William Abney

Publication Date

5-3-1982

Advisor(s) - Committee Chair

Emmett Burkeen, Wayne Ashley, Edward Bohlander

Comments

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Degree Program

Department of Counseling and Student Affairs

Degree Type

Specialist in Education

Abstract

This project represents an examination of the sentencing patterns of the Circuit Courts in Kentucky from 1972 to 1975. Variations in sentencing patterns, based on a sample of 1603 felons, are analyzed to show differences in sanctions imposed on female and male offenders. The study is based on data drawn from information residing in the central files of the Kentucky Bureau of Corrections. Comparisons are measured through the use of an equality index, and they focus on the impact of legal and non-legal variables on the sentencing decision in the cases of convicted females. The results of this study show support for the "working hypotheses": (a) there is no equality in the sentencing of male and female offenders; (b) overall, women receive more lenient treatment in sentencing than do men; (c) black women are granted less leniency in sentencing than are white women: and (d) that both black women and white women are treated in a discriminatory fashion in the sentencing stage remains true when controlling for legal and extralegal considerations.

Disciplines

Counseling | Counselor Education | Criminology and Criminal Justice | Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies | Social and Behavioral Sciences | Student Counseling and Personnel Services | Women's Studies

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