Gender in Context: A Multilevel Examination of the Effects of Structural Factors on Individual-Level Sentencing Decisions

Abstract

The extant research has failed to consider how community factors affect women’s sentences. Drawing from the focal concerns perspective and feminist perspectives, the current study examines the possible influence that variations in gender equality at the community level have on the individual treatment of women in the court system. Using data from the Pennsylvania Sentencing Commission and United States Census Bureau, the results indicate that women are less likely to be incarcerated than men. This disparity was found to be smaller in areas with larger disparities in men and women income levels. Gender was not found to be significant for the sentence length decision, but a significant interaction between rate of married women in a community and gender was found, with women receiving longer sentences in areas with higher rates of married women.