Crime and gender

Question 1

in 2021, 79% of the individuals dealt with by the CJS were

Answer 1

male

Question 2

Over 95% of prisoners in the UK

Answer 2

are male

Question 3

98% of offenders of sexual offences are

Answer 3

male

Question 4

men commit around 85%-90%

Answer 4

of serious indictable offences

Question 5

Men are about

Answer 5

• 60x more likely to be convicted of sex offences
• 14x more likely to be convicted of robbery
• 13x more likely to convicted for possession of weapons
• 10x more likely to be convicted of public order offences
• 8x more likely to be convicted of violence
• 7x more likely to be convicted of criminal damage
• 4x more likely to be convicted of theft

Question 6

Why women appear to commit less crime: Women commit less detectable offences

Answer 6

• women tend to commit offences like shoplifting which are less likely to be detected and reported
• theft from shops is the most common offence for women
• although men do most shoplifting, women tend to steal smaller, less detectable items like clothing, groceries, health products, perfumes etc whereas men tend to steal larger, higher value items like electronics and power tools

Question 7

Why women appear to commit less crime: Sex-role theory and gender socialisation

Answer 7

• associated with functionalism (eg Parsons conjugal roles) and the New Right
• women are socialised into ‘expressive’ roles involving caring for people, housework etc, encouraging them to adopt ‘feminine’ characteristics such as being emotional less competitive, less tough, less aggressive and more averse to risks
• this makes them less likely to commit crime because they avoid risk-taking and they also have fewer opportunities to commit crime

Question 8

Why women appear to commit less crime: Control theory and rational choice and opportunity in a patriarchal society

Answer 8

• Carlen (1998) and Heidensohn (1996) combine a feminist approach with functionalist control and rational choice and opportunity theories (eg Hirschi) to explain women’s lower level of offedning
• Heidensohn suggests that differences between male and female crimes arise from social circumstances, opportunities, the socialisation process and the different impacts of informal and social control in a patriarchal society

Question 9

Why women appear to commit less crime: The gender deal and the class deal

Answer 9

• Carlen (1988) - after a study of a small number of WC women with criminal convictions, she suggested that women are encouraged to conform by the class deal and the gender deal
• most women accept these rewards and therefore conform
• some women can’t access these rewards (eg due to poverty, unemployment, lack of family, abusive partners etc) and then may make a rational decision to choose crime as they have little to lose and crime offers benefits like money, food and goods which are unavailable through the approved class and gender deal

Question 10

Carlen - the class deal and the gender deal

Answer 10

• the class deal refers to the material rewards that arise from paid work, enabling women to purchase consumer goods and enjoy a respectable life and home
• the gender deal refers to rewards which arise from fulfilling their expressive role in the family, with material and emotional support from a male breadwinner

Question 11

Why women appear to commit less crime: the constraints of socialisation

Answer 11

• Heidensohn (1996) - women, in a patriarchal society, have more to lose if they are involved in crime due to stigma or shame
• Carlen - women are socialised into performing a role as ‘guardians of domestic morality’ and they risk social disapproval when they fail to do so
• women who risk involving themselves in crime risk the double jeopardy of being condemned for both committing a crime and behaving in an unfeminine way - unlike a ‘proper woman’

Question 12

Why women appear to commit less crime: social control and different spheres

Answer 12

• Heidensohn suggests there is a patriarchal ideology of different spheres, with men dominating the public sphere, where most crime is committed including workplaces, pubs etc, whereas women are more limited to the private sphere of the home
• social control deters women from crime in 3 ways, by putting greater pressure on women to conform and giving them greater risks of losing more than they might gain, as well as reducing opportunity to commit crime:
  1 - in the private domestic sphere of the home, patriarchal control through the allocation of domestic labour and childcare to women provides less time and opportunity for crime, and women face more serious consequences, as well as more supervision of teenage girls than boys
  2 - in the public sphere - women face patriarchal controls such as fear of violence, harassment and supervision in the workplace etc, restricting their opportunity to deviate. Also, the ‘glass ceiling’ stops women from accessing the top levels in careers, restricting opportunities for white collar crime
  3 - women face more threat to their reputation if they are deviant eg through labels like ‘slag’ and the condemnation of their lack of femininity

Question 13

Why women appear to commit less crime: Pollak (1950) - The chivalry thesis

Answer 13

suggests that the male-dominated criminal justice system, such as the police and the courts, takes a more benevolent, protective and patriarchal view of female offending, meaning that women offenders are seen as ‘less guilty’ as they are more vulnerable and in need of protection, and are therefore treated more leniently than men

Question 14

Evidence for Pollak’s chivalry thesis

Answer 14

• Home Office/Ministry of Justice - women are consistently treated more leniently by the law
• female first offenders about half as likely to given an immediate prison sentence
• women are less likely to be remanded in custody, and are more likely to receive suspended or community sentences, or receive a shorter prison sentence
• female offenders are generally regarded as a less serious threat by the police, so their offences may be treated in a more informal way, eg through cautions or warnings rather than being charged, particularly for minor offences

Question 15

Evidence against Pollak’s chivalry thesis

Answer 15

• women tend to display more ‘mitigating factors’ eg remorse, caring responsibilities etc which make a shorter sentence more likely
• Walklate (2004) points out that women commit less serious crimes
• Heidensohn (1996) - serious crimes by women risk harsher punishments due to double jeopardy
• Carlen (1988) - double jeopardy is reflected in women’s sentences as judges, magistrates and juries assess women offenders in terms of their character and performance in the traditional female role

Question 16

Double jeopardy

Answer 16

• suggests women are on trial for both the crime they commit and for deviating from stereotypes of their gender
• female offenders who deviate from expectations of women are treated more harshly

Question 17

‘Evil woman’ theory/double deviance - Heidensohn

Answer 17

• women who deviate from gender norms to commit crimes are seen as worse than men in similar crimes
• ‘doubly deviant’ as they deviate from the law and from gender expectations
• eg Myra Hindley ‘the most evil woman in Britain’ is seen as worse than her boyfriend who did most of the actual murdering

Question 18

Conclusion on Pollak’s chivalry thesis

Answer 18

• in most cases, women seem to receive less harsh treatment because they commit less serious offences
• the ‘evil woman’ is more likely to be found in serious cases where women violate gender norms eg abuse, murder and violence (esp towards children)

Question 19

Why women appear to commit less crime: Police assumptions and stereotyping

Answer 19

labelling theorists suggest that police assumptions and stereotypes mean women who do commit crimes may benefit from the label that they are less likely to be criminals

Question 20

Growing female criminality

Answer 20

• in 1957, men were responsible for 11x as much crime as women, but in 2014 it was only 3x
• crimes committed by girls aged 10-17 increased by around 25% 2004-2010, with significant increased in minor assaults, robberies, public order offences and criminal damage

Question 21

Growing female criminality - Adler’s (1975) Liberation thesis

Answer 21

• growing female crime is due to changing gender roles
• women have more independence and are more successful than men in education and the labour market
• traditional forms of control on women are weakening, particularly among younger women
• women spend more leisure time away from home, so are more visible and accessible to surveillance and social control like the police

Question 22

Growing female criminality - Denscombe (2001) - ‘Ladette culture’

Answer 22

more masculinised ‘ladette’ culture among young women - drinking, swearing, risk-taking, being in control

Question 23

Growing female criminality - Heidensohn and Silvestri (2012)

Answer 23

• cite a range of evidence suggesting that the increase in girls’ violence is due to changing labels and criminalisation of girls’ behaviour rather than real changes in their behaviour
• evidence that the police are taking more formal actions against female offenders - arresting and prosecuting rather than cautioning, which increases statistics of female crime
• however - women still tend to commit less serious crimes and low-level violence, rarely involving the serious injury of use of weapons more associated with male violence

Question 24

Why men commit more crimes: sex-role theory and gender socialisation

Answer 24

• traditional role is what Parsons calls the ‘instrumental role’ - breadwinner
• traditional roles in employment, lack of domestic responsibility and lack of constraints give men more independence and more opportunities to commit crime

Question 25

Hegemonic masculinity definition

Answer 25

a male gender identity that defines what is involved in being a ‘real man’ and is so dominant that those who don’t conform to it are seen as odd or abnormal in some way

Question 26

Why men commit more crimes: The assertion of masculinity and the ‘masculinity thesis’

Answer 26

• Connell (1987) - hegemonic masculinity encourages criminality through encouraging independence, confidence, toughness, aggression, competitiveness, risk-taking, control, power over women etc - linked to Miller’s focal concerns
• Messerschmidt (1993) - men turn to crime to assert there masculinity when traditional ways to do so (employment, success, breadwinner etc) are blocked (most likely to those from deprived backgrounds), making them turn to alternative ‘masculine-validating resources’ such as violence etc
• Lyng ‘edgework’ - ‘thrills and spills’ of crime appeal more to men as a way to express their masculinity

Question 27

Evaluation of the ‘masculinity thesis’

Answer 27

+ provides a plausible explanation for why men commit more crime
- doesn’t explain why most men who don’t have access to legitimate means of asserting masculinity don’t commit crimes
- doesn’t explain all types of crime

Question 28

Why men commit more crimes: police assumptions and labelling

Answer 28

labelling theorists suggest that police assumptions and stereotypes means they are more likely to see men as offenders, label their behaviour as criminal and press charges, making men more likely to appear in crime statistics

Question 29

Why men commit more crimes: control theory and rational choice and opportunity

Answer 29

• men dominate the public sphere where most crime is committed (Heidensohn)
• men face fewer constraints like childcare and housework
• men have less to lose in terms of reputation and crime may enhance their reputation, particularly for young men who may use it to gain peer-group status