CHAPTER 6 Flashcards
Describe the idea of the invisibility of women in criminology - what does that mean and why is it the case
- criminology has traditionally been male-centred - concerned about what men do and women have been invisible
- this is due in part to the relative minor role women play as criminal offenders
- violence against women has also not been seen as a crime concern
- criminologists haven’t considered the “maleness” of their subjects - haven’t taken it into account
What is the goal of feminist criminology?
What two paths did initial feminist contributions to criminology take?
Goal is to move women and an analysis of gender to the centre of criminological inquiry
Initial contributions were a critique of existing theories - took two paths:
1. a focus on the sexism of theories used to explain women’s crime
2. an explanation of the invisibility of women in the mainstream theories of criminology
Overall, what is the Conservative Approach to women’s crime about?
Characterized by biological determinism
Focuses on the biological differences between men and women that account for female criminal offending and the differences in male and female offending
Women viewed as naturally inferior, which explains women’s criminality
Describe the Lombroso and Ferrero Conservative approach to women’s crime
(The Female Offender)
Women were thought to be less intelligent than men
Adaptation of atavism theory - women not as evolved as men, and therefore atavistically degenerate (born criminal) women don’t stand out as much
Female criminals were vile and cruel, seen as more male than female and lacked maternal instincts
Describe W.I. Thomas’ Conservative approach to women’s crime
(The Unadjusted Girl)
Human behaviour is an expression of biological instincts of anger, fear, love, etc.
Women have more varieties of love in their nervous system - their need to feel loved lead women to engage in crime (esp. prostitution)
Explain the Glueck and Glueck Conservative Approach to women’s crime
(Five hundred delinquent women)
Viewed criminal women as “other”
Considered imprisoned women a “sorry lot”
Such women were characterized by feeblemindedness, psychopathic personalities, and marked emotional instability - they were hard to reform into law-abiding citizens
Explain Pollak’s Conservative Approach to women’s crime
(the criminality of women)
Women’s crimes were equal in severity and scope to those of men, but women’s crime is hidden and thus undetected and undercounted
Women are inherently deceptive and vengeful - deceit rooted in biological ability to fake orgasm
Also menstruation drives women to commit acts of revenge and crime
Explain some of the critiques of conservative theories
- relate to myths and folk tales about women and their behaviour
- reflect assumptions about the dual nature of women –> ex. good girl/bad girl duality and sexual promiscuity being normal for men but not women
- fails to consider the gendered roles of men vs women
- ignores broader structural factors that impinge on women’s lives and influence their criminal offending
Broadly explain the Liberal Approach to women’s crime (when was it developed)
Developed in the 1970s
Used a more sociological analysis and shifted focus from biology to culture
Sex (biological) is distinct from gender (cultural):
Differences between genders were seen as due to gender roles and socialization patterns
- culture proscribes certain roles and behaviours as “male appropriate” and “female appropriate”
Describe Hoffman-Bustamante’s take on the Liberal Approach of women’s crime in ROLE theory
- the lower rate of delinquency of girls is the result of differential socialization and childrearing practices
–> males are socialized to be aggressive, outgoing, and are allowed greater freedom vs. girls, who are socialized to be passive, domesticated, and closely supervised - this explains that women’s lesser involvement in violence and greater involvement in shoplifting (women are given that consumer role in society)
Explain Hagan et al’s power-control theory in ROLE theory (liberal approach)
There are two types of families:
Patriarchal: (employed husband and housewife)
- mothers especially will control the daughters more than sons
= large gender differences in delinquent behaviours
Egalitarian family: (both parents employed)
- parenting is more egalitarian, so daughters are less controlled
= smaller gender differences in delinquency
Describe Smart’s take on the ROLE theory (liberal approach)
- says that role theory can only partly explain women’s crime
- too little attention is paid to why socialization patterns differ by sex (that is, the broader structural origins of gender roles)
- says that while Hagan’s theory brings in the labour force participation of the parents, it doesn’t go far enough in examining gender-based power and control in broader social structures
Explain the criticism of Merton’s strain theory
It reflected a sensitivity to class inequalities, but not gender inequalities
- concluded that low-class males engage in crime due to lack of access to legitimate means of monetary success
- but it doesn’t explain why women under similar strain are less involved in crime
Explain the criticism of Sutherland’s differential association theory
- this theory posited cultural heterogenity for men : some learn definitions favourable to crime while others do not
- women were seen as culturally homogeneous - more altruistic and compliant than men
*Sutherland failed to examine the apparent cultural homogeneity among women
Explain the criticism of Hirschi’s social control theory
- this theory focused on conformity of law-abiding people
- since women appear to be more conformist than men, it would make sense to treat women as central to his analysis BUT he mostly ignored women in his theorizing
What is the overall criticism of mainstream theories of crime
Mainstream theories of crime, such as strain theories, differential association, labelling and conflict theories, relied on stereotypical constructions of masculinity and femininity
men = aggressive, independent, daring
women = submissive, dependent, and compliant
mainstream = malestream
Explain the generalizability problem in modifying mainstream theories to fit women (ex. of how Merton’s strain theory was modified)
The problem: Can theories generated to explain male offending—which have largely been developed with men in mind—be made to “fit” women?
Ex.
Leonard modified Merton’s strain theory:
- females are socialized to aspire to different culture goals than males (like marriage and children)
- thus, women’s low rate of crime is explained by the relatively easy manner in which females can realize their goals
Critique of this: it is insensitive to the strains and frustrations associated with women’s familial role and economic concerns
*Modified mainstream versions treat women as afterthoughts and try to adapt male-centric theories to women
Describe the gender-ratio problem in women’s crime - what questions does it try to answer
Why are women less likely than men to be criminals? What explain the sex difference in rates of arrest and the types of criminal activity between men and women?
Conservative criminologists like Thomas and Pollack developed the CHIVALRY thesis to argue that women were treated more leniently then men
FINDINGS: chivalry in the CJS only affects white middle and upper class women and those behaving in stereotypical fashion (ex. crying)
- chivalrous behaviour in CJS is a means of preserving women’s subordinate position in society?
What is the women’s liberation thesis? Is there credit to this theory?
Female criminality will more closely resemble men’s as gender differences are diminished by women’s greater participation in the workforce
Simon: increased employment opportunities for women will increase crime opportunities
Adler: linked influence of women’s movement to increasing female criminality
This theory was premised on inaccurate readings of crime statistics and eventually discredited
*women are more likely to commit crime as a result of poverty, not economic opportunity
Describe the feminist approach to the idea of the grouping of “criminalized women”
Laberge (1991) proposed the concept of “criminalized women” rather than “criminal woman”
Feminist approach starts from outside of mainstream criminology -
Says that understanding women’s involvement in crime should not take typical crime categories as the starting point –> crime categories reinforce a division between criminals and the law-abiding, making female criminals the “other”
*This ignores the collective experiences of all women in a sexist society that help create “criminalized women”
Views the lives of criminalized women in a broader social context characterized by inequalities of class, race, and gender
What is the social profile of criminalized women
Young, poor, undereducated, and unskilled women are most likely to be involved in property crimes - consistent with their traditional role as consumers, and increasingly with their role as low-income, semi-skilled, sole support providers for their families
Feminist criminologists suggest that increases in the number of women involved in crime is a result of the “feminization of poverty” not women’s emancipation
Explain the racial inequality of criminalized women
In Canada, the focus is on inequalities affecting Indigenous women
- they are overrepresented in crime statistics, incarceration, and offences involving alcohol
- colonization, marginalization, and dependence on the state are causal factors in violence, alcoholism, and drug use
What is the patriarchy? How does it relate to women’s use of violence
A system of male domination that includes both a structure and an ideology that privileges men over women
- women’s use of violence must be understood as a manifestation of patriarchy
Explain the Cultural Construction of Rape
Where did Smart say these myths emerge from?
What is the likelihood that someone will be convicted of a sexual violence offence
Refers to an understanding of rape that is riddled with myths and misconceptions about the nature of the act, as well as stereotypical images of “true” rape victims and offenders.
Smart: said these myths are “phallocentric” - emerging from male meanings of sexuality
– Stereotypes can result in victim blaming and a lower chance that perpetrators will be caught, as well as higher acquittal rates and lighter sentences for offenders
The likelihood that someone will be convicted of a sexual violence offence is less than 1 percent.
What is the “double victimization” for rape survivors
First you’re a rape victim, and then you are humiliated from reporting it to the authorities and feeling responsible for the assault
- fear and vulnerability of women, with attendant self-restrictions on their behaviour
Explain the law’s role in condoning violence against women (historically)
- historically, women were viewed as the property of men
- until 1983, husbands could not be charged for raping wives; women needed corroborating evidence to have charges laid
- doctrine of recent complaint –> gave less credibility to a woman who complained some time after assault
- moral character of the woman was questioned in regard to whether she provided consent
- the law historically gave husbands the right to use (moderate) force against their wives
- the CJS viewed domestic violence as private matter and not a criminal one
Explain criminology’s complicity in the violence against women
What is Amir’s concept of victim precipitation?
- criminologists did not view male violence against women as a social problem
- statistics indicated that rape was infrequent and young males were most frequent victims of crime
- Amir’s concept of “victim precipitation” blamed women for being raped
How did we “break the silence” about violence against women
- the absence of concern about violence against women silenced women
- the women’s movement encouraged women to share their stories
- more services emerged for victims: rape crisis lines and centres, shelters for abused women, etc.
Explain the legislative reform in Canada regarding violence against women
1983 amendments to criminal code:
- husbands could be charged for rape
- limits were placed on questions about a woman’s past sexual history from being used to discredit her testimony - (rape shield law)
- the corroboration requirement was dropped
- the doctrine of recent complaint was dropped
- a publication ban on identity of the complainant was instituted
- police instructed to lay charges in wife assault cases
*result was that more criminal charges were laid by the police
What was the Montreal Massacre?
- 1989 - a gunman killed 14 and wounded 13 female students at Ecole Polytechnique in Montreal
- gunman blamed feminists for his own failures in life
- despite gains of legislative reform, this reinforced the message that violence against women is pervasive
What did the 1993 Violence Against Women Survey conclude?
- half of women were victims of physical or sexual violence
- almost half experienced violence from men they know
Indigenous women in Canada are ____x more likely to die as a result of violence than non-indigenous women
What does this illustrate?
5
Illustrates the gendered and racialized nature of violence
What did Bill C-49 do?
- made the victim’s sexual past inadmissible as evidence when used in relation to consent
- provided new rules of evidence and tests regarding consent for sexual activity
What did Bill C-46 attempt to do
In 1995 a Supreme Court decision required schools, women’s shelters, and rape crisis centres to give files to the courts
Bill C-46 attempts to limit access to those confidential records, but subsequent Supreme Court decisions have upheld the disclosure of records
Explain the mandatory charge in cases of domestic violence
Zero tolerance approaches to domestic violence involved mandatory charge in all cases of domestic violence.
Questionable effects of mandatory charging include “double” or dual charging (charging both spouses as if the levels of violence were the same)
- racialized effects.
Explain the discourse about the “violent woman” and if women are men’s equals in violence
On one side you have a case like Karla Homolka (canadian serial killer) - supports the view that women are violent too
- says women can be just as nasty and violent as men
- women’s violence is more masked and underhanded than men’s violence - and more likely to receive lenient treatment from the CJS
Other side:
- feminist criminologists say Homolka is an outlier
- women are seldom charged with murder and when they are, it is often self-defence
- “women as evil” image is rejected
Explain the blurred boundaries of “women as victims and offenders”
What is pathways research?
Most criminalized women had been physically abused or sexually assaulted as children or adults (esp. indigenous women)
Pathways research: blurs the boundaries between “offender” and “victim” and questions the legal logic of individual culpability and law’s strict adherence to the victim/offender dualism in processing cases.
*shows the connection between such victimization and subsequent criminal activity
What is the victimization-criminalization continuum
Framework adopted to understand and explore the relationship between inordinate amounts of violence experienced by Indigenous women and their punishment by the criminal justice system.
Refers to the multiple ways in which women’s experiences of victimization constrain supports and leave them vulnerable to criminalization.
Explain the “gendering of crime”
Messerschmidt’s theory?
+ what is Hegemonic masculinity?
Feminist critique of criminology led to calls to “gender” crime more broadly
- both women and men’s lives needed to be understood in gendered terms
Messerschmidt’s theory of gendered crime:
- focus is on how men live up to gender ideals - behaving as men
- Hegemonic masculinity : sensitizes us to the concept that a particular form of masculinity is culturally glorified
Crime provides an alternative resource for accomplishing a type of gender (ex. wife beating accomplishes dominance over women, a type of masculinity)
*men commit more crime, and more serious crime than women, because it is a practice through which they can exert power over women
