Femininity And Crime

Question 1

What are the three major approaches explaining women and crime?

Answer 1

Biological, sex role theory, changing role/liberationist

Question 2

What does Heidensohn (1989) say has caused male stream sociology?

Answer 2

Male dominance of offenders
Male domination of sociology
Vicarious identification
Sociological theorising

Question 3

What % of men and women have a conviction by the age of 40?

Answer 3

9% women, 32% men

Question 4

Name some differences between male and female crime

Answer 4

Male- more serious and violent crime, more likely to reoffend
1/2 of women’s crime is theft compared to 1/3 of men’s

Question 5

What is the gender ratio of crime according to OS?

Answer 5

4:1 - 80% of offenders are male

Question 6

Why is women’s crime underrepresented according to Pollack (1950)?

Answer 6

1) male members of the CJS socialised to be chivalrous towards women
2) women’s crime less detected as they are “accustomed to deceit”
Now DISCREDITED but raises questions in OCS

Question 7

What is the chivalry thesis?

Answer 7

The justice system is more lenient with women - Pollack 1950

Question 8

What did Graham and Bowling (1995) find?

Answer 8

Self report studies show that the gap between male and female offending rates is much smaller than the OCS shows

Question 9

What did Box (1975) find in his review of self report studies?

Answer 9

OCS was accurate in the gender ratio of crime

Question 10

What did Farrington and Buckle (1984) find in their observational study of shoplifters?

Answer 10

2x more likely to be male than female - contradicts OCS

Question 11

Which theorists pointed to a bias against women in the CJS?

Answer 11

Smart (1989) - female victims of rape treated more harshly than offenders
Walklate (1998) - women who did not conform to gender stereotypes less believed in court, women were ‘on trial’ in rape cases

Question 12

Which are the three main explanations of why women commit less crime?

Answer 12

Sex role theory - Parsons
Socialisation - Oakley
Control Theory - Heidensohn (home, public, work)

Question 13

What is rational choice theory?

Answer 13

Carlen 1988: when the benefits if crime outweigh the risks we commit offences. Women are rewarded through a ‘class deal’ (work) and a ‘gender deal’ (family). If these are not available or not rewarding women turn to crime as a solution

Question 14

What is Adler (1975)’s Liberation Thesis?

Answer 14

As society becomes more equal so will the gender offending ratio - women now have more illegitimate and legitimate opportunities

Question 15

What are two Radical Fem studies?

Answer 15

Brownmiller - fear of rape controls women
Smart - view of male sex drive as uncontrollable blames the victim for the crime
Dworkin - sexual crimes are caused by pornography

Question 16

Why does parsons say women commit less crime?

Answer 16

Girls have a clear role model, their mother, to follow - differential socialisation

Question 17

What did Hagans 1987 study find?

Answer 17

In Canada - more informal control of women compared to men

Question 18

What is Denscome (2001)’s view of changing gender roles

Answer 18

It makes women more likely to engage in risk taking behaviour

Question 19

What did Laidler and Hunt (2001) find?

Answer 19

Ethnographic research of 141 girls in gangs. Gand membership is fragmented across gender - women conform to responsibilities based oh hegemonic gender roles

Question 20

What did Westwood (1999) conclude?

Answer 20

Women are reconstructing their gender identity in a stronger way - more crime

Question 21

What did Hedderman and Hough (1994) find?

Answer 21

Women charged with similar crimes faced less harsh punishments than men

Question 22

What did m Heidensohn find about female sentences,

Answer 22

More likely to receive shorter sentences

Question 23

Farrington and West (1983)

Answer 23

Magistrates distinguish between types of women based on - family responsibilities; marital status; ‘moral baggageNm