Sex Matters

Abstract

Male and female inmates have different profiles and needs, and adapt to prison in different ways. When policy is made and implemented, however, the male model of imprisonment sets the standard. This article argues that courts and prison administrators should consider the differences between men and women in prison, particularly in the context of cross-gender searches, which brings those differences to the fore. The case of Jordan v. Gardner, in which the court recognized women inmates' specific histories of abuse in evaluating the potential psychological harm of cross-gender searches, is presented as an exemplary use of a gender-specific standard. It is recommended that a gender-specific standard be used by both courts and prison administrators in order to measure more appropriately and accurately the impact of cross-gender searches on women inmates.     

Judicial Discretion and Defendant's Sex

The judicial treatment of adult female relative to male criminal offenders is theoretically and empirically examined in this paper. After discussing various problems with the chivalry hypothesis and labeling theory–the two major explanations of gender disparities-an empirical test is made to determine the accuracy of both perspectives. An analysis of 543 adult felony cases in Dade County, Florida, using multiple regression to control for the effects of relevant legal and nonlegal variables, indicated inconsistent differences in treatment by sex at the h e k of negotiations, prosecution, conviction, and sentence. These differences also vary over the three time periods examined: 1965–1966, 1971, and 1975–1976. The findings do not support any existing theory of the differential legal handling of male and female offenders, clearly indicating a need for the development of theory that takes into account the growing body of empirical work in this area.     

Punishing Sex: Sex Offenders and the Missing Punitive Turn in Sexuality Studies

At precisely the same time that gay and lesbian activists were securing marriage rights for same‐sex couples nationwide, courts and “tough on crime” state legislatures were devising new ways to regulate sex. Despite recent estimates that over 750,000 Americans are registered sex offenders, few sexuality scholars have examined the growth of punitive policies regulating sex offenders. In this article, I draw on a unique set of data on the population of sex offenders in the United States to analyze: (1) whether recent trends in sex offender registration mirror those of corrections more generally, and (2) whether these policies disproportionally impact racial minorities. Findings reveal that sex offender registries grew dramatically between 2005 and 2013; that this growth is out of step with concurrent trends in corrections; and that black communities are disproportionately impacted. I conclude by considering whether these data reveal a new mode of “governing through crime” specifically targeting sex.

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Consuming Sex: Socio-legal Shifts in the Space and Place of Sex Shops

Materials defined as pornographic have always been subject to regulation because of the potential of such items to 'corrupt and deprave'. Yet the state and law has rarely sought to ban such materials, attempting instead to restrict their accessibility. The outcomes of such interventions have, however, rarely been predictable, an issue we explore with reference to the changing regulation of sex shops in Britain and France since the 1970s. Noting ambiguities in the legal definitions of spaces of sex retailing, this paper traces how diverse forms of control have combined to restrict the location of sex shops, simultaneously shaping their design, management, and marketing. Describing the emergence of gentrified and 'designer' stores, this paper demonstrates that regulation has been complicit in a process of neo-liberalization that has favoured more corporate sex shops – without this having ever been an explicit aim of those who have argued for the regulation of sex retailing.     

Crime and Sex in South Australia

Policing Images: Policing, Communication, and Legitimacy. Rob C. Mawby. Portland, OR: Willan Publishing, 2002. ISBN 1–903240 71–9. Hardback US $55.00. 214 pages.

Armed Robbery. Roger Mathews. Portland, OR: Willan Publishing, 2002. ISBN 1–903240–61–1. 162 pages.     

Sex offender punishment and the persistence of penal harm in the U.S

The U.S. has dramatically revised its approach to punishment in the last several decades. In particular, people convicted of sex crimes have experienced a remarkable expansion in social control through a wide-range of post-conviction interventions. While this expansion may be largely explained by general punishment trends, there appear to be unique factors that have prevented other penal reforms from similarly modulating sex offender punishment. In part, this continuation of a “penal harm” approach to sex offenders relates to the past under-valuing of sexual victimization. In the “bad old days,” the law and its agents sent mixed messages about sexual violence and sexual offending. Some sexual offending was mere nuisance, some was treatable, and a fraction “deserved” punishment equivalent to other serious criminal offending. In contrast, today's sex offender punishment schemes rarely distinguish formally among gradations of harm or dangerousness. After examining incarceration trends, this article explores the historical context of the current broad brush approach and reviews the unintended consequences. Altogether, this article reinforces the need to return to differentiation among sex offenders, but differentiation based on science and on the experience-based, guided discretion of experts in law enforcement, corrections, and treatment.     

Sex determination by discriminant function analysis of lateral cranial form.

To sex the cranium, morphological features of cranial specimens were quantified with a personal computer that automatically measures distance and gradient for 39 craniometric points in the lateral contour line of the skull, which were digitized by a tablet digitizer connected to the computer. Specimens used for discriminant analysis were 50 male and 50 female adult Japanese skulls. The lateral contour showed sex differences in the nasal bone, supraorbital ridge, forehead and vertex. The nasal bone and supraorbital ridge were more developed in male contour line, and the forehead was more rounded in female contour line. But compared with the supraorbital ridge and forehead, the vertex had a wide variety of contour lines in both sexes. The vertex seemed to be less reliable as the indicator of sex. The sex differences were better reflected by gradient than distance. From variables of the gradient and distance showing significant sex differences, the discriminant function was derived and tested in 21 other specimens (13 male and 8 female skulls). The mean ratio of correct sexing of the human skull by the discriminant function was 86%.     

Sex Offenders of East Asian Heritage Resemble Other Canadian Sex Offenders

Although there is considerable research on Caucasian sexual offenders, there has been much less research on sex offenders of Asian heritage. The current study compared East Asian (e.g., Chinese, Japanese, and Korean) sex offenders in British Columbia (B.C.), Canada, and other B.C. sex offenders on items and total score of Static-99R. This study included all provincially sentenced adult male sexual offenders (n = 4580) supervised in the community by B. C. Corrections (including 122 East Asian sex offenders). Sexual, violent, any crime, and any recidivism (including technical violations) data were collected with an average follow-up 4.3 years. The total scores of Static-99R were similar between East Asian sex offenders and other ethnic groups (M = 2.0 vs. M = 2.4). East Asian offenders scored significantly lower than other ethnic offenders on several items measuring general criminality (e.g., prior non-sexual violence, prior sentencing dates, and any prior sex offenses). In contrast, Asian offenders appeared to be more paraphilic (e.g., any convictions for non-contact sex offenses). Lastly, Static-99R significantly predicts sexual, violent, and criminal among sex offenders of East Asian heritage.     

Effect of Sex Offenders Treatment Program on Cognitive and Emotional Characteristics of Mentally Ill Sex Offenders

This study assessed the effect of a 10‐week cognitive behavior treatment program in 30 mentally ill sex offenders. The effect of the program was evaluated using the Interpersonal Responsiveness Index (IRI), UCLA Loneliness Scale (UCLALS), Coping Using Sex Inventory (CUSI), and Rape Myth Acceptance Scale (RMAS). Data were analyzed using the paired t‐test. The ability of sex offenders to cope with sexual acts when they faced stressful situations and to accept the rape myth was significantly improved on CUSI (t = 2.09, p = 0.04) and RMAS (t = 5.45, p < 0.001). Feelings of isolation and the ability to empathize based on IRI (t = 0.62, p = 0.54) and UCLALS (t = 0.88, p = 0.38) were not significantly improved. To prevent recidivism, treatment for mentally ill sex offenders should focus on changes in their cognitive and emotional characteristics in addition to their main psychiatric illness.     

Intergenerational Transmission of Dating Aggression as a Function of Witnessing Only Same Sex Parents vs. Opposite Sex Parents vs. Both Parents as Perpetrators of Domestic Violence

The present study examined the association between witnessing interparental violence as a child, and the risk for perpetrating and being the victim of dating aggression as an adult, in an undergraduate sample. Specifically, this study tested a modeling hypothesis whereby witnessing a same sex parent vs. an opposite sex parent exclusively in the aggressor role would be more highly associated with risk for perpetrating dating aggression. Similarly, observing a same sex parent vs. an opposite sex parent as exclusively a victim of marital aggression would be associated with risk for being a victim of dating aggression. A same sex modeling effect was found for perpetration of dating aggression. Respondents who witnessed only their same sex parent perpetrate physical marital aggression were at increased risk for perpetrating physical dating aggression, whereas respondents who witnessed only their opposite sex parent perpetrate were not. A same sex modeling effect, however, was not found for being a victim of dating aggression. Rather, risk for victimization by dating aggression was associated only with witnessing bidirectional marital violence. Implications of these results, limitations of the present study, and ideas for future research are discussed.     

Sex Equality Law After Kalanke and Marschall

In Marschall, the ECJ looked for the second time into the admissibility of positive action in German public services; a third reference on this issue is still pending. Despite the Court's positive response to the 'women's quota' in Marschall, its application in Germany remains controversial. This article tries to shed some light on the specific conditions under which women's quotas were implemented in Germany and on the different approaches to anti-discrimination, indirect discrimination law and structural discrimination, which underlie efforts to justify women's quotas against equality standards derived from EC Law.