Final Exam Flashcards
The Conservative Approach–Feminism in Criminology
Focusses on the biological differences between men and women. Women are typically viewed as “naturally” inferior.
W.I. Thomas (1923)
Human behaviour an expression of biological instincts. Women had more love, and their need for love accounted for their crime, especially prostitution.
Glueck and Glueck (1934)
Criminal women viewed as “other”. Imprisoned women were characterized by “feeblemindedness, psychopathy and emotional instability”.
Otto Pollak (1961)
Women’s crime equal to men’s. Crime is undetected because women are deceptive and vengeful.
Critiques of Conservative Theories
Theories give intellectual weight to myths about women and their behaviour (Heidenson). Theories fail to consider societal gender roles.
The Liberal Approach–Role Theory
Shifts focus from biology to culture. Gender differences are seen as due to gender roles and socialization patterns.
Hoffman-Bustamante (1973)
Lower rate of delinquency of girls the result of differential socialization and childbearing practices; Males socialized to be aggressive while females socialized to be passive.
Power-Control Theory
In a patriarchal family, daughters are more controlled than sons. In an egalitarian family, daughters are less controlled.
Patriarchal Family
Employed husband and housewife.
Egalitarian Family
Both parents employed.
Smart (1976)
Role theory doesn’t fully explain women’s crime, it doesn’t account for why the socialization patterns differ by sex.
Merton’s Strain Theory and Feminism
Explains the class difference in male criminality, but doesn’t explain why women with similar class-related problems are involved in less crime than men.
Sutherland’s Differential Association Theory and Feminism
Described men as culturally heterogeneous, but women were seen as homogeneous. Didn’t examine the apparent homogeneity.
Hirchi’s Social Control Theory
Focused on conformity of law-abiding people, but mostly ignored women in his theory.
Generalizability Problem
Can mainstream theories be modified to fit women?
Eileen Leonard (1982)
Modified strain theory. Females are socialized to aspire for different goals than males (marriage and children).
The Gender Ratio Problem
Why are women less likely to be criminals than men?
The Women’s Liberation Thesis
Female criminality will more closely resemble men’s as gender differences are diminished by women’s greater participation in the workforce.
The Feminist Approach
Starts outside mainstream criminology. Crime categories reinforce a division between criminals and the law-abiding, this makes female criminals the “other”
The Cultural Construction of Rape
Riddled with myths and misconceptions and fraught with stereotypical images of victims and offenders.
Hegemonic Masculinity
Sensitizes us to the idea that a particular for of masculinity is culturally glorified.
Cultural Conflict Theory
Thorsten Sellin: In a culturally homogeneous societies, conduct norms are a consensus. In heterogeneous societies, there will be conflict between the conduct norms of different groups.
George Vold
Vold focuses on conflict between diverse interest groups and sees society as a collection of groups in a constant shifting equilibrium of opposing group interests. Conflict can lead to crime as a result of minority group behaviour or conflict between two groups.
Richard Quinney
Focused on ‘segments’ of society or types of ‘social groupings’. Emphasized unequal distribution of power; more powerful segments could protect their own interests.
Quinney’s Six Propositions
- Crime is a definition of human conduct that is created by authorized agents in a politically organized society.
- Criminal definitions describe behaviours that conflict with the interests of the segments of society that have the power to shape public property.
- Criminal definitions are applied by the segments of society that have the power to shape the enforcement and administration of criminal law.
- Behavioural patterns are structured in segmentally organized society in relation to criminal definitions and within this context persons engage in actions that have relative probabilities of being defined as criminal.
- Conceptions of crime are constructed and diffused in the segments of society by various means of communication.
- The social reality of crime is constructed by the formulation and application of criminal definitions, the dev. of behavioural patterns related to criminal definitions and the constructions of criminal conceptions.
Instrumental Marxism
The state and its legal and political institutions directly serve the interests of the capitalist class. Law is equated with class rule–capitalists use the state to dominate society.
Structuralist Marxism
The institutions of the state must ensure the ongoing viability of capitalism. Therefor the state and its institutions have a certain degree of independence from specific elites in the ruling or capitalist class (relative autonomy). The law does not exclusively represent the interests of the dominant class.
Surplus population
Created when new technologies replace labour , or production is outsourced. Additionally, through contradictions in the institutions that help reproduce capitalism (schools) by teaching conformity and providing critical insight into the alienating conditions of capitalism thus generating radicals among students.
Left Realism
A response to the perception that Marxist theories had ignored the serious harm of street crime.
