Crime and Gender Flashcards
Statistics between men and women
> Official police statistics show that 80% of criminals in society are men.
> Men tend to commit more violent offenses
> Men have higher rates of recidivism (reoffending)
> Women have lower conviction rates, but this is steadily rising.
> It’s not clear whether women really commit less crime or not.
Do women commit less crime, what’s the reason for this?
Reasons for this:
> Biological differences between men and women - men have higher rates of testosterone which naturally makes men more extrovert (confident, risk-taking) aggressive, and impulsive (acting first, thinking later).
EVALUATION: this does not explain changes in female crime rates and why they have been increasing over time - violent crimes committed by females have tripled in the last few years.
> Early socialization - boys play with toys that involve an element of violence, and girls play with non-violent toys.
EVALUATION - this explanation only explains violent crimes and not crimes like fraud.
Frances Heidensohn (2002) Social Control
According to Frances Heidensohn, a patriarchal society enforces an ‘ideology of separate spheres’ which can brutally confine women, preventing them from committing crimes, this occurs in three ways:
1) Women continue to take domestic responsibilities within the households, family life, etc.
‘Domesticity is a form of detention’ for women, therefore having less chance of committing a crime.
EVALUATION: Changing family roles contradicts this argument, more men are taking up household roles.
2) In cases where women work, their experiences of sexual harassment are common, with up to 60% experiencing some sort of intimidation from males. Fighting these crimes prevents them from committing crimes themselves.
EVALUATION: There has been a clear ‘march of progress’ in changing this harassment, for example, sex discrimination law provides protection for women.
3) Patriarchal control women face, means women are less happy to go out late at night in fear of rape or harassment, therefore there is less chance of them committing a crime.
EVALUATION: the rise of the nocturnal economy has seen huge growth, both men and women enjoy nights out and there is little evidence of young women not going out due to fear.
Pat Carlen (1988) Women, crime and poverty
The main reason for women’s lack of crime is linked to ‘class-deals’ and ‘gender deals’ promising women a life that does not need to involve crime.
> The ‘class deal’ promises that they will be financially secure by being educated and holding down a good job.
The ‘gender deal’ promises that in marrying a man and having children they will be looked after and not need to commit crimes.
Carlen conducted interviews with 39 women who had been in prison, she found that their involvement in the crime resulted from the ‘class deal’ and ‘gender deal’ not being accessible to them.
many of these women had violent upbringings, and prostitution and drugs blighted their life as young adults.
EVALUATION:
> Carlens’s critics point out that interviewing 39 women with criminal records is not necessarily a representative sample. There is no guarantee that the women were completely honest during interviews, highlighting the dangers of the social desirability effect in lowering validity.
Sunita Toor (2009)
Crime and Conformity among British-Asian Girls
Research focuses on the low criminality of British-Asian girls.
She conducted in-depth interviews with 5 Asian girls, aged between 16 and 18 who were involved in crime and deviance.
> Their involvement in crime brought a strong sense of dishonour and shame upon the girls and their families.
One of the girls had been beaten by their parents after they were caught being involved in a crime, and her mother slapped another.
Strong cultural expectations within British-Asian families along with strong patriarchal control over girls in society provide an explanation for the low crime rates within British-Asian families.
EVALUATION:
> Very small sample of only 5 girls, therefore may not represent all British-Asian families.
> She only included girls who had committed crimes, Toor might have been better to have included some girls in her research who have not been involved in any crime so that a comparison could be made.
Otto Pollak (1950)
Biological explanations
Women are experts at telling lies, they have the perfected ability to cover up the pain of their monthly menstrual cycle.
> As such, they can easily talk themselves out of trouble, whereas men can’t - this explains the perception in society that men commit more crimes and women don’t commit crimes.
EVALUATION:
> His research lacks sufficient data scientifically.
> His research is unable to explain why there have been changes in female crime rates over time.
>In some court cases, pre-menstrual tension (PMT) has been used as a mitigating factor. For example, at 17 years of age, Anna Reynolds, killed her own mother while she slept. Two years later her sentence got overturned as it became clear she had a hormone imbalance linked to pre-menstrual stress syndrome.
This example clearly provides some degree of support for pollocks original ideas.
Problems with Official Crime Statistics
Female criminality is severely under-represented in the OCS, men are expected to be victims of a female offender in 1 of 6 within domestic violence.
> This is under-represented due to men under-reporting this as it is not alpha of the man - meaning women getting away with it.
> Furthermore crime like prostitution is not reported much as there is no real ‘victim’ as it is a service benefitting both sides of the ‘crime’.
Chivalry thesis/factor
Chivalry means treating others, especially women with respect and kindness.
> Most officers are men and they have more tolerance of women who offend and are likely to let them get away with it.
> In 2009, 11% of women, yet 18% of men convicted of shoplifting were given a custodial sentence.
> In 2009 11% of women, yet 30% of men convicted of violent crime were given custodial sentences.
> In 2009 women spent an average of 25 months in prison for robbery, but men spend 34 months for robbery/
Hillary Allen (1989)
> Looked at motoring offences and found that despite committing the same offence, 73% of women, but only 54% of men were fined - showing men went to prison instead implying women were treated better than men.
She claims, the lenient treatment of the criminal justice system gives us a false impression that women commit fewer crimes, they probably commit just as much as men.
EVALUATION:
> Since Allen’s study there have been technological advances like speed cameras - if someone is speeding they are caught no matter their sex.
EXAMPLE:
> In 2009, nursery nurse, Vanessa George, was jailed for her role in making indecent pictures of babies and children. This challenged gender stereotypes as people were shocked that it was a woman doing this.
Sandra Walklate (2001)
She observes rape trials - found that women who are brave enough to report rape when in court are questioned and made the victim in court.
> They make questions that imply they are blaming the women for being raped - like what they wore, how much she had to drink and how flirtatious she was.
> only around 5% of rape trials end in convictions.
The Liberation Thesis
Changes in the structure of society have led to changes in women’s offending behaviour, e.g. through greater opportunities in education because of a lack of patriarchal control. · As a result, women now commit typically ‘male’ offences such as white-collar crimes.
> A gender quake is taking place, where old stereotypes and traditional roles expected of girls and women are breaking down.
Girls have a greater desire for things that males have been doing for years. The rise of ‘ladette culture’ sees young girls drinking heavily, and taking more drugs and staying out partying.
Tara Young (2009)
Girls and Gangs
> Tara young conducted a qualitative study of 25 girls known to a Youth Offending Team in London who were involved in female gangs.
Most were raised in urban areas, where poverty and deprivation were common. Most came from family homes in social housing accommodation.
Most of the women lived in hostels or state care. Some slept on the sofas of friends’ houses, as they had been thrown out by their parents.
Many had experienced verbal abuse at home, bullying, beatings and sexual abuse.
The women felt as though they had little to lose by committing crimes.
EVALUATION:
> Young’s research looked at very small samples of girls in gangs. Furthermore, girls in gangs count for less than 5% of London’s gang members.
> She helps us to identify why women may commit crimes but does not establish why female crime has increased over years.
Problems with the female liberation argument?
> The female liberation argument is used to explain why females commit a crime, but it overlooks the fact that it has been essentially more middle-class women who have benefitted most from the feminist movement, yet they are arguably less likely to commit crime than working-class women.
Female liberation may help criminologists to understand why there has been an increase in female crime, however, it doesn’t suggest why females commit a crime in the first place.
James Messerschmidt (1993)
Masculinities and crime
Messerschimdit dismisses biological explanations of the relationship between crime and gender. He points out that there is no evidence of men demonstrating the same characteristics as other men across the world.
Messershcmidit identifies two types of ‘masculinity’:
1) Hegemonic masculinity- widely recognised, dominant and highly valued.
2) Subordianted masculinity- less powerful, under valued, less widespread.
> Hegemonic masculinity is seen as drinking beers, swearing, pulling women and not being afraid of physical aggression.
EVALUATION:
>It isn’t clear why some men respond in criminal ways, while others don’t.
> Critics point out that Messerschmidt places too much emphasis on ‘masculinity’ in explaining crime, ignoring other factors that may have greater influence.
> Not all crimes linked to men are through masuclinity.
Dick Hobbs et al (2003)
bouncers
Hobbs and his team of researchers provide support for Messerschmidt
> They studied the increasing number of nightclubs in urban areas and the increasingly liberal attitudes towards alcohol associated with them during a 2-year project.
Both interviews took place with bouncers and the police took place in order to see how the ‘night-time economy’ worked.
They found out that bouncers freely used violence in order to gain a masculine status.
Many bouncers were also less strict towards women than men, this suggests they were ‘hard men’
EVALUATION:
> People may lie during their interviews or exaggerate the truth in fear of getting in trouble.
> Interviewees may fail to disclose information, which leaves the researcher with an incomplete understanding of what they are studying.
