Sex Differences in the Processing of Criminal Defendants (From Women and Crime, P 104-124, 1981, Allison Morris and Loraine Gelsthorpe, ed. See NCJ-84707)

• NCJ Number: 84713
• Author(s): I Nagel
• Date Published: 1981
• Length: 19 pages
• Sale Source: University of Cambridge
• Language: English
• Country: United Kingdom

Annotation

All persons arraigned in the State criminal court or supreme court in a major American city between December 1974 and March 1975 were studied to determine the relationship between the defendant's sex and the outcome of the adjudication process.

Abstract

The sample included 2,627 males and 338 females who were prosecuted for assault, homicide, burglary, arson, larceny, robbery, theft, forgery, mischief, obstruction of justice, narcotics, and possession of a dangerous weapon. Defendants prosecuted for such sex-linked crimes as prostitution or rape were excluded, as were those whose cases were disposed of at the first court presentation. Court data were recorded daily for each defendant to determine the factor affecting results at three decisionmaking points: the decision on whether the case would be fully prosecuted, the sentencing decision, and the time imprisoned either before or after adjudication. The variables studied included social attributes such as age and race, the type of offense, the defendant's prior criminal record, other cases pending for the defendant, and the defendant's release status. Females and males were equally likely to have their cases dismissed. Females were somewhat more likely than males to avoid a probation or prison sentence after an adjudication of guilt. Less than half of the females and three-quarters of the males classified as receiving harsh sentences were actually sentenced to prison. Females charged with a crime were significantly less likely than males similarly charged to spend any time behind bars. Findings indicated that sex stereotypes are used to differentiate responses to female defendants, and that those whose offenses are more consistent with sex role expectations experience less harsh outcomes than females whose offenses are less traditional. Interpretations of these findings with respect to two theories regarding the differential treatment of female offenders, tables, 11 footnotes, and 31 references are provided.