Gender and Attitudes Toward Justice System Bias in Central America Bias

Abstract

This study examines the attitudes of Latin American women toward justice system equality versus those of Latin American men. Building on recent work on general justice system bias and using 2003 Latinobarómetro data, it tests this question in three Central American countries (Costa Rica, El Salvador, and Nicaragua) using two sets of attitudes toward justice system performance (equal punishment and equal treatment). Women are significantly more likely to believe that the criminal justice system provides unequal treatment before the law than are men, while women and men express the same level of belief that the justice system provides equal punishment. Evidence indicates that women connect unequal treatment to economic factors and follow a conflict model of criminal justice, which posits these attitudinal differences as a function of the group's subordinate position in society.