Explaining Female Crime Flashcards
What are the 3 main explanations of gender differences in crime in explaining female crime ?
-Functionalist Sex role theory
-Heidensohn - Patriarchal control
-Carlen -class and gender deals
Functionalist sex role theory - Parsons ?
Parsons traces differences in crime and deviance to the gender roles in the conventional nuclear family , while men take the instrumental breadwinner role , performed largely outside of the home . Women perform the expressive role in the home , where they take the main responsibility for socialising the children
Functionalist sex roe theory - Cohen , explaining male crime
Cohen argues that the lack of male role model in the home means boys are more likely to turn to all male street gangs as a source of masculine identity and in these subcultural groups , status is earned by acts of toughness , risk taking and delinquency
What do New right theorists argue leads boys to turn to crime and street gangs as a source of stats and identity ?
New right theorists argue that the absence of male role model in matrimonial lone parent families leads boys turning to criminal street gangs as a source of status and identity
How does Walklate criticise the sex role theory in particular parsons ?
Walklate criticises sex role theory for its biological assumptions , as parsons assumes that because women have the biological capacity to bear children they are best suited to the expressive role
What are the 2 feminist explanations in explaining female crime ?
-Control theory
-Liberation thesis
Heidensohn -patriarchal control - at home ?
Women’s domestic role , with its constant round of housework and childcare imposes severe restrictions of women’s time and movement and confines them to the house for long periods of time, reducing their opportunities to offend . Women who try to reject their domestic role may find that their partners seek to impose it by force through domestic violence
Dobash and Dobash how men use their patriarchal control in the home ?
Dobash and Dobash found many violent attacks that result from men’s dissatisfaction with their wives performance of domestic duties . Men also exercise their control through their financial power for example by denying women sufficient funds for their leisure activities , thereby restricting their time outside of the home
Heidensohn - patriarchal control , how are girls/daughters also subject to it ?
Daughters too are subject to patriarchal control . Girls are less likely to be allowed to come and go as they please or to stay out late . As a result they develop a bedroom culture socialising at home with friends rather than in public spaces
Girls are required to do more housework than boys and as a result they have less opportunity to engage in deviant behaviour on the streets
Heidensohn- Patriarchal control in public evidence from Islington crime survey ?
Women are controlled in public places by the threat or fear of male violence against them , especially sexual violence
The Islington crime survey found that 54% of women avoided going out after dark for fear of being victims of crime , as against 14% of men
Patriarchal control -How did Lee find school boys controlled in the school (control in public ) ?
Lees notes that in schools , boys maintain control through sexualised verbal abuse , for example labelling girls as slags if they fail to conform to gender role expectations
Heidensohn - Patriarchal control at work how are women controlled in the workplace ?
Women’s behaviour at work is controlled by male supervisors and managers . Sexual harassment is widespread and helps keep women in their place
Women’s subordinate position reduced their opportunities to engage in criminal activity at work ,for example the glass ceiling prevents women from rising to senior positions where there is a greater opportunity to commit fraud , as a result they are less likely to be involved in white collar crime
However how does Heidensohn also argue patriarchy can push women into crime ?
Heidensohn recognises that patriarchy can also push some women into crime . For example women are more likely to be poor as a result of gender inequalities in the labour market and may turn to theft or prostitution to gain a decent standard of living
