Gender as social threat: A study of offender sex, situational factors, gender dynamics and social control

•The study examines the relationship between gender and adjudication withheld.•Adjudication withheld allows offender to escape the label 'convicted felon'.•Women are more likely to receive adjudication withheld than men.•Women convicted of 'atypical' crimes are most likely to get adjudication withheld.•Changing gender dynamics do not weaken the effect of gender on the outcome.

PurposeAdopting a social threat perspective, the assessment explores how gender and social gender dynamics affect the labeling of convicted felons using a unique sentencing outcome - adjudication withheld.MethodsThis research investigates the direct effect of gender, and interactive impact of offender sex/crime type, on adjudication withheld for a sample of probationers (N = 110,419) sentenced in Florida between 2000 and 2002 using Hierarchical Generalized Linear Modeling. The study also explores how social gender dynamics moderate these relationships.ResultsFemale offenders are significantly more likely than men to receive adjudication withheld. Women convicted of atypical crimes, such as assault, auto theft and drug sale/manufacturing have better odds of avoiding the felon label than females convicted of other crimes. Finally, measures of gendered threat do not increase the use of social control for female offenders.ConclusionsWomen have significantly better chances of avoiding a felon label; however, this varies by crime type. Criminal justice actors may be reluctant to penalize female offenders with a felon label and the stigma of violent crime convictions. Finally, gendered threat measures did not weaken the leniency shown to female probationers in Florida, possible due to the increased resources available to women in the study areas.