“Same crime, same sentence?” Disparities in laypersons’ sanctioning preferences for male and female offenders, and the link to respondent gender bias

Abstract

AbstractThis study examined whether offender gender was associated with disparities in sanctioning preferences, and if these disparities were linked to implicit or explicit gender-bias attitudes. Participants (N = 316, n = 126 male, n = 190 female) completed an anonymous survey, the Implicit Association Test (IAT), the Ambivalent Sexism Inventory (ASI), and were randomly assigned to vignettes followed by sanction options on four crimes; solicitation, theft, child sexual abuse (CSA) and homicide. Half received the vignettes featuring female offenders and the other half with male offenders. Overall, participants selected significantly harsher sanctions for male offenders for three of four crimes: solicitation (d = .45), theft (d = .25), and homicide (d = .61), with a ns difference for child sexual abuse (d = .03). There was no participant gender effect. There was a significant leniency effect towards women, except for CSA. Results indicate a small effect for explicit gender stereotype for only two of the four crimes, solicitation and CSA, and no effect of implicit gender stereotype. This study offers support for the “leniency effect” in relation to women who offend, although these biases may not greatly affect sentencing preferences.

Keywords

• crime
• gender
• bias
• Implicit Association Test
• Ambivalent Sexism Inventory