Crime - Gender & crime

Question 1

what are the crime stats by gender in the uk

Answer 1

4/5 convicted offenders in uk are men
98% of sexual offences are by men

Question 2

what were the crime with the highest number of female defendants

Answer 2

tv licence evasion - 75%

Question 3

whats thesis 1 - unreported and unnoticed

Answer 3

typically female crimes e.g shoplifting less likely to be reported or noticed than violent or sexual crime. men may already be labelled so likely to be judged as a criminal

Question 4

whats thesis 2 - chivalry thesis

Answer 4

pollak - women treated more leniantly by formal control agents (police force is 65% men and high court is 84% men)

Question 5

thesis 2 - why are women treated more leniantly by men

Answer 5

men socialised to be chivalrous to women (protective & paternal) by the media. e.g official statistic - women have more bail, less custodial sentences and shorter prison sentences (lavinia woodward)

Question 6

thesis 2 evaluation - what is the evidence against chivalry thesis

Answer 6

Carlen - judgements are made on percieved appropriate gender roles as ‘good’ mothers and wives. e.g scottish judges found more likely to give prison sentences to women if their kids are in care

Question 7

whats thesis 3 - functionalist sex role theory

Answer 7

parsons - sociobiological approach. due to biology and ‘normal’ socialisation, women are incapable/dont want to commit crime as theyre nurting by nature. (girls/boys socialisation when young)

Question 8

whats an evaluation for parson’s thesis 3

Answer 8

dated and sexist - nuclear family & people who dont identify as a gender
walklate - biological assumptive

Question 9

whats thesis 4 - patriarchal control

Answer 9

heidensohn - women have at least one male figure in their life who doesnt want them to commit crime

Question 10

thesis 4 - what are the areas women are controlled in

Answer 10

work - male managment ‘supervises’ female behaviour. less likely to be in high status crime, no white collar crime
public - fear of violence, media reports on rape adds to this
at home - domestic duties, control of finances, bedroom culture, dobash&dobash say dv is used as control

Question 11

what are evaluations for thesis 4 patriarchal control

Answer 11

many women who commit crime do have a strong male figure in their life
this amount of control may force women into crime

Question 12

whats thesis 5 - class and gender deals

Answer 12

carlen - w/c more likely to commit crime. used unstructured tape-recorded interviews to gather response of young women who engaged in crimes - offered class and gender deals

Question 13

thesis 5 - whats the class deal

Answer 13

if they work hard theyll be rewarded in life. carlen found those who had this deal denied to them left them powerless, more poverty striken and so resorted to crime. primary factors of womens criminality

Question 14

thesis 5 - whats the gender deal

Answer 14

if theyre a good mother and wife, theyll be treated well & are rewarded if they comply with social expectations. carlen found most women saw few rewards and were subjects of abuse by not abiding gender norms

Question 15

whats an evaluation for thesis 5 class and gender deal

Answer 15

sees women’s behaviour as too determined by external factors, undermines free will. carlens sample was small, only focused on w/c making it reductionist

Question 16

whats hirschl’s bonds of attachment

Answer 16

women have more commitment to family and men have more involvement in society so have more oppurtunity to commit crime.

Question 17

whats thesis 6 - the liberation thesis

Answer 17

adler - women now becoming much more equal in society with men & are committing just as much or same amount of crime as men

Question 18

thesis 6 - why are women committing more crime

Answer 18

patriarchal control weakened in areas like work, home, public and so committing more crimes like white collar, domestic abuse & violence.

Question 19

thesis 6 - whats evidence women are committing more crimes

Answer 19

female offending risen since 2nd half of the 20th century and are undertaking ‘male orientated’ crimes. female only gangs

Question 20

what are negative evaluations of thesis 6

Answer 20

w/c women less likely to be affected by lib movement
female crime rose before the liberation movement

Question 21

are women committing more crimes - moral panic about girls

Answer 21

media sensationalisation of women acting disorderly influences members of cjs & sentencing

Question 22

are women committing more crimes - gender and victimisation

Answer 22

homocide victims more likely to be male, women more likely to be victim by their partners.
women more likely victims of intimate violence

Question 23

are women committing more crimes - criminalisation of females

Answer 23

victim surveys dont match police statistics in relation to women
more women caught in the ‘net widening’ of less serious violent crimes

Question 24

why do men commit more crime - what does messerschmidt argue

Answer 24

masculinity is a social construct that men constantly work towards constructing & presenting to others

Question 25

why do men commit more crime - what does messerschmidt say about hegemonic masculinity

Answer 25

dominant form of masculinity that is privileged and upheld by society - factors like strength, courage, aggression, and the ability to provide and protect

Question 26

why do men commit more crime - what does messerschmidt say about subordinate masculinity

Answer 26

men who have no desire to adopt hegemonic masculinity

Question 27

why do men commit more crime - how does masculinity lead to crime according to messerschmidt

Answer 27

women becoming focused on gaining careers men now feel that their position as the breadwinners is under threat and has undermined their masculinity so in order to try to maintain their masculinity men now seek status through crime

Question 28

messerschmidt , men and crime - how do white m/c use crime to gain masculinity

Answer 28

subordination in school can lead to their masculinity being found outside of school via minor deviance (drugs, drinking, vandalism)

Question 29

messerschmidt , men and crime - how do white w/c use crime to gain masculinity

Answer 29

less chance of educational success so they may be deviant in and out of school

Question 30

messerschmidt , men and crime - how do black w/c use crime to gain masculinity

Answer 30

have less expectations of reasonable jobs bc of racism so may use gangs to express masculinity or property crime for material success

Question 31

whats an evaluation of messerschmidt

Answer 31

doesnt explain why men commit ‘non-masculine’ crimes such as tax evasion
deterministic - not all men commit crimes to achieve masculinity

Question 32

what does winlow say about globalisation impact on male crime

Answer 32

shift to a de-industrialised post modern society led to a loss in traditional manual jobs that the w/c expressed their masculinity via hard labour

Question 33

what did the shift from industrialised modern society do to masculinity

Answer 33

crisis of masculinity meant they had to assert their dominance through other forms

Question 34

what did winlow find in his study in sunderland

Answer 34

service sector expanded - found bouncers had oppurtunity for paid work, access to illegal businesses and ways to express masc through violence

Question 35

whats body capital

Answer 35

value assigned to the appearance of being physically strong - this gave them status & more money as it was a gateway to disorganised criminal activity e.g smuggling alcohol

Question 36

whats an evaluation of winlow

Answer 36

bodily capital no longer reserved to males - increasing female body builders & 1/3 of door supervisers now female