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2014 ‫מועד אפריל‬ - 49 - ‫ פרק שנ י‬- ‫ אנגלית‬

Text II (Questions 18-22)

(1) Are men and women treated equally by the criminal justice system in the United
States? While most people agree that the answer is no, they disagree about why.

Many argue that the system is biased against women victims, particularly in cases
of rape or domestic violence. However, some analysts claim that there is another

(5) bias, which is often ignored – one that favors female criminals. The justice system, like
society in general, tends to believe that women are innocent, says Cathy Young, vice
president of the Women's Freedom Network. For this reason, female offenders are
treated less harshly than males. "Feminists never complain about this," she notes.
"They tend to overlook instances in which gender bias works to women's advantage."

(10) Some feminists do concede that women sometimes receive more lenient treatment.
However, they argue that this is not necessarily a good thing: it reflects the paternalistic
view that women are less than fully responsible adults. Feminists point out that the
women who benefit from gender bias are typically those who fit the prevailing image of
women as nurturing and unaggressive. But the consequences for women who defy this

(15) stereotype can be very grave. According to Wendy Kaminer, the author of A Fearful
Freedom – a book on women's status in the American legal system – violent women are
considered unnatural and even monstrous. In fact, says Kaminer, women who commit
violent crimes – especially in the domestic sphere – are treated more severely than men.

Both sides invoke statistical studies that appear to support their positions. One
(20) study of Pennsylvania courts, for example, found that men are 11 percent more likely

than women to be imprisoned for the same crimes. However, other studies have shown
that women receive harsher sentences than men in drug cases and for child
abandonment and assault – crimes that seem to challenge deeply held ideas about how
women, especially mothers, should behave.

Questions

18. According to the first paragraph, what is it that "most people . . . disagree about"?

(1) whether it is fair to treat men and women differently
(2) whether men and women are treated equally by the criminal justice system
(3) why the criminal justice system does not treat men and women the same
(4) why women are more likely than men to commit certain types of crimes

)‫© כל הזכויות שמורות למרכז ארצי לבחינות ולהערכה (ע"ר‬

.‫ בלא אישור בכתב מהמרכז הארצי לבחינות ולהערכה‬- ‫ כולה או חלקים ממנה‬- ‫ או ללמדה‬,‫אין להעתיק או להפיץ בחינה זו או קטעים ממנה בכל צורה ובכל אמצעי‬