Addressing gender bias in the justice system

That's a very interesting article, and I enjoyed reading it. I am glad you brought it to my attention. I believe some of the content is geared more toward global criminal justice than the USA specifically where I practice. I found it very interesting because more often in the USA I actually see the opposite in practice (bias negatively impacting men rather than women in the legal system). I suspect that is more unique to the USA and the types of cases that I do, however. I imagine in many countries in which women are imprisoned for abortion, premarital sex, extramarital sex, or immodesty/dress code the situation is remarkably different from what I see in my practice. As a fun fact, a 2015 study from the University of Michigan Law School found that, in the USA, sentences for men are on average 63 percent longer than sentences for women (American Law and Economics Review, Volume 17, Issue 1, Spring 2015, Pages 127–159, https://doi.org/10.1093/aler/ahu010). Although black men had longer sentences than white men, women of all races had shorter sentences than white men for the same crimes. I will add I think there are a number of reasons for this and some of them are justified. I also work in family courts doing some evaluations related to custody issues. Courts in most states in the USA heavily favor mothers taking care of the children as a primary custodian over fathers. While some may see it as stereotyping, bias, or even discrimination to identify a woman more strongly as a parent than a man, this remains common in the USA and is very prominent in these parental cases. Although seeing a woman as a mother more than a man as a father is often seen as discrimination against women in the USA, in custody cases in which both parents want their children, it ends up serving as discrimination against the man. It is given some of this experience I have seen firsthand that I find articles like the one you posted so fascinating.

To answer your question, changing laws which unfairly target or discriminate against only women would go a long way in cases where this exists. For men in the criminal justice system, I think changing the way we see men and women would lessen bias and differences in sentencing to some extent. When sentencing is considered, for example, past trauma and abuse are often considered as mitigating circumstances and reduce sentencing. Often a woman who was sexually abused and has a history of trauma and depression is seen with more sympathy and concern (resulting in a lower sentence) than a man might be who has the same background. A woman who has a child is seen sympathetically because the child needs their mother so a lengthy prison sentence seems unreasonable. A man with a child is less often given this same accommodation. Helping judges and juries to understand some of these issues certainly is within the realm of forensic psychologists.

@Daniel Sumner, I love some of the stats you put in there. I will add that those numbers are going to continue to significantly skew toward women in the coming years. Most psychology programs in the US are around 80% female. Nearly all forensic psychologists I know who are below the age of 40 are female. As the older generation retires, the female to male ratio will substantially shift and I would not be surprised to see a 4:1 female to male ratio in a decade or two. Women are also going to college at much higher rates than men in the USA so I expect to see significant shifts here across the board. Current data says about 40% of college students are men and 60% are women (meaning 50% more women than men are in college). For those women in college, 50% will graduate. Only 40% of men in college will graduate, further widening the gap in graduation rates. Not only will this change who are the decision makers and influencing policy in the future but it will continue to influence the way we see men and women and their roles. I hope that this shift will reduce bias in understanding what it means to be a man or woman or how best to treat people.

This is a profoundly interesting article with many excellent points. In point of the question you ask about how forensic psychologists can help protect the unique interest of women in a law setting:

1. By taking into account the entire history of the individual - violence, sexual abuse.

2. Conveying gender equality to those working as defense and prosecution to help facilitate a better understanding of the challenges faced.

3. Recognising the history of law and how it has historically and still remains largely a male-centred endeavour.

I was going to suggest how increasing the number of female forensic psychologists would aid in these aims. However some encouraging statistics bring hope:

In the US "57.9% of all Forensic Psychologists are women, while 33.6% are men"

Taken from - https://www.zippia.com/forensic-psychologist-jobs/demographics/

The percentage of female public defenders may also be of hope:

Women public defenders - 53%

Men public defenders - 47%

No so hopeful statistics indicate a largely male orientated legal system

However US district court judges raises alarming issues :

The percentage of women as judges in 2017 - 34%

Men who were serving as judges - 66%

Taken from https://www.zippia.com/forensic-psychologist-jobs/demographics/

While some of these numbers indicate an increasing number of women and thus a more equal playing field - in reality the women who are working in senior positions are playing in an arena built, designed and to some extent maintained by men.

Nevertheless forensic psychologists have a great deal to offer to the understanding of legal teams to the challenges and obstacles faced by women and their relationship to the legal system.