Gendered views on parole: Exploring how emotion and emotion management help to explain gender differences in the Australian public’s views on parole Shannon Dodd (née Buglar) LLA, BA(Hons), MCCJ A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at The University of Queensland in 2019 School of Social Science Abstract Several studies have explored the gender gap in various aspects of the public’s criminal justice attitudes. However, no studies to date have examined gender differences in public support or opposition to parole as their focal interest. Such research is necessary given the recent controversy surrounding parole in Australia (and internationally), as well as the growing involvement of women in all aspects of criminal justice decision-making, including as parole board members. Although research tends to show that women hold less punitive views toward offenders than men and are more supportive of treatment-based approaches, there is some evidence to suggest that the reverse may be true when it comes to releasing prisoners on parole. Here, women are seemingly less supportive than men of early release mechanisms. However, whether this is true in the Australian context, and if so, the reasons underlying this gender gap, is not yet known. There is some indication, though, that differing emotional dispositions and reactions may lead to differences in men’s and women’s policy preferences. Exploring the interplay between gender and emotion, then, may provide a clearer understanding of gender differences in public punitiveness, including public views on parole. This dissertation examines how emotions intersect with men’s and women’s tolerance for the penal process of parole using an explanatory mixed-methods research design. This design involves two sequential phases of data collection and analysis. First, a quantitative analysis of survey data collected from 1,079 men and women is conducted to establish whether there is a gender gap in parole support in Australia. This analysis also investigates whether the gender gap, if found, can be explained by demographic factors other than gender or by variables found by previous research to be associated with people’s attitudes toward offenders more broadly. In the second research phase, I use a thematic analysis of in-depth interviews to explore the affective experiences and behaviour of Australian men and women in response to a parole crime vignette. Here, I explore how emotions like fear, anger, and empathy play into men’s and women’s views on parole and their decision to grant or refuse parole for a hypothetical offender. I am also interested in how emotions are part of ‘doing gender’ in a criminal justice context. The conceptual framework underpinning this research draws from Arlie Russell Hochschild’s theory of emotion management and its key concepts of gendered feeling rules and emotion management. Thus, while I adopt a binary view of gender in the quantitative analysis, for this second part of my study I take a social constructionist view of gender as a type of performance, which allows me to explore how men and women enact their gendered identity through emotion in a hypothetical parole context. I take a similar view of emotion, whereby I conceptualise emotions as physiological, but also culturally and context dependent. ii The results of the quantitative analysis confirm the existence of a gender gap in parole attitudes in Australia, with women having greater odds than men of holding non-supportive views toward releasing prisoners on parole. The results also indicate that women have greater odds of taking a neutral view on parole, rather than supporting it. Finally, the analysis returned some unexpected results, with a moderation analysis showing that it was women who were the least fearful and the least punitive who had the greatest odds of opposing parole. This led me to question the role of emotions in contributing to the gender gap in parole support, which I explored in phase 2. The findings of the qualitative analysis showed that emotions of fear, anger, and empathy are important in shaping people’s views on parole. The analysis also showed that while some men and women conformed to prevailing gendered feeling rules while enacting their gendered identities, others resisted emotion norms by directly and openly expressing feelings not usually associated with their gender. Some women, for example, resisted normative ideas about femininity and gendered feeling rules by describing the anger they experienced with respect to criminal justice issues. On the other hand, many men expressed, without reservation, feelings of empathy and the influence of these feelings on their parole decision. Thus, I argue that while men’s and women’s affective experiences and behaviour are governed in some ways by the gendered feeling rules that are customarily observed in other social contexts, a criminal justice context may evoke some unique feeling rules. Further, because different social contexts may allow or require individuals to express emotions that do not necessarily conform with the feeling rules associated with their gender, I argue that the emotions expressed by men and women in a hypothetical parole context may conflict with traditional ideas about appropriately masculine and feminine displays of emotion. From the findings of these two studies, I conclude that while a gender gap in parole attitudes in Australia does exist, one must look further than the results of a quantitative survey to understand the complex interplay of gender, emotion and emotion management that underlies those gender differences. iii Declaration by author This thesis is composed of my original work, and contains no material previously published or written by another person except where due reference has been made in the text. I have clearly stated the contribution by others to jointly-authored works that I have included in my thesis. I have clearly stated the contribution of others to my thesis as a whole, including statistical assistance, survey design, data analysis, significant technical procedures, professional editorial advice, and any other original research work used or reported in my thesis. The content of my thesis is the result of work I have carried out since the commencement of my research higher degree candidature and does not include a substantial part of work that has been submitted to qualify for the award of any other degree or diploma in any university or other tertiary institution. I have clearly stated which parts of my thesis, if any, have been submitted to qualify for another award. I acknowledge that an electronic copy of my thesis must be lodged with the University Library and, subject to the policy and procedures of The University of Queensland, the thesis be made available for research and study in accordance with the Copyright Act 1968 unless a period of embargo has been approved by the Dean of the Graduate School. I acknowledge that copyright of all material contained in my thesis resides with the copyright holder(s) of that material. Where appropriate I have obtained copyright permission from the copyright holder to reproduce material in this thesis. iv Publications included in this thesis Dodd, S. (2018) The punitive woman? Gender differences in public attitudes toward parole among an Australian sample. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 62(10), 3006-3022. S. Dodd was solely responsible for the conceptualisation of this paper, the analysis, and the writing and analysis. This paper is partially incorporated and expanded upon as paragraphs in Chapters 2, 4 and 5. Submitted manuscripts included in this thesis No manuscripts submitted for publication. Other publications during candidature Peer reviewed papers Bartels, L., Gelb, K., Spiranovic, C., Sarre, R., & Dodd, S. (2018). Bail, risk and law reform: A review of bail legislation across Australia. Criminal Law Journal, 42(2), 91-107. Freiberg, A., Bartels, L., Fitzgerald, R., & Dodd, S. (2018). Parole, politics and penal policy. QUT Law Review, 18(1), 191-215. Dodd, S. (2018) The punitive woman? Gender differences in public attitudes toward parole among an Australian sample. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 62(10), 3006-3022. Fitzgerald, R., Freiberg, A., Bartels, L., A., Cherney, A., & Buglar, S. (2016). How does the Australian public view parole? Results from a national survey on public attitudes towards parole and re-entry. Criminal Law Journal, 40(6), 307-324. Buglar, S. (2016). The Focal Concerns of Parole Board Decision-Making: A Thematic Analysis. Current Issues in Criminal Justice, 27(3), 285-302. Cheshire, L., & Buglar, S. (2015). Anti-social or intensively sociable? The local context of neighbour disputes and complaints among social housing tenants. Housing Studies, 31(6), 729-748. v Conference abstracts Dodd, S. (2017). The Punitive Woman? Gender Differences in Public Attitudes Toward Parole. Presented at the Australian and New Zealand Society of Criminology Conference, Canberra, and the Stockholm Criminology Symposium, Stockholm. Buglar, S. (2016). Parole and the Public: Gender Differences in Public Attitudes Toward the Supervised Release of Offenders. Presented at the American Society of Criminology Conference, New Orleans. vi Contributions by others to the thesis The data employed in Chapter 5 of this study was collected as part of the National Study of Community Views on Parole, an Australian Research Council funded project led by CI Fitzgerald. This survey instrument was developed by the project team of CI’s Fitzgerald, Cherney, Freiberg and Bartels. Access to the data set was provided to me by the project team. Dr Robin Fitzgerald and Dr Rebecca Olson contributed to this thesis in their capacity as advisors. Dr Fitzgerald and Dr Olson assisted with the development of ideas in this thesis, through meetings and written feedback on draft chapters. Dr Adrian Cherney also assisted with some early ideas in this thesis, as part of the advisory team in the first year of my candidature.