Crime: Gender Socialisation (Social explanation)

Question 1

What points can be made when describing the explanation?

Answer 1

Patterns of socilisation
Role models
Differences in social control

Question 2

How can patterns in socilisation lead to differences in offending?

Answer 2

Boys are encouraged to be risk takers
Girls are more closely supervised and expected to be more conforming
Young men therefore have more opportunity to commut crime

Question 3

How can differences in role models lead to differences in offending?

Answer 3

We learn our gender roles through observation and immitation of role models
Girls have easy access to their mothers but boys rebel against this and join all-male peer groups which encourage traits such as aggression that can lead to deviant behaviour

Question 4

How can differences in social control lead to differences in offending?

Answer 4

Society imposes more control over women so they have less opportunity to commit crime
Heidensohn: Girls develop a bedroom culture and have more time and movement restrictions so less opportunity
Can’t commut white collar crime due to glass ceiling
Women don’t go out at night due to fear

Question 5

What evalautive points can be made?

Answer 5

Chivalry hypothesis
Men are less likely to be punished
Hormones in males
Hormones in females

Question 6

What is the chivalry hypothesis?

Answer 6

The justice system is male dominated and males are socilised to act in a caring way towards females so may be less likely to convict them

Question 7

Why are men less likely to be punished?

Answer 7

Carlen: If a women is seen as a good mother, she is less likely to be imprisoned so they assess character in relation to gender roles.
Male crime is just overstepping the boundary but female crime is breaking the role completely

Question 8

How do hormones in males mean they are more likely to commit crime?

Answer 8

They have more testoesterone which is linked to violence
Dabbs: 9/11 inmates with low testoesterone did non-violent crimes
10/11 inmates with high testoesterone did violent crimes

Question 9

What proportion of inmates with high levels of testoesterone committed violent crime?

Answer 9

10/11

Question 10

What proportion of inmates with low levels of testoesterone committed violent crime?

Answer 10

9/11

Question 11

How do hormones in females mean they are more likely to commit crime?

Answer 11

They have more oestragon which is linked to social behaviour
Ericsson: 44 Men with alchohol related agression and a control group and found a negative correlation with
oestragen
More oestragon = less crime
The original explanation lacks validity since boys have more access to their father now