There is a rather strong relationship existing between gender and criminalism. This is a relationship that is likely to remain as time presses forward. More often than not, most women will commit far less serious and violent crimes than those that will be committed by men.
There have also been some observations that women are more likely to be released on their own recognizance than men would be. However, when a judge does feel that bail is necessary, gender does not seem to have an affect the amount of bail that is being set. In sentencing on the other hand, women do appear to receive more systematic leniency than men do with the exception of when they are convicted of high-severity crimes. Also, when it came to plea-bargaining, female defendants were three times more likely to have their charges reduced than male defendants were.
After a short study had been conducted, the findings indicated that women were far less likely to be incarcerated both before and after their convictions than men were. The study also found that women were much more likely to have their cases either acquitted or dismissed when compared to the opposite gender.
Another study, which evaluated the treatment of men and women in multiple judicial circuits, indicated that the men actually received slightly preferential treatment over the women.
A survey that had been conducted of judges’ opinions on sentencing indicated that their decisions were partially influenced by the traditional views of the role of women as wives and mothers.
If these observations continue to be come more obvious to the public, there are likely to be some changes made for more equal treatment of both genders in the courtroom. These changes will likely mean that women will be longer periods of time incarcerated both before and after convictions.
