Sentencing Women: An Analysis of Recent Trends
Rebecca Barnes
Carol Hedderman
2381/32081
https://figshare.le.ac.uk/articles/chapter/Sentencing_Women_An_Analysis_of_Recent_Trends/10126277
From Introduction: This chapter analyses changes in the sentencing of women between 2000 and 2012. We
update an earlier analysis conducted by Hedderman (2004) which sought to establish
why the number of women going to prison increased so steeply between 1992 and
2000. Since 2000, there have been important changes in sentencing policies and
government responses to women offenders. Media portrayals have also shifted to
emphasise a ‘ladette’ culture of female drinking, anti-social behaviour and violence. This
chapter reflects on the consequences of these changes and considers how the sentencing
of women has changed since 2000, including the use of custody and new sentences such
as suspended sentence orders. It examines how far Labour's policy of diverting women
from custody during its second term of office fed through into court practice; and it
assesses what has happened since the Conservative-Liberal Democrat Coalition took
power.
2015-04-29 08:44:13
Sentencing
Women offenders
Female imprisonment
Equality