C&D- GENDER & CRIME Flashcards
What percentage of the UK prison population is female?
Only 8% of the total UK prison population is female.
What types of crimes are women more likely to commit?
Women are more likely to commit less serious, ‘victimless’, non-violent crimes.
Who is more likely to re-offend, men or women?
Men are more likely to re-offend.
How are women treated differently in the criminal justice system?
Women are more likely to be cautioned rather than charged for crimes they’ve committed.
What does Parsons’ Functionalist sex role theory suggest about gender and crime?
Girls have a mother as an adult role model to learn feminine traits, while boys engage in compensatory compulsory masculinity through aggression and delinquency to prove their masculinity.
How does Cohen explain boys’ involvement in crime?
Fathers are less involved in child-rearing, so boys turn to all-male street gangs for a masculine identity, leading to toughness and risk-taking behaviors.
How does the New Right view female-headed lone-parent families and boys’ criminality?
Boys in female-headed families lack a positive male role model, which can lead to delinquency.
What is Walklate’s criticism of sex role theory?
It relies on biological differences between genders, which are socially constructed.
According to Heidensohn, how does patriarchal society control women and reduce their criminality?
Women are controlled at home (domestic roles), in public (fear of violence or losing respectability), and at work (subordination to male managers).
What is Carlen’s theory on women and crime?
Women conform due to the “class deal” (hard work brings material rewards) and “gender deal” (family life provides emotional rewards). When these deals fail, crime becomes an option.
How does Messerschmidt explain male criminality?
Masculinity is a social construct, and men use crime as a resource to achieve hegemonic masculinity (e.g., vandalism, gang membership, or white-collar crime).
What does Winlow argue about male criminality in postmodern society?
Globalization reduced traditional male jobs, and the night-time economy created opportunities for men to demonstrate masculinity through legal and illegal activities.
What is Pollak’s Chivalry Thesis about gender and crime?
Women are as criminal as men, but the criminal justice system treats them more leniently due to male socialization to be chivalrous.
What are some criticisms of the Chivalry Thesis?
Farrington and Morris found no leniency in sentencing, and Hales et al. showed men commit more serious offenses.
What is Adler’s Liberation Theory about women and crime?
Women’s increasing liberation has led them to commit more frequent and serious crimes, including violence and white-collar crime.
