crime + deviance: female crime

Question 1

what is Pollocks theory called?

Answer 1

chivalry thesis

Question 2

what is the chivalry thesis?

Answer 2

argues men have a protective attitude towards women so they are reluctant to accuse them, prosecute them and punish them

Question 3

what is supporting evidence for the chivalry thesis?

Answer 3

• self report studies show less gender differences than conviction rates suggest
• official stats show women = more likely to be released on bail + let off with a fine

Question 4

how do Farrington + Morris criticise the chivalry thesis?

Answer 4

found when comparing similar offences, women weren’t sentenced more leniently than men

Question 5

how do Buckle + Farrington criticise the chivalry thesis?

Answer 5

in their study of shoplifters, they observed 2x as many men than women shoplifting yet according to official stats, numbers are fairly equal

Question 6

how does Yearnshire criticise chivalry thesis?

Answer 6

found that women typically suffer 35x assaults before reporting it
so many male crimes don’t get reported

Question 7

how does Parson’s functionalist sex role theory explain why women commit less crime?

Answer 7

boys + girls = socialised differently
boys encouraged to be tough + aggressive
different gender roles: male = breadwinner, female = expressive so more caring

Question 8

why does Cohen argue the socialisation of boys is more difficult?

Answer 8

due to lack of access to male role models

Question 9

what do the New Right argue as the cause of more male crime?

Answer 9

the increase in matrifocal parent families leads boys to turn to street gangs for identity and status

Question 10

how does Walklake criticise the functionalist sex role theory?

Answer 10

argues it makes biological assumptions that because women bear children, they’re most suited to an ‘expressive’ role

Question 11

why is the functionalist sex role theory outdated?

Answer 11

in modern society = women have greater levels of equality and more women are the main breadwinner

Question 12

what is Heidensohn’s Control theory?

Answer 12

that women commit less crime due to men’s patriarchal control over women in home, work and public places

Question 13

how do men control women at home preventing them from committing crimes?

Answer 13

women do chores, can’t leave home, women that refuse might suffer violence
daughters given less freedom, have to be home sooner, socialise with friends at home rather than in public

Question 14

what did Dobash + Dobash find was a trigger for DV?

Answer 14

domestic dissatisfaction

Question 15

how do men control women in public?

Answer 15

women controlled due to fear of male violence against them

Question 16

how many women compared to men avoid going out after dark?

Answer 16

54% women compared to 14% men

Question 17

how do men control women in work?

Answer 17

-sexual harassment = widespread + keep women in their place
-women more likely to be in subordinate due to glass ceiling
-lack of status means women = less likely to commit white collar crimes

Question 18

what is a criticism of the Control Theory?

Answer 18

overstates the role of the patriarchy as there are cases where women control men with DV

Question 19

what are the 2 deals that Carlen argues lead women to conform?

Answer 19

class and gender deals

Question 20

what is the class deal?

Answer 20

women who work will be offered material rewards with decent standards of living + leisure opportunities

Question 21

what is the gender deal?

Answer 21

the patriarchal ideology promises women material + emotional rewards from family life by conforming to norms of conventional domestic gender roles

Question 22

what happens if the rewards aren’t available?

Answer 22

crime becomes more likely

Question 23

what are criticisms of Carlen’s class and gender deals theory?

Answer 23

the sample was very small so not representative and the women interviewed were all working class

also deterministic, not every people in poverty commits crime

Question 24

what is Adler’s liberation thesis?

Answer 24

as women become liberated from patriarchy, their crimes will become more frequent and as serious as mens

Question 25

what types of crimes will women commit according to Adler?

Answer 25

they will no longer just commit traditional ‘female’ crimes such as shoplifting + prostitution
they will also commit typically male crime such as violence + white collar crime

Question 26

what evidence supports The Liberation Thesis?

Answer 26

• overall rate of female offences rose during 2nd half of 20th century
• patterns of female crime = shifted, rising participation in embezzlement + armed robbery
• media talk in growth of ‘girl gangs’

Question 27

what are criticisms of The Liberation Thesis?

Answer 27

• female crime began rising in 1950s before liberation movement
  -most female criminals = w/c, the group least likely to be influenced by liberation movement
  -overestimates both extent to which women have become liberated + extent to which they now engage in violent crime

Question 28

how do feminist argue the criminal justice system = biased against women?

Answer 28

Heidensohn - women are treated particularly harshly when they deviate from gender norms

Question 29

how does Carlen argue women are prosecuted?

Answer 29

women are jailed less for their crime but more for the court’s assessment of them as wives, mothers + daughters

Question 30

how does Walklake argue their are double standards in rape cases?

Answer 30

argues it is not the defendant who is on trial but the victim who has to prove her respectability to have her evidence accepted