FCHS (DCPC) - Comunicações em Conferências Internacionais
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- Court decisions, gender role and female crime: Judicial (dis)paritiesPublication . Dinis, Maria Alzira Pimenta; Caridade, SóniaIntroduction: For years, crime investigation did not consider female, given the reduced involvement in the practice of criminal behaviour. However, official data from the past few years has been challenging this impression, documenting an increase in crime perpetrated by women, all over the world. Social perceptions about women continue to be imbued with gender stereotypes (e.g., fragile, weak, more credible, maternal) that make female incompatible with the role of offender. Women are commonly perceived as playing the role of the victim and the man is usually considered the offender. This under-representation or even relativization of female criminal conduct tends to interfere with the performance of law professionals and the criminal justice system itself, also influencing the design of prevention/intervention policies. Method: Using a qualitative methodology, the present study sought to identify the factors that are considered by the judicial professionals in the analysis of female criminal conduct, seeking to understand how gender stereotypes may influence the attribution of judicial sentences. To this end, a total of ten court sentences involving women with criminal conduct, aged between 18 and 42 years old (M = 30.5; SD = 12.26) were collected and analysed. Results: In terms of results, previous criminal experience, modus operandi, perception of criminal responsibility, degree of illegality, as well as the sociodemographic characteristics of the victims, were identified as important variables in the judicial decision-making process. Discussion and conclusions: The criminal justice system doesn't seem to be oblivious of the influence of some gender stereotypes, which, under certain circumstances, appear to promote unequal treatment practices in situations involving women as a criminal agent. It is expected that this study may contribute to the deconstruction of some prescriptions, historically attributed to women (e.g., the greatest female vulnerability, the pathologization of the offending woman, among others) and may contribute to promote changes in the way judicial professionals face and judge the offender female, encouraging a greater judicial equity.
- Female crime, criminal justice practice and gender roles: judicial professionals’ perspectivesPublication . Caridade, Sónia; Dinis, Maria Alzira PimentaIntroduction: Gender has been identified as an important and consistent variable that differentiates crime behaviour in which men have traditionally been associated with the offense and the exercise of authority, and women suffering victimization. Criminal statistics in recent years contradict this assumption and document an increase in female crime around the world and the greater involvement of women in the criminal justice system. In turn, the influence that gender role has on attitudes about female and male crime may also impact the way in which judicial professionals operate on female involvement in crime and the type of risk assessment performed, also affecting policies prevention and intervention. Method: Using a qualitative methodology, the present study aimed to analyse and characterize the practices of the criminal justice system in cases involving female crime, based on the perceptions of judicial professionals. More specifically, it was intended to: i) analyse the perception of judicial professionals about female crime; ii) analyse how socially established gender roles are used to explain the female crime; iii) analyse the factors that may contribute to possible gender differences in the decision-making of judicial professionals. Ten judicial professionals, mostly male (70%), with an average age of 46 years and with an average professional experience of approximately 20 years, were interviewed. Results: Participants pointed to a growing criminal parity between men and women, as a result of social progress and new opportunities. However, they also identified differences between female and male criminal activity (e.g., less serious female criminal conduct, less female recidivism, less female criminal agency). The results also revealed an ambivalent position regarding the performance of the criminal justice system in relation to crime in women. Discussion and conclusions: The perception conveyed by the judicial professionals about the absence of female identity in crime and an existing ideology about the role of women in society, promotes not only a certain benevolence in judicial decisions, but also ignore certain risk behaviours. This could compromise the risk assessment of female criminal conduct, and subsequent judicial intervention, so it is important to promote greater awareness of crime in women, deconstructing stereotypes around the role of women in society.