Explain nexus between criminal behaviour and family Flashcards
explain women’s family relations
- Most significant, but conflictual relationship with
mother - Maintain familial ties out of loyalty, but also for
instrumental reasons - ‘Parentification’
- Fathers often non‐existent – alcohol, drugs, violence
68% absent - Other significant relationships
- siblings (sisters‐ surrogate moms; brothers‐ gang access)
- grandmothers – parental responsibility
what is the impact of mothering on criminal offending
Mothering‐> Crime‐> Incarceration
- 70% of women in jail have minor children, few facilities
have programs that facilitate and promote proper parenting and child assistance
-Major Issue: child well‐being, separation
-Incarcerated women assessed & classified with same instruments used for men, neglecting gendered
dimensions and ignoring different needs of women
what is the chivalry thesis
- Women treated with more leniency by legal system
women’s crimes de‐emphasized, excused and justified - Pollack: White, middle‐upper class, heterosexual women
playing to paternalistic, hegemonic standards of passivity
and weakness afforded greater leniency - “Others” demonized‐ disproportionate representation of
Aboriginal & minority women in legal system - Reflection of systemic racism
explain rational choice theory
- Mothering serves as a catalyst and a rationale for crime
- Crime‐ alternative to hunger and poverty
- Studies on incarceration and mothering report that
many women commit minor property crimes to
provide for their children - 27% of women incarcerated for minor probation
violations due to lack of resources - Committing fraud (bad cheques), illegal activities
(selling drugs, prostitution)‐ only rational option for
women, in order for children to survive
explain drift theory matza
Mothers “drift” back and forth between legitimate and
illegitimate activities
- Techniques of neutralization allow women to drift
between between conventional conventional and nonconventional nonconventional behaviour behaviour
- I.e. Appeal to higher loyalties
- “Testing the waters”; start with small illegal activities
and move on to more serious crime
- Passas: To succeed you have to be an innovator in order to do what is necessary to be successful
explain mothering as identity
- Mothering is central component of identity, daily
activity and life plans - Many women indicate that links to their children are
central to selfhood - War on drugs is War on mothers
- Many mothers believe in their own demonization –
“Monsters” - Believe use of drugs and alcohol related to loss of
children and subsequent incarceration
explain laub and sampson’s turning points
Continuity and change over the life course
- Attachment to people or things allows for redirection
Trajectory:
Cumulative Continuity
life event
turning point
what are the 4 kinds of domestic violence
: intimate terrorism, common couple violence, violent resistance, and mutual violent control.
- Women typically typically exhibit exhibit common couple violence violence or
violentresistance.
- Must consider context in order to understand
domestic violence by women,
- Assessment and treatment services may not be
appropriately targeted at relevant contributing
elements.
assessment and treatment of violent women
- The assessment of risk should be based on a thorough
analysis of: - The woman’s criminal history,
- Her current violent offending behaviour
- The elements that contributed to the offence,
- The presence of personality disorders,
- Her cognitive schemas about violence, and
- Her emotional regulation patterns.
- Danger Assessment tool (Campbell)
women who sexually offend
Rudin et al. The teacher/lover The male‐coerced/ male‐accompanied The predisposed/ intergenerational The experimental/ exploiter
why is women’s abuse less reported?
- children reluctant to report
- inappropriate behaviour is often masked
- boys less likely to disclose
- denial of existance
- children often told they are fantasizing
- difficult to understand
Treatment of Female Sexual
Offenders
Similar to other female offenders, a portion of female
sexual offenders demonstrate:
- Mental health difficulties;
- high levels of substance abuse
- Personality disorders, including antisocial and
borderline personality disorders;
- Post‐traumatic stress syndrome and depression;
- Severe interpersonal difficulties, particularly in the area of romantic relationships; and
- General psychosocial deficits.
no risk assessment tools for recidivism
women who kill their children
Homicide one of top five leading causes of death of
children
-Under‐reported: SIDS (crib deaths), missing children
- Motives: unwanted child, mercy killing, revenge, acute
psychosis, victim precipitated
- Risks: learned violence, poverty, stress, unemployment
- “Filicide”
Type 1 mother‐ severe psychological stress, usually young,
single, immature
Type 2 mother‐ goes too far in physical abuse, result of displacedanger
explain gidden’s structuration theory
We are both PRODUCTS and PRODUCERS of our
environment.
As a result of the damaging childhoods suffered by many women they are unable to provide provide nurturing nurturing, healthy healthy environments for own children.Woman becomes a motherless mother‐ cannot give what has not been given.
Vicious cycle:
“When self no longer exists, roots of violence are born
explain motherless mothers
Self‐Damage Indicators.
Women exposed to multiple experiences of damage:
- 74% witnessed / experienced serious physical /sexual harm during childhood childhood
- Lack of attachment to mothers
- 71% experienced intimate partner harm
- 64% using drugs or alcohol on a regular basis
- Self‐harm
- “Numbing”
