Legal outcomes and legal agents

Although a number of theories of law stress the importance of examining the characteristics of deviance processing agents for understanding criminal sanctioning, empirical studies have generally neglected these variables. Using data from a sample of convicted felons, this study looks at (1) both the additive and interactive effect of the probation officer's gender on sentencing recommendations accorded male and female offenders and (2) whether the social and political context, measured by the time span 1965–1980, alters any noted dyadic effects. The results indicate that both male and female officers recommend that female offenders receive the less severe sentences. Moreover, the context in which these recommendations are made has almost no appreciable effect. The implications of the findings for both the available theoretical frameworks and policy considerations are discussed.