The Sex-Sanctioning Issue: Is it History?

A recent review of the effect of sex on courtroom outcomes suggests both that paternalism is alive and well and that the demise of gender-based leniency will emerge as the criminality of women is seen to be increasingly like that of men. This research tests these hypotheses, and a complementary hypothesis, derivedfrom the notion that sex-based differences in sanctioning are due to structural and cultural differences in the lives of male and female offenders. The hypotheses are tested with a sample of men (N =1,558) and women (N =1,365) who were convicted of the crimes of theft, forgery and drug law violations over a 16-year timespan (1965-1980). The analyses indicate that (1) the effect of sex on the decision to incarcerate can, in part, be accounted for by the pretrial release decision; and (2) with regard to the pretrial release decision, holding constant the social and cultural differences in the lives of male and female offenders significantly reduces evidence of gender-based leniency over the 16-year period.