NCJ Number
125284
Journal
Sex Roles Volume: 20 Issue: 11/12 Dated: (June 1989) Pages: 623-638
Date Published
1989
Length
16 pages
Annotation
This study, based on a field experiment with 709 adolescent and 403 adult subjects, was conducted to determine whether different sanctions were applied to boys and girls who engaged in identical delinquent behavior.
Abstract
On the basis of current knowledge of sex stereotypes and their influence on judgments about women and men, two conflicting hypotheses about reactions to delinquent behavior by men and women, or by boys and girls, can be put forward. First, because crime is mainly masculine, responsibility for criminal behavior will be more strongly attributed to a boy's nature than to a girl's, thereby leading to more severe punishment for boys. Second, deviations from a stereotype lead to negative evaluations, and thus should lead to harsher punishment for girls. Results of two studies show that for boys, more severe punishment was preferred for aggressive behavior, and for girls, more punishment for noncriminal delinquent behavior. Also, the hypothesis that these differences in sanctioning corresponded with the degree of perceived masculinity of the delinquent behavior was confirmed. By showing that female criminals are sometimes punished more severely or given more corrective treatment than male criminals and are sometimes treated more leniently than male criminals depending on the degree to which their crimes correspond to the male stereotype, the chivalry effect is reconciled with the bias against women effect. 5 tables, 21 references. (Author abstract modified)