Gender

Question 1

What do statistics tell us about ‘male crime’?

Answer 1

Official stats have routinely found that women are convicted of crime to a far lesser extent than men

Question 2

Ministry of Justice (2014) (male crime)

Answer 2

In 2013, 75% of everyone found guilty of an offence were males

Question 3

Soothill et al (2002) (male crime)

Answer 3

estimated that 35% of males born in 1958 will have had a criminal conviction by the age of 35; for women this figure is 9%

Question 4

Women are usually convicted for…

Answer 4

less serious offences

Question 5

Roe and Ashe (2008) most frequent offence by women

Answer 5

theft and assault

Youth, Crime and Justice Survey

Question 6

Sex

Answer 6

a biological distinction, more complex than genitalia

Question 7

Gender

Answer 7

Identification of male/female- based upon social, historical and cultural norms- beliefs change over time

Question 8

What is feminist criminology?

Answer 8

Feminism= an analysis of women’s subordination for the purposes of seeking to bring about social change
Popular conceptions of feminists include references to any groups or individuals who have tried to change the position of women or ideas about women
Not one single meaning-difficult to define
Feminist perspectives are anti=positivist, critical of stereotypes of women, interested in methodologies that are sympathetic to these concerns

Question 9

Generalizability problem

Answer 9

do theories designed to describe men’s offending apply in the same way to women

Question 10

Smart (1976) generalizability problem

Answer 10

criminological theories have held out to be general explanations of crime- but in fact they are about male crime with women seen in negative terms

Question 11

Gender ratio/Gender blindness

Answer 11

why do females commit less crimes than males

Question 12

Gelsthorpe and Morris (1988) Gender blindness

Answer 12

Gender blindness is not a trivial oversight; it carries social and political significance. Moreover, theories which do not address gender are not merely incomplete; they are misleading’

Question 13

Carlen (1992)

Answer 13

there cannot be a true feminist criminology because, other than patriarchy, there are no innately feminist theoretical concepts; men and women often commit crimes for the same reasons

Question 14

Adler (1975)

Answer 14

fundamental differences in men and women int heir potential to commit crime

Question 15

Moulds (1980)

Answer 15

men and women should be treated equally in the CJS

Question 16

why are traditional theories weak?

Answer 16

theories are weak if they do not apply to half of the potential criminal population

Question 17

Women experience the same…

Answer 17

deprivation, family structure and so on that men do

Question 18

Stanley and Wise (1983) 4 main themes linking feminism and research

Answer 18

1. Women should be made visible
2. Research should by on, by and for women
3. Non-sexist methodologies should be employed
4. should have practical import and political impact

Question 19

Pollak (1950) women are inclined to commit criminal offences during…

Answer 19

periods of hormonal disturbance

Question 20

Dalton (1961)

Answer 20

almost 60% of imprisoned women in her sample had committed their crimes in a 16 day period covering the hormonal changes resulting from menstruation

Question 21

Courts have been prepared to reduce sentences for female offenders shown…

Answer 21

to be suffering from hormonal disturbance

Question 22

Infanticide Act 1925

Answer 22

women who kill their new-born babies may have a murder conviction reduced to manslaughter

Question 23

Edwards (1988)

Answer 23

any lawful punishment can be imposed for manslaughter and number of women have been placed on probation

Question 24

O’Donovan (1991)

Answer 24

women on receiving end of physical abuse for long periods of time can be found guilty of manslaughter rather than murder

Question 25

The Coroner and Justice Act (2009) s54 (1)

Answer 25

created a new defence of ‘loss of control’ where the defendant feared serious violence from victim

Question 26

Messerschmidt

Answer 26

critical of feminism for its essentialism- assertion by some of its proponents that all men are violent and all women are victims
Considered crime to be a device to reinforce gender

Question 27

Messerschmidt- men using crime to assert gender

Answer 27

• men utilize resources available to assert gender/ demonstrate they are manly
• if other outlets are unavailable males may turn to crime to assert masculinity
• ‘doing gender’-extra show of masculinity

Question 28

Hegemonic masculinity

Answer 28

emphasizes authority, control, competitive individualism, independence, aggressiveness and the capacity for violence

Question 29

Messerschmidt- difference between white middle class and working class boys

Answer 29

white middle- conform at school but show non-violent crimes as outlet for masculinity
White working- indulge in opposing masculinities in and out of school
Poorer ethnic minorites see no relation to school and future work so see alternative ways to achieve gender

Question 30

Gender would now be performative

Answer 30

a series of subjectivities repeated over time

Question 31

May be ambivalence around

Answer 31

characteristics women define as masculine?

Question 32

Focus on crimes of youths

Answer 32

Meanings of masculinites over a mans life varies- remains unexplained

Question 33

Miller (2002)

Answer 33

questioned whether messerschmidts analysis of ‘doing gender’ is adequate to explain female participation in what is usually considered male crime

Question 34

Messerschmidt failed to..

Answer 34

consider fully why some men assert masculinity in form of crime and others don’t

Question 35

How has feminist criminology impact the discipline as a whole?

Answer 35

• recognized the amnesia and misrepresentation of women

- made visible women’s victimization of sexual assault and domestic violence

Question 36

Women are not the only…

Answer 36

blind spot in traditional criminology

Question 37

Critique of traditional approach alone..

Answer 37

cannot constitute a theoretical approach

Question 38

Smart (1981)

Answer 38

more important goals to achieve than the one of constructing a sub-discipline to rank alongside other criminologies’

Question 39

How can understanding gender help/hinder understanding in current study?

Answer 39

-Understanding differences could help us understand the stats around rates of crime between genders
-women experience same deprivation, family structure and so on that men do so understanding why this leads men to crime more than women could be helpful
HOWEVER
-it is does not suffice as a full explanation of crime
-as society is becoming more accepting of gender as a fluid construct is this even a valid factor to consider