gender and crime

Question 1

woman less criminal - functionalist sex role theory

Answer 1

parsons - through gender socialisation girls have adult role model to learn feminine traits from but to become masculine boys reject feminine traits and to prove their masculinity, they engage in compensatory compulsory masculinity through aggression and acts of delinquency.

Question 2

parsons criticism

Answer 2

walklate - bases claims on biological differences which are socially constructed

Question 3

women less criminal - heidensohn

Answer 3

society is patriarchal and imposes greater control over women’s lives, preventing them from breaking law, women controlled in 3 ways:

home - domestic role of housework and childcare imposes confines them to home, reducing opportunities to offend. daughters develop bedroom culture - socialising at home and expected to help around house which keeps them busy and reduces chances of offending

public - controlled by threat and fear of violence so avoid going out at night, preventing them from breaking law

work - behaviour controlled by male managers through sexual harrassment. women hold subordinate positions, preventing them from committing WCC

Question 4

women less criminal - winlow

Answer 4

globalisation led to decline in traditionally male occupations where w/c men were able to express their masculinity by hard physical labour and providing for their families

at same time there’s expansion of service sector including night time economy of clubs - found working as bouncers provides young men with combination of legal employment and illegal business opportunities in drugs for w/c men as means of expressing masculinity through violence

Question 5

winlow criticism

Answer 5

fails to explain why not all men use crime to achieve masculinity

Question 6

women as criminal - pollak

Answer 6

chivalry thesis - women as criminal as men but CJS treats women leniently when they break the law - men socialised to be chivalrous so more likely to issue women cautions and judges less likely to jail female offenders

Question 7

pollak criticisms

Answer 7

farrington and morris - study of sentencing of 408 offences of theft in magistrate’s court found women not sentenced more leniently for same offences as men

buckle and farrington - observational study of shoplifting found twice as many male shoplifters than female when OCS shows numbers are equal - shows female shoplifters more likely to be prosecuted

heidensohn - courts treat women more harshly if they’re seen to deviate from gender norms - apply double standards by female offenders more harshly if seen as ‘wayward’

Question 8

women as criminal - adler

Answer 8

liberation theory - as women become increasingly liberated from patriarchy, crimes are becoming more frequent and serious as those of men - greater equality means women start to take on traditionally male roles in both legitimate and illegitimate activities so women committing more ‘typically’ male crimes like violence and WCC

Question 9

adler criticism

Answer 9

young - defining deviance up - what used to be seen as deviant is now criminalised, making it appear like female crime is increasing

Question 10

heidensohn criticism

Answer 10

ignores crimes committed by women in the home