NCJ Number
104202
Journal
Justice Quarterly Volume: 3 Issue: 4 Dated: (December 1986) Pages: 517-529
Date Published
1986
Length
13 pages
Annotation
This study examines a representative sample of all felonies by persons processed by California criminal courts in 1980 (N=181,197). The analysis attempts to determine the effect of sex on outcome at each point from arrest to type of sentence.
Abstract
The data indicate that females were treated less favorably at the front end of the system but more favorably at conviction and sentencing. However, this conclusion applies to males and females without controls (e.g., without 'other things being equal') since the data base used, OBTS, does not provide data needed for controls. The male/female gap increased 165 percent from arrest to incarceration, with the sentencing stage largely accounting for this increase. However, it was found that the male/female gap across the system actually decreased (indicating less favorable treatment for women) for some offenses. There was no consistent pattern by offense to indicate that leniency for females was reserved for less serious or more 'feminine' offenses. Leniency was not consistently shown to female felons at every point across the criminal justice system and varied sharply by type of offense. The great increase in the male/female gap from arrest (7:1) to imprisonment (19:1) was largely due to leniency to females at sentencing. (Publisher abstract)