THE EFFECTS OF GENDER ON PHYSICAL CHILD ABUSE AND NEGLECT SENTENCING IN MARYLAND CIRCUIT COURTS

Abstract

Researchers have identified child abuse as a major social problem in the United States, yet research on physical child abuse and neglect sentencing is limited. Prior to this study, sentencing research has mostly overlooked physical child abuse and neglect as a distinct crime. As physical child abuse and neglect are so contrary to traditional notions of femininity, studying the effects of gender on sentencing for these narrowly defined crimes presents an opportunity to focus on females as countertypes. The findings here imply that the effects of being female (a countertype) increases for the most serious crime, first degree child abuse, in both the decision to incarcerate and on the sentence length.