Deirdre Palk, Gender, Crime and Judicial Discretion, 1780-1830

Criminologists and historians of crime have long been aware of the fact that, statistically, women are and were brought before the courts in fewer numbers than men, and that in aggregate their punishments were less than those of men. The suggestions of historical actors that women’s nature made them less prone to crime than men have been quoted often, and explanations for the difference have been sought in various forms of what might be termed chivalric patriarchy. The great virtue of Deirdre..