Feminist Perspective Flashcards
Feminism View on Crime
Women are not represented in crime statistics:
95% of prisoners = male
49% of population = male
Reasons: How women are socialised / labelled & social control restricts women from opportunities to commit crime
Pollack(funct.) Feminist Theory
Women are not seen in crime stats = women are not biologically driven to commit crime
CHIVALRY THEORY
Chivalry Theory - Pollack
Men = brought up to be chivalrous
- Male police officers may have a paternal instinct with female offenders & so will be reluctant in eforcing power onto women
WOMEN = MORE MANIPULATIVE & SLY THAN MEN
- Women manipulate the CJS
- Show their manipulation through their ability to fake an orgasm & lie about their period
Pollack Evaluation
:) - Allen: Women were given more lenient sentences if convicted of motoring offences
:) - Farrington & Morris: Magistrates Courts - Men were more likely to be given prison sentences (HOWEVER, evidence shows male crime tends to be more severe)
:) - Box: Reviewed the findings of several studies - UK & USA women were more likely to be treated kindly in CJS
:( - Doesn’t look at the difference in crime each gender commits
Heidensohn
Society = patriarchal: creates social control
Women do not have equal opportunities to commit crime due to massive social controls
- Occupied time (housework / childcare)
- Denied opportunities to be out at night
- Controlled by public fear of sexual violence
:) - Hirschi Bond of attachment = involvement: too busy to commit crime
Smart
DOUBLE DEVIANT: Double standards in courts
- Women experience harsher punishments if they present as or commit unfeminine crimes
E.G. Woman who has a child in care = unfeminine (punished for crime & for being a woman)
:) - Carlon: Acknowledges women are doubly victimised by their situation
Gender Deal
Women wish to be seen as respectable in order to gain the benefits that come with a partner such as having a husband
Class Deal
Women from a w/c home expect to earn a good living from working
- Women make an active choice to offend due to the lack of financial support from their family (crime = rational solution to their problems of poverty & powerlessness)
Walklate
Women as victims:
Women who have been s/a or raped must prove they were not asking for it through her choice of clothing / behaviour
E.g. Brockturner: 6 month sentence for the rape of a drunk woman (woman had to prove she did not ask to be raped because she was drunk)
Adler
Rise in female crime = due to rise in feminism
Gender equality has allowed women to have more opportunities to commit crime
E.g. Increase in white collar crime = due to women being more liberated and having more occupational opportunities
:) - Heindersohn: Acknowledges that crime stats from women are rising due to less social control from the patriarchy
Denscombe & Slack
Ladette Culture
Rise in feminism has changed females’ norms & values
- Adopted male behaviour & sexual attitudes as a reaction to traditional gender stereotyping & gender control
SLACK: Crime from girls under 18 risen by 50% over previous 4 years (50K crimes)
:) - NeoMarx: Deviance = more political than crime
Heimer & DeCoster
Females: Socialised indirectly (emotions control socialisation)
Males: Socialised directly (family controls socialisation)
Women learn to be passive & nurturing through being socialised by emotions
:) - Oakley: Gender socialisation (CMV&dA)
:( FEM EVAL:
- Theories overlook issues of class & ethnicity
- Views women as victims of society: overlooks possibility that not all female crime can be excused on the grounds of gender & victimisation
