Gender and Crime: Gender Policing - Assignment Example

Gender and Crime Affiliation: Gender Policing Summary There is a lot of feminization of police force with the police having women be I charge of women issues which is not necessarily effective based on the fact that the women police officers are only 28% and those in senior positions are only 18% (Guardian, 2010). The fact that the cop culture brings out female cops as not effective or tough enough n their job also hinders them implementing any action on gender based violence cases. There is a lot of police women discrimination and stereotypes surrounding the police force. Other than the number of women police officers being unequal to that of men, they are also still considered as the weaker sex and hence left to desk duties. This stereotype and discrimination has gone as far as to the criminals who do not consider women cops in the same bracket of authority as male cops and hence undermine their authority as well as openly defy them. This has led to many policewomen contemplating to quit the force (BBC News, 2012). There is widespread failure by policemen to protect women from gender-based violence. Research indicates numerous cases of rapes that either go unsolved, take a long time to solve as well as the rapists having a lower conviction rate as the years advance. This is also the case with domestic violence cases where the voices of the violated women are not heard and the policemen are not doing much about the situation (Guardian, 2010). Maybe the situation can change if women cops are given more authority power and respect to handle such cases. How these might be tackled by criminal justice policy and/or criminology The criminal justice system has the mandate to make policies regarding crimes and criminal behavior and the people it directly affects which in this case are the policemen and policewomen. The justice system should enforce the policies that are related to equal jobs distribution and upholding of ethics of conduct for both men and women officers serving in the police force. If there are no existing policies on the issue, they should formulate and pass such a policy (Barton & Johns, 2013). This will ensure to protect the women officers from discrimination and harassment in the workplace as well as provide them with equality status and respect from the fellow officer and the criminals as well as to all the civilians. On the issue of domestic violence and rape cases conviction cases, the criminal justice system should enhance its policies on conviction from the moment of investigation to the prosecution. It is the slow process of investigation that leads to destruction of evidence which is crucial in these cases. The police officers should act quickly once the rape cases are reported in order to ensure they have enough evidence to warrant more convictions (Barton & Johns, 2013). This will provide safety for the women as it will tightened the loop on the rapists or potential rapists who are at the moment serving minimal sentencing and going back to the society walking freely while the victims spend all their lives traumatized over the situation and the injustice that they received due to the poor conviction rates. Sentencing and the courts Summary The legal justice system is seen as being unfair to the men and lenient on the women be it in sentencing, probation or even the imprisonment. Women offenders are seen to be let off with only community service as punishment for their offences while the male offenders are offered severe prison punishment. The courts are also seen to always view women as victims and the men as perpetrators in crimes that involve both sexes. In this case therefore, women are let go as a result of family obligations or simply just warned while the men are sentenced (Amatrudi & Blake, 2014). Women that are imprisoned are those that are much more dangerous and most are released on probation compared to the men. This unfair gender discrimination in the legal system may be as a result of majority of the case being handled by magistrate courts which have over half of the magistrates as women and hence they tend to favor the women during sentencing and provide excuses of them taking care of their families. The women despite all these however also still face barriers in this legal system. The male solicitors for example earn a way higher salary than the female solicitors. When it comes to legal matters, there is no working part and hence women who are also careers of their homes find themselves disadvantaged and few therefore seek jobs there. The legal field is also still considered a male environment and hence the women in this field still face harsh environment to work in (Wahidin & Carr, 2013). How these might be tackled by criminal justice policy and/or criminology The criminal justice system needs to tackle these gender barriers that are being faced by both men and women in the criminal sentencing as well as in working in the criminal justice system. It needs to ensure that the law is followed equally when it comes to perpetrators of crime and that no gender is being favored over the other simply because there are care givers. When it comes to the probation boards, they need to also enforce justice to ensure that even the male offenders are equally vetted for probation like the women are. The current status indicates that the men are the ones who always commit crime or are at the wrong end of the law and the majority of the women are innocent and are always the victims unless they are really dangerous which is not really the case. The same equality standards that will be applied to the magistrates who tend to be favoring their own gender in sentencing should be applied to the male employers who provide a higher salary for the male solicitors while the female ones get way underpaid even though they carry out the same roles and have the same academic qualifications and experience (Amatrudi & Blake, 2014). The criminal justice system should be the most abiding, just and ethical correct institutions but this does not appear to the case based on the summary of the reading discussed above and this does not provide much hope for justice being incorporated and enhanced in these institutions. Gender and Punishment Summary The lesson is purely about the women and men justice systems. Women may be facing similar sentences with the men but they tend to be better behaved and hence majority gets probation than the men. Their punishments also tend to differ because of the impact it has on the men and women physically and psychologically (Wahidin & Carr, 2013). It is for this reason that most women unless the really dangerous ones are accorded less severe punishments such as community-based punishments while the men get the prison sentencing with others having no parole option. It is obvious that the women as a result of their limited number of prisons compared to that of men commit less serious offences and this is something that the men can borrow from the women. Research further indicates that the number of women being imprisoned is reducing leading to the women prisons having a lesser population compared to that of the men. The women being sentenced have no previous conviction records which are an indication that the reoffending rates for women compared to that of men is lower. Women inmates typically face a few unique problems which are related to children as over 40% of them have children and leaving them while in prison affects their general well-being. Some are also in prison because they are single parents whose hard life drives them to drugs among other problems. These are problems that are not likely to face men due to their nature of not being concerned much with child care (Amatrudi & Blake, 2014). How these might be tackled by criminal justice policy and/or criminology What is happening with the women and men in the legal justice system is not unfair but is simply a reflection of how the two genders lead their lives and what they prioritize. Criminology should focus on studying more about women in the criminal justice system, the reduction in their numbers in the prisons and what is highly contributing to their higher rate of probation compared to that of the men. The results of these studies can then be applied to the male prisoners to ensure they also get minimal sentencing as well as higher number of probations not to mention reducing their numbers in prisons. The results of these criminology researchers can then be taken up by the criminal justice and policy department and incorporated as part of the criminal justice policies that can assist the future people in society to be law abiding whether in prison or outside it. This will be a step closer to having the perfect desired society. The policies can also be inclusive of the remedies for inmates suffering from mental illnesses and other psychological disorders (Welsh & Harris, 2012). Furthermore, male have a higher chance of being re-incarcerated than the women and this should be included in the research and the policy as well. When the society has a lower chance of criminals being sentenced for more than on time offence, then it can be on the road to improving their criminal behavior and depopulating the prisons which are currently hosting a lot of male inmates while those of women are relatively empty. Alternative Punishment Summary Women according to research have much more to lose when they are imprisoned than the men. This is from their jobs, their families specifically children, jobs and societal respect as a mother. They are considered to be bad mothers even though majority of those imprisoned are in for non-violent offences. Once released back into the society, they face harder times finding positive employment or even custody of their children back. Most women who are in prison are young, single mothers struggling with financial hardships, mental illnesses, drugs and alcoholism, depression and eating disorders which drive them to commit non-violent crimes. It is important to punish women by putting them in alternative places other than prisons. In these alternative places, they can stay with their children and given an opportunity to earn money to avoid financial burdens. Their behavior can be reformed in these centers and hence assisted to become better individuals that are not a risk to themselves and their children and larger families. The problems that drive them to prison can be solved in these alternative centers. The fact that women are minimal offenders and re-offenders is a clear indication that they can benefit more from not being in actual prison (Wahidin & Carr, 2013). Research also indicates that the women taken to prison are much more likely to engage in drugs while in prison, get more physical and mental health problems as results of the separation with their families and lack of proper counseling and guidance than when they are sentenced to these alternative centers. How these might be tackled by criminal justice policy and/or criminology It is the role of the criminal justice system to carry out further research to verify the claims about women benefiting more from being given alternative punishments for their crimes other than prison sentencing. Once the claims are verified are being truthful, it is the role of this department to start formulating policies that will allow the women who have committed non-violent crimes to be offered alternative punishments. Their behavior can be reformed in these centers while they are allowed to still maintain a part of their lives (Barton & Johns, 2013). The policies will have prevented the government specifically the prisons spending a lot in cleaning the drug addiction of women offenders or seeking other health services for them which is the reality at the women based on the explanations in the summary above. The fact that women have already shown signs of improvement through alternative punishment is also another reason for policies to legalize these alternative punishments should be made to be a reality (Amatrudi & Blake, 2014). This should however not be considered as a gender discrimination because criminology research indicates that men who are sentenced are in for violent behaviors and hence are a danger to others if given alternative form of punishment similar to the women. The violent women however should be kept locked up in prison as they like the men are a danger to the society if not kept under close. These ones should remain locked up as they are unlikely to even suffer the metal breakdown or even engage in drugs. Race and Gender Summary Women of the minority race have been facing discrimination and stereotypes on two fronts. The first one is because they are women and are discriminated based on their gender and then they are discriminated based on their ethnic group and especially if they belong to the minority group of blacks or Hispanics. Black feminism is the movement that explains the predicament of the black women how their rights are insisted to be addressed but that is not the case in criminology statistics. Majority of the women in prisons similarly to the men are black. Their voices of their rights still go unanswered and they are limited. The fact that black women are still marginalized in this age and era is an indication that the historical concerns that were present from the civil war era are still present to date (Amatrudi & Blake, 2014). These women have large numbers representation in all the criminal areas but very few in other areas of development such as in the legal careers. This form of racism is also present in institutions where the people of color and especially women are discriminated upon. They are overtaken when it comes to promotions and career advancement opportunities, their salaries and benefits are not increased similarly to the other races specifically the white and these are historical concerns as well. While the other minority groups face the same discrimination, the major negative effects are felt by black women and their cries for help seem to either go unnoticed or no one is willing to help them in practice other than simply in literature. How these might be tackled by criminal justice policy and/or criminology Criminology research has already indicated that there is a high number of black women in prison more than any other race and this is not because they are the most delinquent and break the law the most but simply as a result of discrimination which increases their chances of imprisonment while others are sentenced to alternative punishments like community service. They are deemed to be most dangerous. The criminal justice department is yet to implement any of the policies on ethnic and gender-based discrimination which just happen to be present on paper (Welsh & Harris, 2012). There needs to be more campaign surrounding eh issue of black feminism. These women should have their rights respected and upheld just like is the case with the rights of white women. They deserve to have clear representation in the criminal justice departments that will push for the implementation of the present policies or formulation of new policies that will ensure they are heard and treated like equals to their gender and other races and ethnic groups (Barton & Johns, 2013). The policies on affirmative action should be extended to particularly black women to ensure that they get representation in all the right places particularly in the legal department as magistrates and get their voices of reason and cry for justice heard as well. All these efforts are possible under the criminal justice policy as all they need is to look at the research and statistics as the cause to formulate or implement policies. Women as victims of crime Summary Domestic violence is still present in the society to date and is not only happening to women but to men as well. The reported cases compared to the real case are minimal as people are afraid to relive the moment of the violence, are ashamed or have been threatened against reporting. The most common of the domestic violence cases are physical abuse, physical violence, stranger violence and even rape among others. According to the research, the women who undergo domestic violence do so under the hands of people they know and who are mostly friends or family members. Others even end up dying as result the assault. Majority of the men undergo the violence on the hands of strangers. The conviction cases of rape and other domestic violence cases towards the women is low and is still reducing as a result of having a partrichal legal system. The officers investigating the matter are male and so are the prosecutors and the magistrates and they are doing so against their fellow men who are the majority of the perpetrators (Guardian, 2010). The system can therefore not always provide an objective review or judgment of the case and the hence the women lack justice despite the heinous acts committed onto them by these men. What is even more shocking is the legal system relies on myths of rape such as the women brought it upon themselves by provoking the men who could not resist but rape them. These are simply myths which should not in any way be considered. How these might be tackled by criminal justice policy and/or criminology What is shocking as well as saddening on the matter of domestic violence is that there are numerous policies that have been established to deal with the matter as well as protect the genders particularly women from the different forms of domestic violence (Wahidin & Carr, 2013). Despite all these policies however, the violence in its different forms still exists and continues to kill people because the law enforcers are failing to do their duties as required of them to. At this point, the criminal justice system cannot formulate any other new policies but has to ensure that the existing policies are being implemented. What the criminal justice system needs is to seek help from other private organizations dealing with the matter of domestic violence and gender-based violence. Teaming up with these agencies and organizations will provide the numbers needed to apply pressure to the legal justice system as well as to assist the marginalized women and men seeking justice to get it. With more people being involved, the media will put a spotlight on the matter and the law enforcers will have no alternative but be just in their conviction as well as avoid discrimination of the cases simply because they involve their fellow men. The policies on affirmative action to being in more women into the legal team should be implemented as well to ensure they push for the justice of their fellow women (Amatrudi & Blake, 2014). References Amatrudi, A. & Blake, L. (2014). Human Rights and the Criminal Justice System. London: Routledge. Barton, A. & Johns, N. (2013). The Policy-making Process in the Criminal Justice System. London: Routledge. BBC News. (2012, July 15). Women police officers think about quitting – survey. BBC. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-18851715 Guardian. (2010, February 1). Woman forced into hiding by Britains worst stalker attacks police failures. The Guardian. Retrieved from http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2010/feb/01/britains-worst-stalker-police-failings Wahidin, A. & Carr, N. (2013). Understanding Criminal Justice: A Critical Introduction. London: Routledge. Welsh, W. & Harris, P. (2012). Criminal Justice Policy and Planning. London: Routledge. Read More