Gender Flashcards
gender statistics in crime?
- disproportionate amount of males commiting
- 96% of prison pop are men
- women seen more as victims
- female killers extremely rare
factors that could cause females to commit significantly violent crimes?
- dominant male partner
- result of abuse from males
- mental illness
what is the double deviance theory?
- where females have broken the law and broken the sterotypes.
- female criminals that have challenged expectations of feminity tend to be treated harshly in media and given harsher sentences than those who live upto sterotype
5 reasons why females commit less crime
- biological explanation
- sex role theory + differential socialisation
- opportunity/knowledge
- risk taking
what is the biological explanation for why females commit less crime?
Dalton-> hormonal/menstrual factors can influence a minority of woen to commit crime
Lambroso-> female criminals lacked natural female traits
what is sex role theory and differential socialisation for why females commit less crime?
- **expectations of behaviour **associated with each sex
- from infancy female role contains attractiveness, softeness, caring, male role= toughness, aggressiveness
- due to socialisation (games, subjects, dress) girls **lack values **associated with delinquiency.
- offences for women- shoplifting
what is social control for why females commit less crime?
- feminists= nuclear family as prison where women are trapped
- should look after children
- for women to escape pressure of control in family= depression rather than crime
- males socialised to use violence to resolve probs, females not (male monoploly of violence)
- females fear bad rep
- domination of public world by men- women dont go out eg streets/pubs
what is opportunity/knowlede for why females commit less crime?
- adolesence- girls confined to home due to parental control, bedroom culture. boys in streets where opportunities arise
- adulthood- constrained through looking after husband + children. no free time
- employment- no opp for w.c.c as lower level
- violence- female role= no toughness
- knowledge- unlikely know how to commit, steal car readily available to males (tech knowledge)
what is risk taking for why females commit less crime?
Miller + Hoffman-> more risk averse, risk taking is a masculine personality trait
sociological evidence for women ‘get away’ with crime
- types of crime commit underrepresented in stats
- chivalry thesis
women get away with crime
Pollack
- men and women commit similar NUMBER of crimes
- types of crimes women commit eg shoplifting are underrepresented in crime stats
- male victims of abuse embarassed to report
- women more skilled at decieving eg menstural pain + faking orgasm
Campbell
ration of 5:1 is more likely 2:1 M:F
= levels more or less equal
what is the Chivalry thesis?
Smart-> women treated in paternalistic way by police and court which may result in them being treated more leniently
evaluation for Chivalry thesis?
Heidensohn-> double deviance, women have harsher punishment
sociology evidence for female crime increasing
- new type of female criminal due to liberation
- increase rate of female police
- increase risk taking
female crime increasing
Alder
- womens liberation led to new type of female criminal
- women taken on male social roles, more likely involved in robbing banks/mugging
female crime increasing
Box and Hale
- social change led to increase rate of women crime
- more female police officers= no chivalry thesis
female crime increasing
Denscombe
- changing gender roles more females likely engage in risk taking behaviour.
- more females taking on male attitudes like ‘looking hard’
Is female crime a social class issue?
Carlen
working class women more likely to commit crime due to not being able to achieve:
1. the class deal (successful carrer)
2. the gender deal (functional family unit)
feel only option is crime
statistics for women as victims?
- more male victims for homocide, female victims know killer (partner/ex-partner)
- women x10 more likely SA than men
- women most likely victimised by stranger
- 8% females experienced SA reported to police
why are men more likely to commit crime?
- conforming to hegemonic masculinity
- LC/ethnic= deviancy to express masculinity
- edgework
Messerschmicit
- men trying to conform to hegemonic masculinity
- male crime attempt to exress masculinity in diff ways
Lyng
masculinity and edgework
- crime is thrilling, exciting, risk taking
- more attractive to males to prove masculinity
white collar crime
Goldstraw-white (5)
WHITE COLLAR CRIME
main diffs in W.C fraudsters in prison
1. men better qualified than women
2. men likely offend w others, women alone
3. women sentence 23mth, men 40
4. both commit cos of family pressure- men ‘maintain lifestyle’ women- protect family
5. women likely regret crime
what is the complexity of womens role in society?
women have more complex reasons to commit crime due to society/societal role of women eg acting as a way to help family
