With a Focus on Gender or Race

hum collins savant 11423048 1 With a focus on trip out or race, question whether the illegal legal expert remains is divergeed. Society expects the brutal justness organisation to provide arbitrator for every unity by protecting the innocent, to punish and inmate the guilty, and to rehabilitate them in an attempt to hold back them re offend. It is supposed to give average arbitrator for everyone, regardless(prenominal)(prenominal) of sexual urge, and much is compose that suggests that the pitiful referee musical arrangement is sex activity- slashed. sex activity slash was non formed by the justice arranging, but it does reflect the total conditions and attitudes of society.The cost of grammatical sex activity turn to society, the felon justice system, and to the people at heart it is enormous. To discuss if the cruel justice system is grammatical sexual practice- persuadeed, an misgiving should be reached regarding what is meant by the term gende r. The word gender butt be difficult to define, and excessively how it differs from the term sex. Whilst the term sex refers to the psychological and biological physiognomies that describe manpower and women, the term gender (The Free online Dictionary) refers to the roles that society considers to be enchant for men and women, such(prenominal) as activities and conducts.Categories of gender be masculine and feminine bandage sex categories be male and young-bearing(prenominal) person. Some authors believe that the increase of pistillates offending has increased due to the masculinization of womens behaviour during the Womens Liberation act in the 1970s, and is responsible for the increasing metrical com set of women attractting crimes. (Heidensohn, 1989 Adler, 1975). Aspects of sex do non deepen between human societies, but asp viperects of gender may be very diametrical (Bryant and Trueman, 2000).Sex- assorts be said to be telephone exchange to gender, which c roup be defined as the behaviours, attitudes, roles and beliefs that ar passed from generation to generation (Weinrich, CAROL collins STUDENT 11423048 2 1980). spokespersoni pris is defined as an inclination or preference that inhibits un prepossessioned judgement. There argon two views concerning whether men and women argon enured differently by the tribunals and the jurisprudence. The first is the valour hypothesis, which is that women ar interact with to a greater extent respect, agreement and courtesy.It is stated in the heroism system that much leniency is presumptuousness to women than to men by the patrol, courts and the wicked justice system in general. It is said that male chivalry means that a cleaning muliebrity is less app atomic number 18nt to be charged by the legal philosophy, and that the courts give lesser moveences to women than men, even if they contribute committed the equal crime as male counterparts. Women who be sent to prison house hou se house oft receive shorter sen 10ces than men which does postulate that women be treated more leniently (Heidensohn, 2002).Some authors state that the chivalry hypothesis becomes non so relevant if the crimes committed argon the same, and sentencing varies very little between the sexes. It can be argued that the chivalry hypothesis except works if the offender fits what is considered to be the female stereotypical, gendered role. The second view of different gender-treatment is when a woman does not fit the stereotype of what atomic number 18 female norms, this double peril theory becomes relevant, which results in much harsher sentencing (Carlen, 1985).It can be argued that in several(prenominal) cases that women atomic number 18 treated more severely by the wicked justice system because women are guilty of been doubly deviant by committing a crime they hold back not be bemused in a focus that is regarded to be a socially principle way for their gender to be clear. I t is also written that females who commit scrappy crimes are often treated more severely than men, who are aggressive because their behaviour is different from what is regarded as normal female behaviour (Paul and Baenninger, 1991 Gelsthorpe, 2003).CAROL COLLINS STUDENT-11423048 3 Campbell (1993) states that violent women must rival men or be mentally ill, because it is not how nice girls should be entertain fit to Batchelor (2001). It could be seen that in some areas the gender bias within the criminal justice system that gender rivalry with the men has been the oerriding force. law of nature officers and adjudicate were interviewed by Hedderman and Gelsthorpe (1997) and were asked near the ways in which they make decisions.It is crystalize that women were given more leniencies if they have children, as their offences are treated as occupy more than greed, for example if they had stolen goods from a shop it was because they carryed the goods for their family. However if a man had stolen from a shop it would have been seen that his motivation was one of greed. There is induction that the achievable gender bias in the criminal justice system begins as soon as a woman is taken to the practice of law station. Fawcett (2006) comments that women feel that patrol stations are hostile places, artly because of the behaviour and sexist language within the police service. Women are in general less inclined to use their right to have legal representation, but this may be not besides because they are often charged with less effective crimes, or it could be because they feel overwhelmed and intimidated in the male-dominated police station. Only 20% of police officers are women, and only 18% of rhetorical officers are women. It is unclear whether police officers are trained to deal with women who have been victims of abomination, especially when that is pertinent to the charges that have been brought against them.The Home slip states that women who are giv en prison sentences are given shorter sentences than their male counterparts. This implies that women are treated more leniently by the criminal justice system. The individuals history of offending and the reputation of the offence are taken into account, and according to the Home Office, both the higher valuate of CAROL COLLINS STUDENT-11423048 4 cautions issued to women, and the digest rate of tutelary sentences, reflect that women are less probable to commit skilful offences and that past criminal records are also taken into account.Offences that are committed by females tend to be less proficient than those committed by men, and less women have previous criminal records. This indicates that, according to Trueman and Bryant (2003), on that point is not any sympathetic bias towards women. 27% of the women who are in prison are first- time offenders, which is more than twice the prototype for men. This suggests that men offending for the first time are treated more lenie ntly than women. 63% of women are serving protective prison sentences for non-violent crimes, in contrast to 45% of men in prison. This suggests that women are sent to prison for farthermost less unspoiled crimes than men.According to the 2001 census, women represented 51. 3% of the creation of England and Wales, but only 6. 1% of the prison population were women. It states that more women are likely to be given community sentences, or to be discharged, and that they are much less likely to be given a custodial sentence than men (Home Office, 2003). Only 8% of the total amount of people sentenced to a custodial prison sentence in 2001 was women. In the last ten long time thither has been an increase in the female prison population by 60% compared to an increase of 28% for men.The rise is explained by an increase in the severity of the sentences given. It is possible that the introduction in 1997 of The Mandatory and marginal Sentencing Act put restrictions on judges from using their own discretion when vent sentences. It is believed that the prison system in the join Kingdom was designed for men by men (Corston, 2007). Gender issues not only cause problems for women but also for the trans-sexual prisoners. youngborn prison guidelines in 2006 were introduced to reform aspects of the prison system in order to reduce gender bias towards trans-sexual individuals.Sir David CAROL COLLINS STUDENT-11423048 5 Ramsbotham, prison inspector in 2000, stated that trans-sexual prisoners were at risk of serious health problems due to the bias against them that they had been denied treatment, and he stated that they should be given the same treatment as everyone else. As fewer women go to prison than men, thither is a male-dominated prison system. Due to this, there is favouritism against women in the prison system. There are fourteen womens prisons in England, are there are none in Wales (Prison domesticise Trust, 2010).This suggests that for women to be sent to a w omens prison it is probable that they may be incarcerated a long outer space away from their families, causing isolation and horny stress (Women in Prison, 2006). A woman is imprisoned on average 57 miles away from their committal address, and in 2007 over 800 women was held more than 100 miles away. This also suggests that women are often imprisoned in a higher grade prison than they need to be in. Due to the fact that there are fewer womens prisons than mens prisons, there are far fewer opportunities such as cooking or education (Hayes, 2007).Over the past ten years the media has focused on umteen controversial problems within women prisons with television documentaries such as young womans behind bars, 2011. The newspapers have used headlines such as Women burn, croak and stab themselves in jail hell (Bright, 2004). In the documentaries, any of the issues raised were indirectly a result of gender bias and the effect that it can have on the women inmates within the criminal justice system. often of the emphasis of the programmes was about the mental disorder that is caused by the insufficiency of suitable prisons and facilities.This in turn often leads to self-harm, drug abuse and suicide. There is evidence that suggests that gender bias also exists in the criminal justice system against women who are victims of cosset. It is believed that in rape trials it is the female rape victim who is made to feel that she is on trial more than the male suspect (Walklate, 1989). CAROL COLLINS STUDENT-11423048 6 Baroness empennage was commissioned by the Government to do an independent subject field into the on-going concerns in the amount of rape cases that that went to court and resulted in a conviction.In the report knockout suggested that the (estimated) 14% of account rapes that result in a conviction for rape or sexual assault was not depressive disorder compared with other crimes. Of the rape cases that go to court, 58% result in a conviction. Ster n reported that the figure would not mitigate under the present legal system (Williams, 2010). The Stern report (2011) suggested that improved do by of the victim would improve the rates of conviction, as fewer victims and witnesses would withdraw from the plow, which would improve the first step of a conviction. In 2005, only 6. % of rapes that were reported to the police and taken to court resulted in a conviction, compared to 35% of other criminal cases. In the United States of America (USA) the criminal justice system discriminates against men one point that is argued is that if a man commits a murder in the USA it is more than twenty times more likely that he ordain be given the cobblers last penalization. Whereas, if a woman murders a man, she is unlikely to be sentenced to death, however if she murders a child or another woman, she runs a higher risk of receiving a death sentence.Markedly, murdering a man is not hearty enough to merit the death penalty (Farrell, 1993) . According to Farrell, men do not speak up enough, publicize, or gussy up appeals, so that that biases against women are removed, and the biases against men remain. entropy gathered shows that there is gender bias within the workforce of the criminal justice system. In 2008, only 24% of the police officers in England and Wales were women. Only 12% of women police officers had reached the position of Chief Inspector, compared to 27% who held the position of Constable.In CAROL COLLINS STUDENT- 11423048 7 2008, there were only 29 females who were members of the Chief Police Officers Association, out of 209 total members. A 1993 assess showed that nearly all the police women who took part in the survey had received some form of sexual harassment from lad male officers. There were also reports that 3 out of 10 had been subjected to unwanted pitiable and to offensive insults. 66. 5% of barristers are men, compared to 33. 5% who are women. A taggering 91% of Queens counsellor are me n, compared to 9% who are women. A view could be taken that with gender bias amongst the employment ranks of the justice system, it is not surprising that there is gender bias within the criminal justice process of criminal prosecution. There are conflict arguments whether women suffer or benefit from bias during the sentencing for crimes. There is enough evidence to close down that there is gender bias in the criminal justice system. There should be equal justice for all, yet the criminal justice system is failing women miserably.Women are at a disadvantage as offenders, suspects, defendants, and as employees. The system is failing female victims of violent crimes due to a lack of supportive services. Far too numerous women are being imprisoned for non-violent crimes. Women are under-represented as employees within the system, principally amongst the elder police levels, the judiciary, CPS, Queens Counsel and within law firms. The criminal justice system and the Government need to address the inequality that exists against women, and they need to put the issue of gender as central to the criminal justice system.Everyone has a gender or sex, and should be given the right not to be discriminated against. It is a human right to liberty, security, justice, and to not be given punishment without law. It is a human right to a fair trial (Human Rights Act, 2000). As certain that dark will follow day, people will commit crimes, and the reactions to the crimes and the way in which gender CAROL COLLINS STUDENT- 11423048 8 differences are approached in the criminal justice system, for the foreseeable future, will stay the same, coloured by their gender.WORDS- 2312 REFERENCES Adler, F. , 1975. Sisters in umbrage The rise of the new female criminal. New York McGraw-Hill. Batchelor, S. , 2001. The Myth of Girl Gangs, Criminal legal expert Matters, Spring Issue, 43, pp. 26-27. Bright, M. ., Women burn, put out and stab themselves in jail hell. Online (Updated 8 Febr uary 1984) Available at http//www. guardian. co. uk/uk/2004/feb/08/ukcrime. prisonsandprobation1 Accessed 12 April 2012. Bryant, L. and Trueman , C. , 2000. memoir information site. online Available at Accessed 21 April 2012. Campbell, A. 1993. Men, Women and encroachment. New York Basic Books. Carlen, P. (1998) Sledgehammer Womens Imprisonment at the Millennium, Macmillan Press Ltd computer-aided design mills Basingstoke Hampshire capital of the United Kingdom. Corston, B. 2007. Ministry of rightness Criminal Justice Group. online Accessed 8 April 2012. Farrell, M. 1993 Online http//www. mikefarrell. org/activist/deathpenalty. html Fawcett, 2006. Fawcett last the inequality gap. Online (Updated 2006) Available at http//www. fawcettsociety. org. uk/index. asp? PageID=712 Accessed 12 April 2012 Hayes, S. C. , 2007. Women with learning disabilities who offend what do we know? British Journal of Learning of Learning Disabilities and Offending Behaviour, 35 (3), pp. 187-191. Heid ensohn, F. ,1989. Crime and Society Sociology for a changing world. London Palgrave MacMillan. Heidensohn, F. , 2002. Gender and Crime. In M. Maguire, Morgan, R and Reiner, R. , eds. The Oxford vade mecum of criminology. 3rd ed. Oxford Oxford University Press.Herrington, V. and Nee, C. , 2005. Self-perceptions, masculinity and female offenders, earnings Journal of Criminology. online Available at Accessed 21 April 2012. Home Office, 2003. Statistics on Women and the Criminal Justice System Report. Available at Accessed 21 April 2012. Human Rights Act 2000.London HMSO. Legislation. gov. uk. Online Available at http//www. legislation. gov. uk/ukpga/1997/43/contents Accessed 12 April 2012. Paul, L. and Baenninger, M. (1991) Aggression by Women More myths and methods in Baenninger, R. (ed) Targets of strength and aggression. North Holland. Elsevier Science Publishing. Prison Reform Trust, 2010. Women in Prison. online (Updated 1 August. ) Available at Accessed 16 April 2012. Self-p erceptions,