2.2.5 Crime and Deviance: Gender, crime, and justice

Question 1

Gender patterns in crime

What are the main patterns in crime surrounding gender?

Answer 1

• Most crime appears to be commited by males - 4/5 convicted offences are male
• Among offenders, a higher proportion of property crimes are commited by women, whilst violent crimes have a higher proportion of males.

Question 2

Gender patterns in crime

What is Pollark’s chivalry thesis?

Answer 2

• The idea that the criminal justice system is more lenient towards women, because its agents (police officers, judges…) are men who are socialised to act chivalrous towards women.
• Therefore, women are less likely to be arrested and charged, giving official statistics an invalid picture of female offending.

Question 3

Gender patterns in crime

What did Hood’s study of 3000 defendants show?

Answer 3

• Women were one third less likely to be jailed in similar cases.

Question 4

Gender patterns in crime

What did Farrington find about shoplifting statistics?

Answer 4

• Witnessed twice as many male shoplifters then women despite official statistics being equal, suggesting women were more likely to be prosecuted.

Question 5

Gender patterns in crime

What do feminists argue about Chivalry thesis?

Answer 5

• Argue that the criminal justice system is not in favour of women, but biased against them.
• Argue that women get treated more harshly, especially when crimes deviate from gender norms (e.g motherhood)

Question 6

Functionalist sex role theory

What is Parsons’ functionalist sex role theory to explain gender differences in crime?

Answer 6

• Women perform the expressive role at home, being responsible for socialisation, giving girls a role model.
• But boys reject feminine models of behaviour and engage in ‘compensatory compulsory masculinity’ such as risk taking, and delinquency.

Question 7

Functionalist sex role theory

What does A.K Cohen argue is the result of the male instrumental role?

Answer 7

• Argues that the absence of a male role model causes boys to join all-male street gangs as a source of masculine identity.

Question 8

Functionalist sex role theory

What are the main criticisms of functionalist sex role theory?

(2)

Answer 8

• Based on biological assumptions about women being best suited to socialisation.
• Believes that the traditional nuclear family is best, but argues that it also causes male crime.

Question 9

Heidensohn: Patriarchal control

What is a summary of Heidensohn’s theory of patriarchal control on female crime rates?

Answer 9

• Women commit fewer crimes because society imposes greater control over women, reducing their opportunity to commit crimes.
• Women are controlled at home, at work, and in public

Question 10

Heidensohn: Patriarchal control

How does Heidensohn describe how women are controlled at home?

(3)

Answer 10

• Women’s domestic role imposes restrictions on their time and confines them to the house.
• Men impose this role through financial power and threat of domestic violence.
• Girls are socialised into this role - ‘bedroom culture’.

Question 11

Heidensohn: Patriarchal control

How are women controlled in public? (Heidensohn)

(2)

Answer 11

• fear of male sexual violence, increased through media sensationalisation.
• Fear of judgement over appearance and being regarded as ‘sexually loose’

Question 12

Heidensohn: Patriarchal control

How are women controlled at work? (Heidensohn)

(2)

Answer 12

• Women’s subordinate position at work reduces criminal opportunities.
• The ‘glass ceiling’ prevents woemn rising to senior positions with most opportunity for white collar crime.

Question 13

Carlen: class and gender deals

What is Hirschi’s control theory that Carlen’s theory is based on?

Answer 13

• Hirschi argues that people act rationally and are controlled by being offered a ‘deal’ in return for conforming to norms.

Question 14

Carlen: class and gender deals

What are the two deals Carlen argues are sold to women?

Answer 14

• The class deal - women who work will get a decent standard of living
• The gender deal - women who conform to traditional gender roles will gain the emotional rewards of family life.

Question 15

Carlen: class and gender deals

How had the women in Carlen’s study been failed by the deals and why did this lead them to crime?

Answer 15

• Carlen studied 39 working class female offenders.
• The women had been failed by the class deal as had been unable to get a job or claim benefits, so most had been in poverty.
• Some had been abused by their fathers or partners, or spent time in care which broke the gender deal.
• As they had nothing to gain from either deal, they felt they had nothing to lose by using crime to escape poverty.

Question 16

Carlen: class and gender deals

What are the two main criticisms of Carlen’s study?

Answer 16

• She used a small sample size, which was unrepresentative (39 working class women).
• Underestimates the importance of free will and choice, not just governed by patriarchal forces / deals.

Question 17

Carlen: class and gender deals

What is Adler’s liberation thesis?

Answer 17

• Argues that as women become liberated from patriarchy, their offending will become similar to men’s.
• Opportunities for crime will become more equal and women will begin to commit a larger variety of crime. e.g white collar crime as more women become senior.

Question 18

Carlen: class and gender deals

What are the main criticisms of Adler’s liberation thesis?

(2)

Answer 18

• The female crime rate started rising before the women’s liberation movement.
• Most female criminals are working class and therefore unlikely to be impacted by liberation.

Question 19

Females and violent crime

What is ‘net widening’ and how can this lead to a moral panic?

Answer 19

• Prosecuting women for less serious crimes then before.
• Increasing crime statistics.
• ‘defining deviance up’
• Leading to a moral panic and a deviance amplification spiral.

Question 20

Females and violent crime

What are the two sides debating the increase in female violent crime?

Answer 20

• Recent increases in female convictions for violence suggests women are committing more crime, giving evidence for liberation thesis.
• But it could be argued that this is due to net widening and a moral panic around female crime.

Question 21

Why do men commit more crime?

What does Messerschmidt argue about accomplishing masculinity?

Answer 21

• Argues that masculinity is an ‘accomplishment’ that men have to consistently work at constructing.

Question 22

Why do men commit crime?

What are the two types of masculinity identified by Messerschmidt?

Answer 22

• hegemonic masculinity - the dominant form of masculinity defined through paid work, the ability to dominate women, and heterosexuality.
• Subordinated masculinity - some men (e.g lower class / ethnic minority) may lack the resources to accomplish hegemonic masculinity so turn to crime.
• Although, some middle class men still use crime to achieve hegemonic masculinity.