NCJ Number
186690
Journal
Psychiatry, Psychology and Law Volume: 6 Issue: 1 Dated: 1999 Pages: 67-77
Date Published
1999
Length
11 pages
Annotation
This study explored the general consensus of opinion that female offenders in Australia are "medicalized" more often than male offenders and receive a relative excess of psychiatric intervention in the judicial response to their crimes.
Abstract
The study compared 29 female and 29 male homicide offenders sentenced in the Supreme Court of Victoria during the period 1985-91 to determine whether differential sentencing patterns based on gender were evident. Data pertained to the incidence of psychiatric reports included in the case files of offenders, the number of subsequent psychiatric dispositions, the number of offenders who received a custodial sentence, and those offenders who received a reduction of murder to a lesser charge. The findings indicate that differential sentencing did occur on the basis of gender, particularly in cases of domestic homicide. In such cases, female offenders were more often "medicalized" (psychiatric explanations for behavior) for their crimes than males, received the sympathy of the court, and had a considerably reduced probability of obtaining a custodial sentence. There was evidence that a different court response occurred in the sentencing of women who committed domestic homicide compared to those women who killed strangers, acquaintances, or friends. There was apparently no distinction between sentencing outcomes for male offenders in the two categories of homicide. This suggests the court's inclination to impose a stereotypical sentencing convention on male homicide defendants. The author advises that these results should be treated with caution due to both the size of the sample, its demographic characteristics, and the composition of its content. 3 tables and 20 references