Gender in Context: A Multilevel Examination of the Effects of Structural Factors on Individual-Level Sentencing Decisions

Abstract

The extant research has failed to consider how community factors affect women’s sentences. Drawing from the focal concerns perspective and feminist perspectives, the current study examines the possible influence that variations in gender equality at the community level have on the individual treatment of women in the court system. Using data from the Pennsylvania Sentencing Commission and United States Census Bureau, the results indicate that women are less likely to be incarcerated than men. This disparity was found to be smaller in areas with larger disparities in men and women income levels. Gender was not found to be significant for the sentence length decision, but a significant interaction between rate of married women in a community and gender was found, with women receiving longer sentences in areas with higher rates of married women. Theoretical and future research implications are further discussed. One of the most prevalent findings in the sentencing literature is that gender is significantly related to sentence outcome [1,2]. This research has found that women are less likely to be incarcerated than men [2-9], and when incarcerated, typically receive sentences that are significantly shorter than their male counterparts [3-14]. Although gender disparity has received a great deal of attention at the individual level, prior research has not considered the possibility that the effects of gender could vary by community structure. Research on community structure and sentencing has largely focused on racial and ethnic disparities that exist across communities. Although the findings of these studies are mixed, these inquiries indicate that in communities where racial minorities appear to be a greater threat, defendants are sentenced more severely (e.g., [15-17]. Despite the fact that women continue to experience gender discrimination and continue to be under represented in positions of power and influence, for example, women consist of half the population but makeup less than 20 percent of Congress, the extant research has failed to consider how community factors affect women’s sentences. The current study examines community structure and the possible influence that variations in gender equality at the community level have on the individual treatment of women in the court system.