Gender Disparities In The Criminal Justice System

Words: 1377
Pages: 6
Open Document
There are many indicators of the huge impact in disparities in sentencing women as compared to men and more so when it revolves around minorities ( race and class). Though there are lower crime rates among women as compared to men, there are significant disparities which tend to show favouritism to women. Research has shown that men get 63 per cent longer custodial sentences than women. In addition, it is twice more likely to have women get non custodial sentences even after conviction. However, as mentioned the disparities are more profound when issues of race and class are intertwined in the sentencing.
This research proposal is purposed at investigating the disparities and the variables that contribute to the gaps in sentencing men and women …show more content…
Consequently, there is evidence from studies that draw conclusions that there is gender bias in sentencing for both women and men. On the surface there appears to be a degree of preferential treatment or leniency in the criminal justice system. However, there are other factors that enshroud the whole aspect of biases that include class, race and the offence in question among others. There is need for the justice system to understand female offenders in order to be able to address it effectively and avoid the perpetual claims of bias which only signifies the …show more content…
In these countries, the topic of gender discrimination derives strongly held opinions that conclude that the justice system cannot contest sentencing disparities derived from race, class and gender backgrounds.
Among the judicial system players, there are several factors that lead to leniency in sentencing women as compared to men. It has been found that in an example of shoplifters, women who engage in shoplifting will highly likely be single mothers who do not have enough money to feed their children and mostly go for food stuffs. On the other hand, men engaging in shoplifting do so to support their drug habits or seemingly expensive lifestyles.
When critically analysed, the system derives its justification from the consistency but not the uniformity in sentencing. Key among them is the circumstances leading the offender in the crime. The magistrate therefore looks at the factors that differentiate men and women before reaching at any sentence. However, it is important to exercise fairness and where the magistrate feels weighed down by the accused person’s (women) primary responsibilities to involve child welfare services before issuing a
Show More

Related Documents: Gender Disparities In The Criminal Justice System

Final Course Project Essays

Criminal Justice System: Is there Disparity Among the Races Diane Bruzdewicz SOCS350 Cultural Diversity in the Professions December 13, 2013 US Criminal Justice System: Is there Disparity Among the Races Is there is a disparity in the United States criminal justice system among the races that seems to be unchanged over the years? In fact, the disparity appears to be increasing and becoming more pronounced even in today’s society. The difference in the numbers between blacks, Hispanics, and whites…

Words 2228 - Pages 9

Incarcerated Women In Prisons

incarcerated men, and that of women in the general population (Braithwaite “Health Disparities”). A disproportionate amount of these women have preexisting acute and chronic illness, substance abuse problems, and undetected health issues including reproductive health needs. In a study conducted by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, it was found that 27%…

Words 1647 - Pages 7

Victim Inequalities In The Criminal Justice System

American right that is promised by the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution. It goes even further, with the equal protection clause, but it has been shown repeatedly through the justice system that this is not the case. Not all have equal protection. Offenders that filter through the system face inequalities and disparities, and victims do too. Valentine et al., 2019) and Campbell et al., 2015) go to great lengths in their writings to explain and educate the injustices victims face throughout the legal…

Words 211 - Pages 1

Race Discrimination System Analysis

Discrimination System by Barbara Reskin a lot of thoughts ran through my mind as I think about how the race discrimination system shows up in our society Today. One section throughout the reading that I really enjoyed was the Race-Linked Disparities and Discrimination Within Subsystems. It went into a lot of issues that show what is sometimes uncomfortable to put into words, “thousands of scholarly studies have documented disparities that favor whites over blacks across every major sub system in American…

Words 1141 - Pages 5

Pros And Cons Of Mandatory Minimum Sentencing

Mandatory minimum sentencing has the most talked about lately in the criminal justice system. This sentencing has both positive and negative outlooks. Let’s start with the positive outlooks on how this sentencing is beneficial. Mandatory minimum sentencing address two of the world’s main acknowledged problem, sentencing disparity and unduly lenient sentences. Mandatory minimum sentencing guarantees that the sentencing fits the crime not the person. It is also said that, it prevents crime because…

Words 204 - Pages 1

Systemic Racism Paper

One imperfection of the US legal system is institutional or systemic racism. Systemic racism happens when an institution or government favors one ethnicity with certain privileges. This disproportionately affects minorities in the United States, especially affecting areas like housing, employment, education, and access to positions of power. We see this with people of color, who are more likely to be profiled and targeted by police and have more false arrests than their White counterparts. People…

Words 364 - Pages 2

Prejudice In Criminal Justice Research Paper

In our readings there has been explanations for stereotyping, prejudice and discrimination in the criminal justice system. This has been going on for years and continues today but at least society is aware and working towards a better or fair criminal justice system. Stereotypes are usually negative assumptions about a race. Many people who never associated themselves with a particular race take on these stereotypes as being true and look for confirmation bias to continue to think that way. The media…

Words 1152 - Pages 5

Literatuire review Essay

still make decisions which they base off of their prejudices every day. The following studies and analyses provide insight on minorities’ differential treatment in the judicial system causing severe sentencing disparities. Racial Disparity in Sentencing In the study Patterns of Death: An Analysis of Racial Disparities in Capital Sentencing and Homicide victimization, the authors Samuel Gross and Robert Mauro examine the effect race plays in Capital Sentencing. This study observes 8 states sentencing…

Words 4273 - Pages 18

StudentNotes Part1 IntroCJSystem JCaplan Essay

Introduction to Criminal Justice | Rutgers University School of Criminal Justice | Dr. Joel Caplan PART ONE Crime and the Criminal Justice System Course Introduction System: a regularly interacting or interdependent group of parts forming a unified whole, whose operations … are directed toward The Criminal Justice System: • … Players… • It is a “system” because • Parts … Due to the very nature of the criminal justice system being a “system”, it is multidisciplinary…

Words 2712 - Pages 11

Discrimination: Discrimination and Criminal Justice Field Essay

Situations in the Criminal Justice Field April Allen CJA 344 Blanche Cook November 11, 2013 Introduction The criminal justice field is complex. There are rules and regulations that must be adhered to. If they are not it can cost a person, officer or civilian, his or her life. Understanding the society in which they govern the law by is also very important. The officers must be aware of the different cultures and how they are divided. They must also know which cultures…

Words 1567 - Pages 7