NCJ Number
99357
Journal
Law and Human Behavior Volume: 9 Issue: 3 Dated: (September 1985) Pages: 287-303
Date Published
1985
Length
17 pages
Annotation
Using data from a sample of 2,284 convicted felons, this Minnesota study examined both the additive and interactive effect of the probation officer's gender on the officer's sentencing recommendations for male and female offenders.
Abstract
The randomly selected cases -- involving theft, forgery, and drug offenses in Hennepin County, Minn. -- were disposed between January 1965 and December 1980. The primary data source was the probation file. The dependent variable was the probation officers' sentencing recommendations. The two sets of independent variables were offense and case processing variables (severity, release status, pending cases, and probation officer sex) and offender variables (sex, race, age, employment status, number of children in home, prior arrests, and prior probation times). Multiple regression was used to analyze the data, and nominal level variables were treated as dummy variables. The study found that women probation officers were just as likely as male probation officers to be more lenient in sentencing recommendations for women compared with recommendations for men. Sentencing recommendation patterns were not significantly different between 1965 and 1980, suggesting that the women's movement did not influence sexual discrimination in sentencing. Forty-nine references are listed.