Question

Module (1)
Module 1
The text Book for this course:  The Invisible Woman:  Gender, Crime and Justice (3rd edition) by Joanne Belknap. 
Assignment questions
Question #  1.  (1 page) 
Should infants and small children be allowed to stay with their incarcerated mothers?  What are the advantages and disadvantages to maintaining a relationship with an incarcerated caregiver?  What steps, if any, should correctional institutions take to preserve the mother-child bond?  Finally, are we demonstrating unfair gender bias by discussing this issue as it relates to female inmates and not to male inmates?

Question #  2.   (1 page)
Consider the idea of chivalry in the criminal justice system.  Do you think chivalry exists?  Why or why not?  Defend your view with examples.  Do you think gender expectations influence our treatment of female offenders?  Why or why not?






Content   (The PAGES BELOW  are only content to read)
•     
Module 1 -Women as Criminal Offenders:

INTRODUCTION
As you begin this unit on female criminal offenders, there are a couple of concepts that I would like you to keep in mind.  As as student of criminal justice, you are ultimately concerned with understanding, preventing, and controlling crime.  Studying women who offend can be insightful - research indicates that women and men do not share the same motivations for offending, or even the same offending patterns.  Women commit far fewer crimes overall when compared to their male counterparts, and commit more property crime than violent crime.  Women often offend as a result of poverty, drug addiction, emotional codependency, or as an escape from childhood and adolescent abuse.  Side note:  While you are not required to read it, you might find skimming chapter 4 (on the nature of female criminal offending) informative.
In this particular module, we will be exploring the treatment of female offenders by the criminal justice system.  As you will discover, it is difficult to ignore the role our collective gender perceptions play in the treatment of female offenders.  Some would argue that chivalry exists, and that women are treated preferentially by the system.  Others would assert that the "evil woman hypothesis" more accurately defines the way the criminal justice system interacts with female offenders - that women are punished more harshly for their crimes because they have violated our gender expectations.   Are these hypotheses real?  Can both exist at the same time?   Are all female offenders subject to some form of gender-biased treatment?
One of the most controversial topics when discussing the role of gender and criminal punishment is that of children.  Should courts consider the presence of minor children in the home when making the decision to move forward with charges or when handing down a criminal sentence?  Should women with children receive some kind of special consideration?  What about men who have physical custody of their children?  Should they receive the same consideration?
As we complete this module we will be considering the issues that impact women once they are sentenced to incarceration in a correctional institution.  There are a myriad of issues that incarcerated women face that are not shared by their male counterparts.  For instance, in all states the number of institutions designated for male offenders far outnumber the number of institutions designated for female offenders.  In fact, many states have only one prison for women of all security levels - maximum through pre-release.   It is not uncommon for women to be housed hours away from their home towns, and far from family support.  Smaller institutions for women often lack the variety of counseling, education, and training programs available to men.
Currently, there are a number of controversial issues regarding incarcerated women.  One of the most passionate debates centers around health care for female offenders.  What level of preventive care should be available to female inmates, particularly woman-centered care such as mammograms?  What level of responsibility does the institution have to provide specialized care for pregnant women, or for women who have recently given birth?  This week you will begin debating the fates of children of incarcerated mothers on the discussion board.  Currently, only a handful of states in the U.S. have nursery programs which allow women to remain with their infant children inside the correctional facility.  Nebraska is one of those states, and this issue impacts our children and our communities.
As a society, we often advocate for the harsh treatment of inmates as a form of punishment, and to promote deterrence.  Do our views hold true for women in prison?  Is our overall goal to punish or to rehabilite?   Are men and women truly treated equally?  Should they be?
As you move through these two chapters - keep these questions in mind, and don't hesitate to formulate your own.   Some students find Belknap's writing objectionable at times.  That is okay :)  You don't have to agree with everything she writes, and don't be afraid to formulate your own questions regarding these topics.
Finally, remember our goal as criminal justice practitioners:  to understand, prevent and control crime.  What can we do with what we have learned in this chapter?
Good Luck!
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Module 1 Readings
Attached Files:
•      370_Chapter 5_4thed.ppt (583.5 KB)
•      370_Chapter 6_4thed.ppt (591 KB)

Attached Files:
o      370_Chapter 5_4thed.ppt (583.5 KB)
Women and Crime
Processing Women and Girls in the Criminal Legal System
Types of Sexism
    Glick and Fiske identify two types of sexism:
    Benevolent sexism (reward women and girls who behave in gender appropriate ways)
    Hostile sexism (punishment of women and girls who are viewed as usurping masculine roles and power)
Criminal Laws and Sex Discrimination
Gender Neutral Laws
vs. Gender Specific Laws
Three forms of sex discrimination in criminal law:
1.    Implementing and applying gender specific laws.
2.    Applying gender-neutral laws differently to males and females.
3.    Applying gender-neutral laws in a way that values one gender’s victimizations more seriously than the other’s.
Criminal Laws and Gender Discrimination
      Historically most laws have been gender-neutral, and gender specific laws have become     more neutral over time.
         One example: Statutory Rape Laws.
      While laws have become more neutral, they may not be applied in gender neutral ways.
         One example: Prostitution/Sex Work.
      Sex discrimination may occur when the harshness of the crime is based on the victim’s     gender.
         One example:  Death Penalty Cases.
Sentencing Laws and Gender Discrimination
    Correctional Approaches:
    Women’s Reformatories versus Men’s Penitentiaries
    Indeterminate Sentencing for women versus Determinate Sentencing for men
    Cases and policies which have impacted the sentencing of women include:
    State v. Chambers (1973)
    Federal and State sentencing guidelines
    Get tough on crime and “Three Strikes and You’re Out”
Hypothesis of Sex Discrimination in Crime Processing
1.    The equal treatment hypothesis.
2.    The chivalry/paternalism hypothesis.
a.    The typicality hypothesis.
b.    The selectivity hypothesis.
c.    The differential discretion hypothesis.
3.    The “evil” woman hypothesis.
Gender Differences in Crime Processing
Chivalry is sometimes referred to as “reverse discrimination”
Jeffries and Bond identify three reasons for chivalry in crime processing:
    Blameworthiness
    Risk
    Practical restraints and consequences
Gender Differences in Crime Processing
“Some scholars question whether equal treatment is the right objective, because it ignores the fact that men and women have different access to power in society and often experience different roles and responsibilities”
Gender Differences in Crime Processing
    Factors that must be considered when determining whether bias in crime processing exists:
    Race, class, age, sexuality, immigrant status, etc. of alleged offender
    Policies and reforms in the Criminal Legal System
    Which stage of the Criminal Legal System is being examined
    Type/seriousness of the offense
    Gender-role stereotypes and their impact on gender-bias
    The time-period of the data collection
    The jurisdiction of the data collection
Access to Chivalry
    Evidence confirms that selective chivalry exists
    White women receive more lenient criminal sentences than women of color and immigrant women
    Older women receive more lenient sentences than younger women/girls
    Girls are at greater risk for juvenile court intervention than boys
    SMS youth and adults are more likely to receive harsh sentences
Gender Bias Based on Offense
    Chivalry is most likely with less serious offenses.
    Gender role counts:
    Women who commit “masculine” offenses are treated more harshly (this is debatable).
    Delinquent females are treated with chivalry, but are evil women when considering status offenses.
    When considering offense, there is a great deal  of contradiction regarding chivalry – more research is needed!
Gender Bias in Processing
    Women are generally far less serious offenders and have less extensive prior criminal records.
    Research has evaluated the role of gender in
    Police decisions
    Pretrial court decisions
    Case dismissal
    Trial and post-trial decision making
    Wrongful conviction
    Death penalty sentencing
Gender Roles and Processing
    Women’s personal circumstances are more likely to be considered than men’s.
    Women are more likely than men to receive chivalry if there are dependent children in the home. They may be discriminated against if they are abusive or negligent towards their children.
    Pregnant women receive more leniency.
    Women who don’t have family to assume child care are treated more leniently.
    Being married helps women, being divorced hurts them.
    The results are contradictory when it comes to employment outside the home.
Summary
    Many variables impact the processing of women through the Criminal Legal System
    All women are not treated identically
    More research is needed to determine the full impact of gender on sentencing
o      370_Chapter 6_4thed.ppt (591 KB)
 
Women and Crime
 

               
Chapter 5:  Processing Women and Girls in the Criminal Legal System, pages 168-203.
You will not be responsible for the "Studies From Around the World" section of the chapter, pages 193-202.
Chapter 6:   Incarcerated Women and Girls Pages 214-270.
You will not be responsible for the "Studies From Around the World" section of the chapter, pages 258-268.
* It is helpful to print out the powerpoints (three to page with notes to the side) and keep them with you as you read through the chapter.  The powerpoints can help you identify information that is particularly important in the chapter - but THEY ARE NOT MEANT TO STAND ALONE!  Reviewing the powerpoints without reading the chapter is never a good idea, as you will end up with little to no real understanding of the material!