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Essay Subject: Argues that penalties imposed on female convicts should be different than those of male defendants convicted of same crimes. Historical relationship of women to judicial system. Motivating forces.... More...

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Paper Abstract: Argues that penalties imposed on female convicts should be different than those of male defendants convicted of same crimes. Historical relationship of women to judicial system. Motivating forces. Paper Introduction: This paper argues that the penalties imposed on female defendants convicted of a crime should differ from those given to male defendants convicted of the same crimes. Women represent a very small proportion of the criminal population in America. Their gender has, historically, tended to give them different treatment from that of the men undergoing the same system of justice. Most often, women have been treated more leniently, although some aspects of automatic justice, particularly the mandatory sentencing system, have worked against them. This paper argues that women should be continue to be given different penalties from men because their relationship to the judicial system and to society as a whole is different from that of men, though not for all of the same reasons that have dictated past discrepancies. The three Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. 2). Overcrowding throughoutthe prison system in general has severely limited the space available forwomen's sections in mixed use facilities, and female inmates are thereforedispersed across the country, separated, sometimes permanently, from theirchildren. Kender, S. Most often, women have been treated more leniently,although some aspects of automatic justice, particularly the mandatorysentencing system, have worked against them. (1996). Simon, R. This paper argues that the penalties imposed on female defendantsconvicted of a crime should differ from those given to male defendantsconvicted of the same crimes. R. RobertBrennan, warden of the Rose M. In some cases,foster care may actually rescue the child of a crack addict or a habitualthief, but the wider societal cost in broken families and ruined lives issignificant. Forer, L. 18). Forer (1994) estimates thatfoster care for children during their mother's incarceration coststaxpayers an estimated $2 , per year each (p. (1994). Time, pp.2 -22. The legal system is working toward becoming gender-blind. S. By contrast, 85 percent of the mothers are primary caregivers(Church, 199 , fall, p. Good girls gone bad. (1999, November). Bureauof Justice Statistics, U. She was poor, black, unemployed, a single mother on welfare . Department of Justice.http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/gcorpop.html. J. The theory was that these laws would eliminate disparities in sentencing and be fair. Women usually become criminals for differentreasons than do men. 32). Lois G. Female violence. Founded onfrontier principles, crime in America has always been viewed as both adefinition of the national character and a barometer of national decay.The gunslingers and bank robbers of the Old West were both lawbreakers andicons of a new kind of country. New York: W. Two-thirds ofthe women who commit violent assaults and murder, for instance, "attack menthey know and, in many cases, have reason to fear" (Forer, 1994, p. 8 ). W. Forer (1994), a trial judge who has beenforced to implement such arbitrary strictures, is a severe critic ofmandatory sentences: The legislators who enacted guideline laws wanted all offenders who committed the same crime to receive the same sentence. (1987). 58). she was sentenced under a habitual statute offender statute mandating a prison term. (1999, August 17). 46). 2 ), either because of increasinglystringent drug laws (many of which have extremely severe penalties forpersonal use or possession of small amounts of certain "street drugs") oras the motivating factor in thefts, armed robberies, and prostitutioncases. When she finally does respond herself, her action, though clearly provoked, is often not immediate and, as a result, is regarded in law as vengeful and treated differently from characteristic explosive and immediate responses in men (p. Many do not allowchildren to visit at all, and those that do often force mothers to seetheir children only through plate glass windows. 81),and the murder rate is actually dropping significantly among women, whileit continues to rise in men. Unlike their male counterparts, who represent a broad demographic,women inmates share a number of characteristics (Durham, 1996, pp. The most significant rise in crime among women are incrimes against property (in which the primary motivation is money) and inassaults against boyfriends and spouses (in which the primary motivation isoften fear or self-defense), rather than in the general violence thatcharacterizes the increase in male crime (Additional, 199, August 17, p.2). But the implementation of sentencing guidelines has increased the bias of the criminal justice system against poor females and poor black males (p. The types of crimes committed by women are often different from thosecommitted by men, even when the labels used are the same. The problem with this approach is that, in the criminal justicesystem, gender does matter. Therefore, they should be penalized for their crimesin ways that consider these factors, judging the severity of their offenseswithin their particular context. 35). New York: Freundlich. Unlike violence in men, almost all female violence is directed towards a friend or the spouse, and the violent woman has often suffered for a long time at the hands of her victim. Newman (Ed.), Crime and justice in America: 1776-1976, pp. Yeoman, B. 217). Womenare frequently excluded from "non-incarceratory sentencing options," suchas probation or parole (Durham, 1996, p. They oftenmerit severe penalties, including financial sanctions and the restrictionsor permanent loss of individual liberties. Wilson. Her daughter, who is a ward of the state, will be shuttled from one foster home to another. Of course, plea bargaining, incompetent representation, lack offunds, or not enough time can all conspire to lose a case that should nothave been lost, and mandatory sentencing can sometimes save an individualwhen everything else might have made the situation even worse.Nevertheless, cases should ideally be tried and judged on their individualmerits. In burglarycases, for example, while nine men are arrested for every woman, men are 3 times as likely to be imprisoned for their offense (Yeoman, 1999, November,p. Crime in America. Many more women have accepted or been forced to acceptchildcare responsibilities. L. American women and crime. Women represent a very small proportion ofthe criminal population in America. (1996). S. 726).Women's thoughts, feelings, and actions are different from men's, both asthe result of biology and because of different socialization. New York: H. . The view from behind bars. These differences must be based on acomplete rethinking of the problem, a rethinking that is important in lightof the increasing number of women committing crimes. Mandatory sentencing, along with any otherapproach that tries to create one-size-fits-all justice, runs a terrifyingrisk of suiting "just enough" cases. W. E. J. Nadler, S. Without theopportunity for human judgment (which, admittedly, also allows for thepossibility of human error and misjudgment), justice might as well behanded out by computer. Judges and juries existto hear specific facts and evaluate specific cases. Another, more important factor, drug use,seems to play the principal role in the rise in crime among women. They cannot be ignored. She noted statisticsshowing the dramatic rise in female arrest rates over a 4 -year period thatincluded significant social progress for women, culminating in themovement; in 1932, for instance, one in 19 persons arrested was female,while, by 1972, the ratio had risen to one in 4.7 (Simon, 1976, p. As morewomen, for whatever reasons, commit crimes and are arrested and prosecutedfor them, judges, juries, and lawmakers are trying to close the gap betweenmen and women and pass sentence on the crime, rather than on the criminal. Women who commit crimes shouldnot be exempt from repaying their debt to society, anymore than men shouldbe. References Additional corrections facts at a glance. Nineteen men are imprisoned for every one woman, eventhough the arrest ratio is only seven to one (Yeoman, 1999, November, pp.56-57). Juveniles and women make up theremaining 1 percent, and, while the number of women has been growing,female inmates still remain a very small part of the total number ofprisoners incarcerated in the United States. Fewcrime statistics bother to separate out female criminals, preferring tofocus on larger issues, such as the number of juveniles or the proportionof African Americans who have been arrested and convicted of crimes.However, women represent a distinct population among criminals, and, assuch, they should be given separate consideration when being sentenced fortheir misdeeds. Yet even when women commit the same crimes as men, their sentencesare almost always different. However, the system arresting, prosecuting, and sentencing thesewomen continued to be one "built on the white male point of view" (Ramsay,1991, March 23, p. Crime in America: A reference handbook.Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO. Department ofJustice (1999, August 17), nine out of 1 inmates in the nation's prisonpopulation are adult males (p. America's culture of crime and violence is unique. 56). The third shoplifting conviction that, under the "three strikes"law, automatically placed Dorita in prison should have instead been able tobe evaluated by people entrusted with determining its genuine menace tosociety and most appropriate punishment. (199 , fall). Women are such a relative rarity as perpetrators of crime that theword "criminal" is often considered to be an exclusively male label. The final reason that women should receive different sentences is thereason that mandatory sentencing should not exist at all within thejudicial system. Durham, J. This paper argues that womenshould be continue to be given different penalties from men because theirrelationship to the judicial system and to society as a whole is differentfrom that of men, though not for all of the same reasons that have dictatedpast discrepancies. Forer points out that thecriteria for deciding whether or not to grant bail, give probation, orallow parole were drawn up to evaluate a primarily young, male population.She (1994) writes, "The guideline rules are sensible in about 7 percent ofthe cases. Mandatory sentencing, in its attempt to provide the samepunishment for every instance of the same crime, ignores the legal system'spossibility of weighing individual circumstances. Singer women's jail on Riker's Island in NewYork, "estimates that drugs underlie the incarceration of 95 percent of hisinmates" (Church, 199 , fall, p. The majority of women in prison are likely to need drug or alcoholtreatment programs and have probably been victims themselves, usually offamily violence and/or sexual abuse. In theory,mandatory sentences even the score, but in practice they often work againstcertain populations. Norton. These are factorsthat should be considered, just as every case must be evaluated on itsmerits, not on the statistical category in which it happens to fit. 1). (1976). Rules that try to remain blind to individual characteristicsincluding gender often end up working against the female criminal. It does not allow for humanevaluation. The three primary reasons that women should besentenced differently are because existing sentences derive from the biasof the white male view of the world and male-centered motivations forcommitting crimes, that a significant number of female criminals are alsomothers with primary responsibility for their children, and that judges andjuries exist to evaluate individual circumstances, not to dispensearbitrary justice in the name of social equality. In G.R. Judges and juries withtraditional views of how "ladies should behave" can actually impose heaviersentences when confronted with overwhelming evidence of gross misconduct.However, such dramatic variations in women's treatment within the justicesystem are becoming increasingly rare, as more women are arrested andtried, and it is likely that more punishments will fit the crimes as thistrend continues. Psychology Today, 32(6),54-58.----------------------- 12 A rage to punish: The unintended consequencesof mandatory sentencing. Within that history, female criminals have always held a small butsignificant place. In many ways, perhaps in ways theydidn't anticipate, women are becoming equal to men" (p. However, women are almost always driven to their criminal activitiesby different forces than are men, and those forces include how theyfunction as a gender in the world and what responsibilities they haveincurred, both to themselves and as members of society. Because the number of women behind bars represents such arelatively small proportion of the overall prison population, facilitiesset up to handle women exclusively tend to be located far from the inmates'homes, making family visits even more difficult. 84). . 58).Susan Nadler (1987) agrees: "The courts are treating women morestringently now, sentencing is harsher. They shouldnot then be judged using standards that are based entirely on a malemindset. The disparity in cases of aggravated assault is even moredramatic: 1 men are arrested for every one woman, but the men are 79 timesmore likely to face prison than are the women. Human Rights Watch World Report 2 . Ramsay, R. Their gender has, historically, tendedto give them different treatment from that of the men undergoing the samesystem of justice. From the Salem witch trials to Chipita Rodriguez(hanged in 1863 for killing a horse trader, the last woman put to death inAmerica until Karla Faye Tucker was executed in Texas in 1998), LizzieBorden (acquitted in the courts but not in the public mind), Ma Barker,Lorena Bobbitt, and Tanya Harding, female criminals in America have beencolorful, memorable, and rare. . Women's personal and societal responsibilities are likely to bedifferent, as well. Sometimes gender works against the prisoner. Women awaiting execution areso rare that they generate front-page news as their execution datesapproach. Forer (1994) recountsthe case of Dorita, one inmate she encountered: She had been convicted [for shoplifting] three times and [therefore] . Lancet, 337(8743),725-726. . By contrast, most female criminals are convicted of much lessviolent crimes than are men; Suzanne Elizabeth Kender (1996) writes, "Ofthe urban killers identified by the Department of Justice in 1988, 9 percent were male" (Kender, 1996, p. 19). When Dorita is released, her daughter will not know her (p. This must be considered as part of theequation. (1991, March 23). Mothers given probation or parole, with maintenance of their parentalresponsibilities as a condition, are more likely to be able to give uptheir criminal careers and relieve society of a potentially massive burdenthan are mothers who are arbitrarily separated from their children simplyto fulfill the abstract concept of equal justice. With the advent of the women's movement, theorists began to speculateon its connection with the rising crime rate among women. But the injustice and dangers that ensue in the other 3 percent should give every member of the public grave concern" (p. Experts estimate that,overall, men receive an average sentence that is 4 percent longer than thefemale average. Judges and juries have tended to give womenlighter punishments for similar offenses, viewing them, in the words ofRose Giallombardo, writing in 1966, as "erring and misguided creatures whoneed protection and help rather than as dangerous criminals from whommembers of society should be protected" (Simon, 1976, p. Newman, G. (2 ).http://www.hrw.org/wr2k/Us.htm#TopOfPage. On release she will still be poor, unemployable, and on welfare. They are less likely to riot orto form gangs; prison friendships often develop across ethnic and raciallines, unlike the situations in men's jails. Church, G. According to the U. Women's roles as mothers must also play a significant part indifferent sentencing. Female inmates are less likely thanmen to need "high security" incarceration. Among others,Simon (1976) contended that increased social freedom allowed women morechances to break the law: "A much greater proportion of women are workingoutside the home which provides more women with greater opportunities toembezzle, to commit fraud, and to steal" (p. However, mandatory sentencing is a significant factor. 32-33).Since three-quarters or more are mothers, female inmates are likely torequire some form of family assistance, especially since most women'sprisons either prohibit children from visiting or limit physical contactwith prisoners. This means that many of the principles behindcertain laws and defense arguments are inherently biased against women.Rosalind Ramsay (1991, March 23) provides the examples of the legal defensestrategies of self-defense, provocation, and diminished responsibility: In the first case, the woman must shows she faced imminent danger and used only reasonable force in response, while in the second, the response was that of a reasonable person who showed sudden, temporary loss of self-control and was then not master of his/her mind. 82). 31-46.Philadelphia: American Academy of Political and Social Science. 21); 88 percent of the children of female inmatesare under the age of 18 (Forer, 1994, p. G. Criminal activities, whether they are shoplifting or murder, disruptsociety and threaten social order. Bad girls. An estimated 8 percent of all women are motherswhen they enter state prison; only 6 percent of men have children, andless than half of these have any legal custodial responsibility for theiroffspring. This is not the same as simplymaintaining the old status quo. If this paper is not what you are looking for, you can search again: Search for: or Click here to request an essay written just for you.