@article{ref1,
title="Gendered justice in China: victim-offender mediation as the "different voice" of female judges",
journal="International journal of offender therapy and comparative criminology",
year="2020",
author="Wei, Shuai",
volume="ePub",
number="ePub",
pages="ePub-ePub",
abstract="Attempts to uncover the &quot;different voice&quot; of female judges through testing the statistical significance of judges' gender in decision making have offered inconsistent results. Meanwhile, a proliferation of research suggests that such &quot;voice&quot; might be detected through qualitative analysis. Existing findings indicate that when female judges have discretionary power regarding case management, they will typically foster a process of settlement. Based on this information, I conducted eight months of fieldwork in China and observed 68 victim-offender mediations in four district courts. I found that the criminal division is widely perceived as a masculine setting, and female judges are accustomed to employing mediation as a preferred dispute resolution method to facilitate reconciliation between the two parties and seek civil compensation for victims. Such judicial behavior is a result of propaganda from the Supreme People's Court and a reflection of female judges' life and work experience. By contrast, a neglect of mediation among male judges can be identified in the same workplace. The belief that mediation is feminine and time-consuming contributes to this neglect. In addition, rape lawsuits are an exception for mediation. This explorative research not only represents one of the first efforts to reveal a &quot;different voice&quot; in the Chinese criminal justice system but points out a direction of research for studying the judicial behaviors of female judges worldwide.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0306-624X",
doi="10.1177/0306624X20936202",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0306624X20936202"
}