3.2 gender and crime

Question 1

What is the prison population by gender?

Answer 1

• men = 82,312
• women = 3,514

Question 2

How many women’s prisons are there in the UK out of the total 117 prisons?

Answer 2

only 12

Question 3

How many more times are men likely to be convicted of murder?

Answer 3

15 times

Question 4

What kind of offences are a higher proportion of women convicted for?

Answer 4

property offences i.e. shoplifting, but not burglary

Question 5

What is the arrest rate by gender?

Answer 5

men = 85%
women = 15%

Question 6

What is the prosecution rate by gender?

Answer 6

men - 79%
women - 21%

Question 7

What percentage of cases that are remanded at crown court are men?

Answer 7

90%

Question 8

What does Carol Smart(1977) say about criminology?

Answer 8

• criminology tends to be dominated by men
• traditional criminology is motivated by a desire to control problem behaviour, as women’s behaviour is less of a problem than men’s it has recieved less attention
• women tend to commit less crimes than men and most crimes committed by women appear to be of a comparatively trivial nature e.g. shoplifting,drugs

Question 9

Which sociologist is associated with the chivalry thesis?

Answer 9

Pollack (1950)

Question 10

What is the chivalry thesis?

Answer 10

• a male dominated CJS treats women differently/ they are seen as vulnerable and needing rescue
• there have been more men than women working in the position of power in the CJS

Question 11

What did Campbell’s self-report study find?

Answer 11

• female suspects were more likely than male suspects to be cautioned rather than prosecuted

Question 12

What did Farrington and Morris’ study of sentencing in magistrates’ courts find?

Answer 12

• although men received more severe sentences than women, the differenced disappeared when the severity of offences was taken into account = the more serious the crime, the more harshly the woman was punished
• crimes which are seen as breaking the stereotypical mould of what is to be feminine, were treated more harshly

Question 13

What does Heidensohn argue about double standards in crime?

Answer 13

• the justice system is influenced by attitudes to gender in society as a whole
• women are treated more harshly when they deviate from morms of female sexuality - sexually promiscuos girls are more likely to be taken into care than similar boys
• but courts may be reluctant to imprison mothers with young children

Question 14

What does Carlen argue about double standards in criminal justice?

Answer 14

• women are more likely to be sentenced according to the court’s assessment of them as wives, mothers and daughters rather than the seriousness of their crimes

Question 15

What does Fran Adler argue about female crime and women’s liberation?

Answer 15

• women’s liberation has led to a new type of female criminal and an increase in women’s contribution to crime
• women are taking on male social roles in bith legitimate and illegitimate areas of activity
• women were getting involved in robbing banks, mugging and even murder

Question 16

What is an evaluation of Adler’s views?

Answer 16

• Box and Hare = female crime has increased more likely because of unemployment and inadequate welfare benefits
• most female criminals are from lower-class backgrounds and are the least likely to have been touched by women’s liberation

Question 17

What does Pat Carlen argue about women, crime and poverty?

Answer 17

• WC women have been controlled through the promise of rewards stemming from the workplace and family
• the class deal = offers material rewards for those respectable WC women who work dutifully
• the gender deal = offers psychological rewrds from their labours or the ‘love’ of a male breadwinner
• when these rewards aren’t available the deals break down and criminality becomes a possibility

Question 18

In what three ways does Heidensohn argue that women are controlled?

Answer 18

1. control of women at home
2. control of women in public
3. control of women at work

Question 19

How does Heidensohn argue that women are controlled at home?

Answer 19

• the time spent on housework and caring for children means that women have little time for crime
• daughters are given less freedom than sons

Question 20

How does Heidensohn argue that women are controlled in public?

Answer 20

• they often choose not to go out into public places because of fear of becoming a victim of crime/harassment
• also limit their behaviour in public for fear of being labelled a ‘slag, slut or bitch’

Question 21

How does Heidensohn argue that women are controlled at work?

Answer 21

• usually controlled by male superiors at work and may be intimidated by various forms of harassment

Question 22

What does Walklate believe about rape cases?

Answer 22

• it’s the female victim rather than the male suspect who ends up on trial
• women have to establish their respectability if their evidence is to be believed

Question 23

What do Dobash and Dobash argue about domestic violence cases?

Answer 23

• police officers were very unlikely to make an arrest in cases of domestic violence

Question 24

How can sex role theory be used to explain women’s low rate of crime?

Answer 24

• women are socialised into the ‘expressive role’, encouraging them to adopt feminine characteristics such as being more emotional, less competitive, less tough and aggressive
• women therefore may commit less crime, which is associated with these characteristics

Question 25

What does Messerchmidt argue about crime and masculinity?

Answer 25

• ## masculinity is a social construct and men are constantly having to work at constructing and presenting it to others

Question 26

What is hegemonic masculinity according to Messerschmidt?

Answer 26

• the dominant, prestigious form that most men wish to accomplish
• it’s defined through work in the paid-labour market, the subordination of women, heterosexism and the driven and uncontrollable sexuality of men

Question 27

What are subordinated masculinities according to Messerschmidt?

Answer 27

• with gay men, who have no desire to accomplish hegemonic masculinity, as well ad lower class and some ethnic minority men have them

Question 28

For Messerscmidt how is crime and masculinity linked?

Answer 28

• crime and deviance are resources that different men may use for accomplishing masculinity

Question 29

How do white MC male youths accomplish masculinity?

Answer 29

• subordinate themselves to teachers in order to achieve a MC status (accomodating masculinity)
• BUT outside school, masculinity takes an oppositional form e.g. drinking and vandalism

Question 30

How do white WC male youths accomplish masculinity?

Answer 30

• have less chance of educational success, so their masculinity is oppositional both in and out of school e.g. Willis’s lads

Question 31

How do black WC male youths accomplish masculinity?

Answer 31

• have few expectations of a reasonable job and may use gang membership and violence to express their masculinity

Question 32

What are some criticisms of Messerschmidt?

Answer 32

• doesn’t explain why not all men use crime to accomplish masculinity
• over-works the concept of masculinity to explain virtually all male crimes, from joy-riding to embezzlement
• explanations of WC and ethnic minorities are stereotypical

Question 33

Why may some WC ethnoic minority boys commit crime?

Answer 33

• crime offers material success
• they don’t expect to be able to hold down a steady job and support a family
• they use violence to express their masculinity and may become involved in more serious property crime than white WC youths

Question 34

What does Simon Winlow find on social change, masculinity and crime?

Answer 34

• an ethnographic study of bouncers (2001)
• explores masculinity and crime
• boys could previously gain status through traditional masculine work and industries
• now this is achieved through violence and crime
• being a bouncer became an attractive prospect

Question 35

How do postmodernists explain male crime?

Answer 35

• edgework = young males seek pleasure and like risk taking, thrills are gained from acting in ways that are on the edge between security and danger e.g. joyriding