Examination of the Treatment of Female Offenders in the British Criminal Courts

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

The purpose of this paper is to assess the treatment of female offenders in the British criminal courts. To do so, the relationship between the traditional stereotypes about women in British society and the treatment of criminal women in court is explored. Furthermore, issues including women's responsibility in society, the concept of double deviance, chivalry and 'evil women' theories are discussed. Additionally, the related laws and how the courts serve the special needs of women and take unique issues like 'Battered Woman Syndrome', infanticide and hormonal imbalances into account are reviewed. Finally, the author analyses the cases that show how female offenders are treated differently from male criminals by the court based on the existing stereotypes. Specifically, diminished responsibility defense, supported by the argument that female offenders are much more likely than male offenders to suffer from mental health problems, is examined and the attitude of the British courts of law towards such defense is studied.

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