NCJ Number
175341
Journal
Journal of the Oklahoma Criminal Justice Research Consortium Volume: 3 (August 1996) Issue: Dated: Pages: 135-145
Date Published
1996
Length
11 pages
Annotation
This study attempts to determine the impact of judges' attitudes on the incarceration of women in Oklahoma.
Abstract
Literature indicates that judicial decision-making often reflects traditional social values and gender-based biases held by judges. Because Oklahoma led the nation in percent of female incarcerations in the 1980s and early 1990s, 234 of the 243 Oklahoma judges were asked to complete a questionnaire regarding attitudes toward feminism and toward female felons and criminality. The study did not reveal consistent or significant evidence of judicial bias against either feminist ideas or female criminality and, therefore, did not suggest a causal relationship between judicial attitudes and increased female incarceration. However, many judges withheld opinions relevant to the issue of how attitudes might affect sentencing decisions, exposing some limitations in all data collected by questionnaire and raising the problem of respondents who appeared to be saying one thing while doing quite the contrary. Tables, references