Gender Differences in Processing Females Essay

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In a documentary, the American Enterprise Institute shows how female offenders receive sentences that are more compassionate and lenient than their male counterparts. Females receive shorter and less harsh sentences versus men. Gender is therefore the most important extralegal factor in determining sentencing outcomes. Perceptions and biases towards men leads to the mass incarceration of men in the United States, particularly men of color. The documentary is a trustworthy source of information that relies on factual data to bolster the central arguments.Moreover, the evidence presented in the documentary corresponds with emerging research on gender differences in sentencing. For example, Doerner & Demuth (2012) use data from the United States Sentencing Commission to describe the gender gap in sentencing. Both the American Enterprise Institute and the peer-reviewed research article by Doerner & Demuth (2012) show that while legal factors do account for a large number of the discrepancies, “even after controlling for legal characteristics a substantial gap in sentencing outcomes remains,” (p. 242). Extralegal factors including extenuating circumstances, history of psychological or physical abuse, socioeconomic class status, and parenthood, as well as legal factors like prior offenses, are all considered differently depending on whether the offender is male or female.

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Familial responsibility emerges as one of the core variables that is treated differently for men versus women who are processed through the criminal justice system. As Doerner & Demuth (2012) and the American Enterprise Institute (2015) both point out, females are considered to be more significant as caregivers, needed to retain the integrity of family units. Chivalry, and the belief that females have more potential to be rehabilitated due to their being socialized differently, also factor into the gender gap. Overall, both of these studies show that stereotypes have a much greater role to play in sentencing decisions than perhaps they should......

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