This is an exploratory analysis of sex discrimination suits filed under Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. The focus is on the social factors which influence (1) the decision to sue and (2) decisions reached in court. Through a content analysis of court cases, it is shown that social factors do influence court decisions. Relevant factors include the occupation involved, the presence of an interest group, the year in which the case is heard, and the type of plaintiff involved in the suit.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
BabcockB. A.FreedmanA. E.NortonE. H.RossS. C.1975Sex Discrimination and the Law: Causes and Remedies. Boston: Little, Brown.
2.
ChamblissW.SeidmanR.1971Law, Order, and Power. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.
3.
CohenL.KluegelJ.1978“Determinants of juvenile court dispositions.”Amer. Soc. Rev.43, 2: 162–177.
4.
HoldenC. L.1974“Sex discrimination in the 1970's: The Supreme Court decisions.”Texas Tech. Law Rev.6, 1: 149–167.
5.
HoodR.1969“Sentencing in magistrates' courts”, in AubertV. (ed.) Sociology of Law. Baltimore: Penguin.
6.
JacobH.1972Justice in America. Boston: Little, Brown.
7.
JacobsD.1978“Inequality and the legal order: An ecological test of the conflict model.”Social Problems25, 5: 515–525.
8.
KnokeD.1975“A comparison of log-linear and regression models for systems of dichotomous variables.”Soc. Methods and Research3, 4: 416–433.
9.
RichardsonR. J.VinesK. N.1970The Politics of Federal Courts. Boston: Little, Brown.
10.
RossS.1973The Rights of Women. New York: Avon.
11.
WallaceP. A.1973“Employment discrimination: Some policy considerations”, pp. 155–175 in AshenfelterO.ReesA. (eds.) Discrimination in Labor Markets. Princeton Univ. Press.
12.
MacNeil-Lehrer Report1977“Women working in construction.”UNC-TV.
