Abstract
This paper examines the extent to which the sex of the offender affects people's evaluations of the crime. While the norms of the criminal justice system require equal handling, a literature review suggests the offender's sex is critical in determining differential handling and response. Some suggest females are consistently handled more leniently, while others indicate the opposite is the case. Another view contends differential response is a function of both the sex of the offender and the type of act; that is, offenders are judged more or less harshly depending on the extent their acts either violate traditional sex role morality principles or conform to sex role type‐scripts. Seriousness and punishment ratings of 25 offenses were received from two groups of subjects, one that rated male offenders and the other female offenders. Ratings were compared across subgroups broken down by sex of offender as well as sex of rater. In the majority of cases offenders were evaluated equally, although some differen...
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