5. Statistics and Patterns of Crime - 2. Gender and Crime Flashcards
What did Carol Smart seek to answer?
Why there is a neglect of women in criminology
Carol Smart - Neglect of women in criminology
Women tend to commit fewer crimes than men
Most crimes committed by women are of a trivial nature (E.g. shoplifting or prostitution)
Sociology and criminology are male dominated
As women’s behaviour is less of a problem than men’s it receives less attention
2021 government statistics on women and the CJS: what percentage of the population are women?
51%
2021 government statistics on women and the CJS: percentage of prison population that is female
4%
2021 government statistics on women and the CJS: what offence had highest proportion of women?
TV licence evasion
2021 government statistics on women and the CJS: in what percentage of female homicide victims was the suspect a partner or ex-partner?
In 54% of female homicide victims, the suspect was their partner or ex-partner
2021 government statistics on women and the CJS: differences between men and women regarding self harm in prison
350/1000 female prisoners self harmed
135/1000 male prisoners self harmed
What key thesis states that OS misrepresent the true picture of gender and crime?
The Chivalry Thesis
Reporting/prosecution of typically ‘female crimes’
Typically ‘female’ crimes are less likely to be reported
Even if reported, they are less likely to be prosecuted
The Chivalry Thesis: Pollak
Pollak believed men hate to accuse women and thus send them to their punishment
The Chivalry Thesis: who conducted a supporting self-report study?
Campbell
What did Campbell find from his self-report study into the Chivalry Thesis?
He found female suspects were more likely to be cautioned rather than prosecuted compared to male suspects
Data from Campbell to support his conclusion about the Chivalry Thesis
Ration of male to female juvenile offending was 1.33:1.0 rather than the official figure of 8.95:1.0
What did the Ministry of Justice find to support the Chivalry Thesis?
49% of female offenders were cautioned compared to 30% of male offenders
What does the Chivalry Thesis state?
Women who commit crime are awarded more lenient sentences than males who commit crime
Key sociologist pair who believes that OS show the true picture of gender and crime
Farrington and Morris
How do Farrington and Morris argue that OS represent the true picture of gender and crime?
They conducted a study of sentencing and found that although men received more severe sentences than women, differences disappeared when the severity of crime was taken into account
Criticism of the Chivalry Thesis
It ignores many male crimes that go unreported
E.g. in 2012, 8% of females who were victims of serious sexual assault reported it
3 explanations for female conformity and criminality
Biological explanations (Lombroso)
Functionalism - Sex Role Theory (Parsons)
Liberation Thesis (Adler)
Biological explanations for gender differences in crime (Lombroso)
Lombroso believes criminals can be identified by physical abnormalities.
Females less likely to have them so are therefore less likely to be criminals
When did Lombroso develop his ideas and are they still relevant?
Developed his ideas in 1895
They were later discredited
HOWEVER, Moir and Jessel explain some female violent crime as being linked with PMS
Functionalism Sex Role Theory explanation for female conformity and criminality
Parsons believed crime links to gender roles in the nuclear family
Socialisation can be more difficult for bots as dad isn’t around as much
Girls have role model at home all the time
Liberation thesis (Adler)
Adler claims women’s liberation (equal rights) led to new type of / increase in female crime
