NCJ Number
87723
Date Published
1981
Length
16 pages
Annotation
There are substantial differences in the extent and nature of offenses committed by women compared to men, but this study shows few major differences in the treatment of male and female offenders by the criminal justice system.
Abstract
This study is based on a sample of 1,663 Colorado offenders against whom felony charges were filed in 1976. A total of 771 cases were eventually used in the analysis (n=92 females and 679 males). Demographic, offense, arrest, court processing, and dispositional information was obtained from court, prosecution, and police files. Following a preliminary descriptive analysis of the data, discriminant analyses were performed on selected subsets of the data. In all analyses, the sex of the subject was used as a nominal level dependent variable. Data indicate that women continue to comprise a small proportion of the overall crime picture and that generally the seriousness of their offenses is less when compared to males. Further, male perpetrated offenses were more likely to involve the use of a weapon and result in victim injury. Females were more likely than males to have been under the influence of drugs when the crime was committed, while males were more often under the influence of alcohol. Consideration of criminal justice processing variables indicates that women received significantly different treatment in only two areas. Men were more likely to be arrested rather than summoned to court and were more likely to be held in pretrial detention. Further, women were more likely to receive a probation or deferred sentence; however, the latter association is not strong when considering only those offenses for which women are traditionally prosecuted. Tabular data and 15 references are provided. (Author summary modified)