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Women discrimination in the criminal justice system
Social factors causing gender inequality
Gender socialisation
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• Criminal incidents involving police often go unpunished as indicated by the SIU’s conviction rate of 6%. Thus, the officers in this instant are less accountable to their actions as their possibility of conviction is less likely. KEY CONSIDERATIONS • Historical, underrepresentation of women in policing and the oppression these women face has been continuous and is still an issue that exists today. • Thus, for the issue to be eradicated, responsibility for the solution needs to be shared between both male and female officers as well as lower and higher ranks individuals.
As she was a middle class mom, who was arrested and charged with her husband’s brother, she consciously did not mention her crime because this may divert the attention of readers and they may start focusing on other details that are rather unimportant. Another reason for not discussing her own circumstances may be that it may make the opinion of readers biased towards her. So whether she was innocent or not, but her purpose of writing was to focus on the lives of those women who are forgotten by society as well the policy makers. Erin George made a fair attempt to make higher officials think about improvements in correctional system for women and highlighted the areas which need many improvements and can be improved if higher authorities consider them
(Moulds, 1978) This leads to women getting less harsh punishments than their male counterparts. So, one could argue that this need to protect women is actually hurting them, and society in general. When they are given lighter sentences, women learn that they can get away with more, because of the leniency they are given in the system. However, taking a step back and looking at the way media treats women vs men tells a very different story.
Angela Davis demonstrates the ongoing violent abuse as she quotes a report on sexual maltreatment in women’s prisons, “We found that male correctional employees have vaginally, anally, and orally raped female prisoners and sexually assaulted and abused them” (Davis 78). However disturbing this blunt sexual contact that male officers take with the vulnerable prisoners may be, the officers adopt even more severe tactics to harass and abuse the women as they often utilize “mandatory pat-frisks or room searches to grope women 's breasts, buttocks, and vaginal areas...” (Davis 79). To add insult to injury, women are virtually incapable of escaping from their abuser(s). Prison employees upkeep their inappropriate behavior as it is believed they will “rarely be held accountable, administratively or criminally” (Davis 78).
Most sexual offenders are male, and nearly all known serial killers are also male. Aileen Wuornos is one of history’s highest-profile female serial murderers. She was imprisoned and sentenced to death for the murder of six men. During her childhood, Wuornos was exposed to abandonment by her biological parents, seclusion and physical and emotional abuse from her grandparents. The conspicuous lack of attention and communication from her caregivers along with the violent and toxic environment she endured forged a pattern for Aileen’s early-on criminal nature and violent behavior.
I. Gender Disparity Guidelines and Data In the context of gender disparity in criminal sentencing, some may think that having said that criminal courts are more lenient on women is just one’s opinion. In fact, a lot of researches and data suggest that there is a strong different in gender in the sentencing outcomes. Men are sentenced to longer prison terms than women. Men are 42% more likely to be sentenced to prison.
Feminist criminology has been around since the late 1960's and started out centered on speculations brought upon traditional theories of crime. Most traditional theories didn't necessarily ignore women in the criminal justice system yet they generalized crime and what causes a person to turn to crime so that women who commit crimes are overlooked by the generalization. Not only are the numbers skewed when you look at gender in criminal justice offenders but there is also a certain bias in the criminal justice systems workers. In the movie Vera Drake there is a clear example of this when the investigator and the officer come into the movie. While watching you can easily assume that the female officer is treated and thought of much differently
What is the role of women and crime? A majority of criminology theories do not heavily place women’s stance of crime and, as the emphasis of lawbreaking is focused mainly on men, Feminist theory of crime on the other hand attempts to justify crime and the part of women in society. In the book Criminology Goes to the Movies: Crime Theory and Popular Culture by Nicole Rafter explains crime using multiple alternatives of feminist theory to explain how women in society consider crime based on the societal role of women. in the movie Thelma and Louise, it portrays the struggle of women, as the men in their world overwhelming show their power keeping both the main characters Thelma and Louise under control exhibiting dominance over them. The conflict
Within the proceedings of the criminal justice system, women are punished in very damning ways which raises questions surrounding potential reforms regarding the criminal justice system and the degree to which it is actually broken. Upon entering the proceedings of the criminal justice system, through the lens of a woman, it is a flawed experience. This is because of the ‘gendered’ criminal justice system. This means that this system itself is influenced by gender roles and stereotypes which already shows disparity between male and female treatment because of the social norms and values that underpin this system. This often consists of women being subject to harsher and more frequent punishments for either similar or the very same crimes that their male counterparts have committed, also conjoining with the fact that they often experience a greater mental and physical anguish as a result.
The law specifies that an employer who fills out an application for employment as a criminal justice professional, they will not face discrimination in any shape or form, even if a man is applying to work at a women 's prison. That being said, there are a couple of problems that males could face while working at a women 's prison, one of which is the corruption where inmates may offer a sexual favors of a inmate, especially if the mate is single and currently looking for a partner. The inmate and officer, at that point, should be held responsible in the court of law and receive proper disciplinary actions. Unfortunately, women start feeling sad after a while and seek officers in a sexual manner to fulfill their desires without knowing
Women of color are the most targeted, prosecuted, and imprisoned women in the country and rapidly increasing their population within the prison systems. According to Nicholas Freudenberg, 11 out of every 1000 women will end up incarcerated in their lifetime, the average age being 35, while only five of them are white, 15 are Latinas, and 36 are black. These two groups alone make up 70 percent of women in prison, an astonishing rate compared to the low percentage comprise of within the entire female population in the country (1895). Most of their offenses are non-violent, but drug related, and often these women come from oppressive and violent backgrounds, where many of their struggles occurred directly within the home and from their own family.
Universally, domestic violence is referred to abusive behavior that is used by the intimate partner to control or power over the other intimate power. This can be in the forms of psychological, sexual, economic or emotional threats or actions that will influence your partner (Kindschi,2013).Domestic violence studies provides that psychopathology, which happens when in violent environment in child development can make the argument of domestic violence progress of being a generational legacy (Kindschi,2013).I chose to write about the Feminist Theory to explain why people commit domestic violence. It believes that the root causes of domestic violence is the outcome of living in a society that condones aggressive behavior by men, while women
“Although concerning sexual practices between adults and children have existed throughout history and across cultures, whether such behavior was conceived of and defined as ‘abuse’ has been dependent on the societal values of the particular period” (Denov, 2004). In today’s society, sex offending has become an increasingly, concerning phenomenon that individuals must become more aware of. Although generally regarded as a male phenomenon, over time, female perpetrators have become equally important as male perpetrators. Due to the lack of public awareness, female sexual predators go unreported. As a result, society must become more aware of female sexual perpetrators, as many incidents of females assaulting both young men and women have gone unreported for some time.
Feminist theory shows the ways of a gender structured life . This culture is also displayed in Crime and Punishment by Sonya and Dunya. Feminist criticism is a type of literary criticism that was well known in the 1970’s. Women would begin taking apart the classics and analyzing how the author portrayed women. The women in Crime and Punishment , especially Sonya and Dunya have a stronger state of mind and are able to handle the pressures and struggles of life better than the men in the novel.
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
