Re-Examining Gender Disparity in Sentencing: A Propensity Score Approach

• In Event: Race and Gender Disparities in Sentencing

Abstract

With few exceptions, a strong finding of research is that overall female offenders are treated more leniently by the courts in sentencing. For example, female offenders are on average less likely to sentenced to prison, after adjusting for a range of extra-legal and legal characteristics. However, recent sentencing research using propensity score matching, rather than conventional regression analyses suggests that we may provide a more nuanced understanding of how offender characteristics may matter, at least for the impact of race/ethnicity on sentencing outcomes and the effect of sex in capital sentencing. Using propensity score matching, this study explores the effect of offender sex on the decision to imprison for a sample of offenders convicted between 2010 and 2012 in an Australian jurisdiction.

Authors

• Christine E.W. Bond, Griffith University

• Kerry Carrington, Queensland University of Technology

• Samantha Jeffries, Griffith University