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With a focus on gender, discuss whether the criminal justice system is biased.
This essay will explore the differences in how the criminal justice system treats men and women; it will also investigate a variety of theoretical research from early traditional thinkers to feminists, and how they have analyse the criminal justice system with a focus on gender. It will examine the British official statistics relating to crimes recorded looking at gender and crimes going un-recorded.
The essay will then examine how Society views gender, the differences in raising boys and girls and what society expects for males and females in the way they present themselves.
The essay will briefly explore domestic violence between men and women and how it relates to crime rates; it will also explore how laws have demonstrated to be biased against gender and how it has recently shifted to make it a fairer procedure when sentencing men and women for homicide. When exploring the philosophy of the chivalry theory (pollak 1950) and the way it is perceived within the criminal justice system, research states that there is a higher representation of male agents working within the system than females. The chivalry theory suggests that males are inclined to treat women with respect and courtesy this indicates that women have a higher chance to be favoured over men; implicating women are likely to receive a more lenient outcome than a man is after committing an offence. Thesis who believe in the chivalry theory assume that men have a natural instinct to ensure that women are protected from harm (Pollak 1950) therefore when sentencing females male agents will focuses on sympathy, this would propose harsher sentence for men who have committed the same crime as a women (Browne 2011). This approach articulates that crimes committed by women are less likely to be recorded demonstrating a false set of factual evidence when looking at the official statistics of crimes relating to gender within



References: Browne, K. (2011) An introduction to Sociology. Cambridge. Polity Press. Giddens, A. (2006). Sociology. Cambridge. Polity Press. Heidensohn, F. (1996) Women in Control? The role of women in law enforcement. New York. Oxford University Press. Home Office. (2003) Statistics on women and the criminal justice system. www.homeoffice.gov.uk Hood, R (1992) Race and Sentencing: A Study in the Crown Court - A Report for the Commission of Racial Equality Johnson, J. (2007) Daily Devotions for women. Ohio. Barbour Publishing, Inc. Newburn, T. (2007). Criminology. Devon. Willan Publishing. Nicolson, D. Bibbings, L. (2000). Feminist Perspectives on Criminal Law. Great Britain. Cavendish Publishing. O’Neill, M. Seal, L. (2012). Transgressive Imagination Crime, Deviance and Culture. Great Britain. Palgrave MacMillan. Pollak, O. (1961) The criminality of women. New York: Barnes. Simon, J. Landis, J. (1991). The crimes women commit: The Punishments they receive. Lexington, Mass. Lexington Books. Worrall, A. Hoy, C. (2005). Punishment in the Community. Devon. Willan Publishing

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