chivalry thesis

Question 1

What are the explanations for the gender differences in crime rates?

Answer 1

1) Crime stats are valid and women really are much less criminal than men.

2) Women only seem less criminal because they are less likely to be caught, charged and prosecuted.

Question 2

What is the chivalry thesis?

Answer 2

Otto Pollack ‘Men hate to accuse women…police officers dislike to arrest them, district attorneys to prosecute them, judges and juries to find them guilty, and so on’

Most agents of justices are socialised to act in a chivalrous way towards women. This means they are less likely to appear in crime statistics.

Question 3

Evidence FOR chivalry thesis

Answer 3

• Graham and Bowling conducted a self report study of 1,700 14-25 year olds. They found that although men were more likely to admit to committing an offence, the different was smaller than in official statistics. OCS show males as 4 times more likely to offend, but the study showed they were only 2.3 times more likely to offend than women.

Question 4

Evidence AGAINST chivalry thesis

Answer 4

• Women’s lower rates of prosecutions may be because the crimes they commit are less serious. Women offenders are also more likely to show remorse which may help explain why they are more likely to receive a caution.
• Buckle and Farmington’s observation of shoplifting in a department store witnessed twice as many male shoplifters as female, despite male and female prosecutions for shoplifting being about equal.

Question 5

Bias against women

Answer 5

Many feminists argue that the justice system is patriarchal and biased against women.

• Double standards = girls are punched more harshly for premature or promiscuous sexual activity (SHARPE)
• Women who do not conform to standards of monogamous heterosexuality and motherhood are punished more harshly (STEWART, CARLEN)

-Victims of sexual crimes are often disbelieved and have to prove their ‘respectability’ in order to be taken seriously (WALKLATE)