RT journal article
T1 Gender Disparities in Sentence Discourses for Parental Figures Convicted of Severe Violence Against Minors in Their Care in Portugal
A1 Cabral, João
A1 Martín Aragón, María del Mar
A1 Castro Rodrigues, Andreia
A2 Derecho Internacional PúblicoPenal y Procesal
K1 Gender differences
K1 Parental figures
K1 Judicial sentences
K1 Filicide
K1 Negligence
AB This study aimed to scrutinize court discourses in cases of severe violence by parental figures against minors. Studies on gender differences in judicial settings have revealed that women may be either protected or demonized, as framed by the chivalry hypothesis, familial paternalism, and the double deviance/evil woman hypothesis. This study analyzed 66 judicial sentences involving parental figures (i.e., fathers/stepfathers and mothers/stepmothers) who committed extreme violence against minors. Using Braun and Clarke’s (2012) thematic analysis, we found three main themes: Description of the Act, Courts' Justifications, and Aggravating Factors. Findings revealed that maternal figures received more mentions of mitigating circumstances, psychological state, and motivations for committing their crime, but were more harshly punished and criticized, supporting the evil woman hypothesis. In a field lacking ample data, this study offers crucial findings that warrant discussion for contextualizing and guiding future research.
YR 2025
FD 2025
LK http://hdl.handle.net/10498/35833
UL http://hdl.handle.net/10498/35833
LA eng
DS Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Cádiz
RD 07-nov-2026