's Sentencing in Western Australia

• NCJ Number: 242927
• Journal: Women & Criminal Justice Volume: 23 Issue: 1 Dated: January - March 2013 Pages: 19-42
• Author(s): Samantha Jeffries; Christine E. W. Bond
• Date Published: January 2013
• Length: 24 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study extends C. Bond and S. Jeffries's (2010) past statistical sentencing research on Indigeneity and gender by undertaking a narrative exploration of sentencing transcripts.

Abstract

Using the focal concerns perspective, this study extends C. Bond and S. Jeffries's (2010) past statistical sentencing research on Indigeneity and gender by undertaking a narrative exploration of sentencing transcripts. In contrast to statistical studies that have explored intersections between gender and race-ethnicity in North America, this Australia-based research suggests that gender does not bypass Indigenous (minority) female defendants. Rather, differences in the sentencing stories by Indigenous status appeared to reduce assessments of blameworthiness and risk for Indigenous female defendants. Furthermore, Indigenous women were viewed differently from non-Indigenous females in terms of social cost (i.e., practical constraints and consequences). These findings suggest a possible explanation for sentencing leniency being extended to Indigenous female defendants. Abstract published by arrangement with Taylor and Francis.