En könsneutral domstol? : En kvalitativ diskursanalys om domstolars beskrivning av män och kvinnor i domstolsprotokoll inom ekonomisk brottslighet

Both men and women commit crimes, but men are the dominant group in the statistics of convicted crimes. Studies shows that women often tend to commit economic crimes but at the same time is being treated more leniently by the justice system. The purpose of this study has been to show differences in the description of men and women in court records based on gender norms. The study was conducted based on a qualitative discourse analysis with court records from the crime types of fraud, embezzlement, and money laundering. The selection of data has included both men and women and has been theoretically based on theories about gender norms and social constructivism. The result shows that the court describe men and women different based on socially constructed gender norms. Women are most likely to be described based on different relations such as partnerships or motherhood. The result also shows how men often are portrayed as rational individuals based on their personal narratives. Furthermore, it is shown that men are often described in relation to their economic shortcoming and impulsive behavior, while women are being described as living under stable and orderly conditions and reinforcing gender norms. The results in this study underscore how constructed gender norms may influence the way the court sees and describes men and women. This suggests that the court who should be objective in their work, may not always be that.