Browsing by Author "Deane, Heather"

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Race, Gender and the Sentencing Process: a Study of Sentencing in the District Court in New Zealand
(Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington, 1997) Deane, Heather
Few studies have attempted to examine the interaction of race and gender and sentencing. In New Zealand, there has been no such research until this study. Research overseas has reached inconclusive and conflicting results. This study examines the sentencing process in two New Zealand district courts to establish whether there was a race or gender influence at this point of the criminal justice process. A strength of this study is the methodological triangulation framework adopted. The research arose from a concern over the disproportionate representation of the Maori, New Zealand's indigenous people, in the criminal justice system. Not only are Maori in general over-represented in comparison with whites, but when gender is considered, Maori women are proportionately over-represented compared with Maori men. The first part of this study provides an examination of data collected from 1000 court files which were analysed using bivariate and multiple regression analyses. The key variables identified in predicting the sentence were seriousness of offence, criminal history and the number of current convictions. Race was not found to be a significant variable in determining the sentence. However, the analysis of these cases produced some evidence of the importance of gender in the differential sentencing between women and men. To investigate the effect of gender and race in more depth, field observations of 217 court cases were undertaken. This methodology enabled close examination of the sentencing process. This second part of the study found that almost three-quarters of the sample were remanded for pre-sentence reports (PSRs). In addition, differences in the treatment of men and women were observed, and the results showed that gender was a significant factor in the choice of a community based sentence. Finally, the third part of this research focussed on a content analysis of PSRs for these 217. The results of this analysis challenged the findings of most previous studies of such reports, especially with respect to race and gender bias. Overall, the research findings demonstrate the importance of the PSR in the sentencing process. This is the first study on sentencing in New Zealand which considers gender and race together, and as such it is exploratory. A number of questions arise from it indicating many avenues for further research.
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Social Effects of Imprisonment on Male Prisoners and Their Families: a New Zealand Study
(Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington, 1985) Deane, Heather
This research was designed to explore the social effects of imprisonment on male prisoners and their families from the viewpoint of both the men and their families. It expands upon earlier studies which have tended to focus on the prisoner and his rights rather than on difficulties and problems which the families of prisoners experience at the time of sentence and during the enforced separation. This is a time which constitutes a crisis situation for many families. The study examined: firstly, the nature of the relationships between families and prisoners; secondly, the problems experienced by the families as a result of the enforced separation; and thirdly, the major re-adjustment difficulties experienced by the men and their families upon release. Eighty-nine male prisoners were interviewed at four different institutions and, with the prisoners' consent, 45 interviews were also conducted with their wives or a close family member. After release a further 44 follow-up interviews were carried out with the men and their families. The impact of imprisonment on marital and family relationships was found to be severe. The most significant problems experienced by the wives and families as a result of the separation were: firstly, financial; secondly, emotional; and thirdly, difficulty for some in maintaining regular contact with the prisoner due to travelling costs and distance from the prison. Lack of public awareness and insufficient support to meet the needs of this special group was found to contribute significantly to the plight of these families. Upon release the particular issues identified were firstly, employment; secondly, financial and thirdly, community adjustment. These problems were exacerbated by the apparent lack of understanding of some employees at all levels and the inflexible structures within the bureaucratic organisations from which assistance might be forthcoming. This thesis concludes with recommendations to alleviate the sometimes desperate problems associated with enforced separation. There is an urgent need to implement some of these recommendations.