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Gender stereotyping in criminal justice
Gender inequality in criminal justice
Gender inequality in criminal justice
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Women today make up about 17% of all offenders in the United States. There have been issues that regard meeting the needs of women when it comes to the criminal justice system. In the areas of arrests, sentencing decisions, and incarceration, women are being treated differently. Due to the overwhelming amount of male offenders, women’s needs are often overshadowed and the criminal justice system does not know how to handle the rise of female crime rates. When it comes to policies and laws, they are based off the male offender, so when a female commits the same crimes, they are often being over classified and receive harsh penalties. Women’s drive to commit crime is mostly driven by economic issues, whether it is poverty or alcohol and drug
These women have been increasingly going to jail for longer periods of time for minor crimes, the most frequent crimes that are being convicted are mostly related to drug and alcohol related crimes as well as theft (Mental Health Coordinating Council, 2010). A survey conducted in New South Wales of female inmates had concluded that; 80% are current smokers, 78% have used an illicit drug(s), 67% were unemployed in the six months prior to incarceration, and 66% of these women had also been in a violent/abusive relationship (Mental Health Coordinating Council, 2010). It has been argued that the risk factors for offenders are derived from that of genetic theories of crime and that they are an adequate guide for correctional supervision and treatment-planning decisions for females, however others argue that this approach is highly flawed and does not take into account gender differences (Rettinger & Andrews 2010). This is an issue in the CJS and its importance cannot be undervalued, the assessment for the risk and need has implications for the assignment of female offenders to a correction option that is the least restrictive, the assignment to an appropriate intervention dosage, appropriate targeting of criminogenic needs, and an understanding of female offending (Rettinger & Andrews 2010). Due to the increasingly large number
In 1981 women only made up around 4 percent of inmates in prison. The criminal justice world is very set on race. For example in the book Criminal Justice a brief introduction by Frank Schmalleger, it says that race is so marginalized that even though in the united states population there are only about 13 percent of African Americans, African Americans that are incarcerated account for somewhere around 50 percent. This shows that African American women are more likely to encounter incarceration has opposed to white women. This is also why women’s prisons are study less than men’s prisons. Because there are less violent crimes committed in a women’s prison and there are significantly less women inmates than men. .However, this could soon change in the years coming if the crime rate in women keeps rising like it
Hessick, C. (2010). Race and Gender as Explicit Sentencing Factors. Journal Of Gender, Race &
Statistically, the male population in jail/prisons are much higher than the female population. This is not necessarily because females are less inclined to criminal tendencies than males, but more because society views them more as victims and/or innocent. (Men Sentenced To Long…2012 p.2) From the time women are small until they grow up, they are told that they are fragile, kind, they should not curse, or fight, etc. There are countless sexist roles and behaviors that are pushed on women, and so society views women along side the typical view. In a statistical graph by the of Bureau of Justice Statistics states that the number of people incarcerated per 100,000 people of that sex is as follows: 126 women and 1,352 males. (Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2010. p.1) That is an incredible difference in the number of incarcerated individuals per jail/prison. Societal view with women is becoming more level headed today, and sentencing disparity on the gender platform is coming to a more equal level; however, it is still a long way away from being equal. According to an article in the Huffington
Embry, R., & Lyons, P. M. (2012). Sex-based sentencing: Sentencing discrepancies between male and female sex offenders. Feminist Criminology, 7(2), 146-162.
For every crime, the offense and charge are different. In addition, not every crime is committed by the same gender. Crimes such as larceny, fraud, forgery, and prostitution (Chesney-Lind, 1986) tend to be committed more often by women; whereas, assault, murder, trafficking, etc tend to be committed by men. When it comes to the stereotyping of women in the criminal justice system, one could say that women present themselves as victims to reach a lesser sentence or that by presenting themselves as victims they will have a longer sentence that will protect them. Statistical evidence has shown that women do in fact receive lesser and longer sentences when they are convicted of the similar crimes as men; such as drug related crimes (Coughenour, 1995).
Most of the crimes committed by women were not related to improved labor market opportunities. Feminist research has shown many female offenders often are single parents and some maybe pregnant resulting in more females receiving lesser sentences rather than imprisonment, as the courts have the added responsibility of children to consider. As far as the c...
First, Chesney-Lind points out that research on female offenders in general is lacking, and that victimization plays a key role in the offending of women. "…Responses must address a world that has been unfair to women and especially those of color and pover...
The United States criminal justice system is an ever-changing system that is based on the opinions and ideas of the public. Many of the policies today were established in direct response to polarizing events and generational shifts in ideology. In order to maintain public safety and punish those who break these laws, law enforcement officers arrest offenders and a judge or a group of the law offender’s peers judge their innocence. If found guilty, these individuals are sentenced for a predetermined amount of time in prison and are eventually, evaluated for early release through probation. While on probation, the individual is reintegrated into their community, with restrict limitations that are established for safety. In theory, this system
The criminal justice system is composed of three parts – Police, Courts and Corrections – and all three work together to protect an individual’s rights and the rights of society to live without fear of being a victim of crime. According to merriam-webster.com, crime is defined as “an act that is forbidden or omission of a duty that is commanded by public law and that makes the offender liable to punishment by that law.” When all the three parts work together, it makes the criminal justice system function like a well tuned machine.
In this essay, I will investigate and describe a cultural group in my desired field. I will provide details from an interview with a professional person in my field of interest. Gender inequality is still a big issue in law enforcement. Women make up a small percentage in the world of law enforcement. According to the FBI’s Uniform Crime Report, there are only thirteen percent of women working in law enforcement in the United States and only five percent are African American (Criminal Justice School Info, 2014). The New York City Police Department hired the first female officers in 1845 and they were called “matrons” (Felperin, 2004). Over twenty years of extensive research has shown that female officers possess a unique style of policing in which they rely more on their interpersonal skills rather than physical strength or force to talk a person down from a violent situation (National Center for Women & Policing, 2013).
Women in Law Enforcement There are many stereotypes that women in the law enforcement field have to face. In order to recruit more women into policing, law enforcement agencies should attempt to overcome the idea that policing is a "male-oriented profession". This paper will cover parts of the history of women police officers, some views and stereotypes of the female officer, job related issues, life outside of the workforce and job satisfaction. It used to be that only nursing, teaching, and clerical positions were open to women. A small number of women worked as correctional officers and their assignments were usually limited to peripheral tasks.
A crime is an act that breaks a law that relates to how to behave in society. The harm caused by the act is seen to be against society as a whole, not just a specific person. More specifically, a crime is an act (something you do) or omission (something you don’t do) that is against the law and punishable upon conviction. Crime includes criminal code offences against a person or property, drug offences, and so much more. Why do people commit crimes? Why do women commit crimes? Is a woman capable of committing a crime, and what causes her to do so? Many people believe that women would never commit crimes because of the common stereotypes of them being trustworthy, nurturing, and compassionate people. They place these stereotypes on women because they believe that women are not capable of committing crimes to the point where they would have to face prison. Although these stereotypes are assured to be true, these people do not realize that women crime rates have been increasing tremendously overtime, especially in the 1980's. Women/female offenders have had the fastest growing segment over the last 40 years, but are still much smaller than men. It has been proven that out of 1.5 million prisoners incarcerated in the nation, only 54 out of 100,000 of those people are women. According to Judge Thomas Mostowy, 14% of women crimes are violent, 10% are murders, 60% are against family members, and 20% of the violent female offenders are juveniles who have committed other crimes but notably majority of them are non-violent.
Statistics show that female crimes have increased in the last thirty years. There are many different reasons why women crimes have increased. Biological, psychological, and sociological factors all contribute to why female crime occurs. Everyday in our society we see more female crimes trending on the news, on the internet, and even on Netflix. “Orange Is The new Black” is a television series that revolves around Piper Chapman, a woman in her thirties living in New York City, who is sentenced to 15 months in Litchfield Penitentiary, a minimum-security women federal prison in upstate New York. This chapter illustrates what crimes are usually committed by women and why they commit them.