Gender and crime

Question 1

Trends in gender and crime

Answer 1

• Types of crime by women = property offences except burglary, shoplifting, fraud
• Types of crime by men = violent crimes, assault, sexual offences, white collar crime and corporate crime
• Prison stats = by the age of 40 9% of women have a conviction against 32% of men

Question 2

Debates on gender crime statistics

Answer 2

Chivalry Thesis (Pollack)
It is not that women commit less crime than men it is that they are likely to be charged or convicted of the crime due to the CJS being made up mostly of men who are brought up to be chivalrous towards them

EVALUATION: now more women in the CJS which disregards the chivalry thesis, women may get treated more leniently as their crimes tend to be less serious, women face double deviancy in the CJS especially when their crimes go against traditional norms

Question 3

Reasons why women commit less crime than men:

Answer 3

• Less detectable offences = Women tend to commit less detectable crimes then men such as shoplifting and petty theft
• Sex Role Theory = Parsons = females commit less crime than men due to socialisation they receive as children and their access to adult role models. Boys are less likely to have this at home so turn to gangs
  EVALUATION = Makes a biological assumption about the roles of men and women, assumes women are more nurturing due to childbearing
• Control Theory = Heidensohn = due to amount of patriarchal control women are subjected to e.g. home
• Class and Gender Deals = Carlen = class deal – material rewards for being in paid work which enable women to purchase consumer goods
  Gender deal – conforming to traditional roles of wife and mother to gain male support and emotional rewards

Question 4

Reasons for increased female crime

Answer 4

Feminisation of poverty = women are more likely to be living under the poverty line which can force them into criminal activity

EVALUATION = not all women turn to crime

Question 5

Reasons for male crime rates

Answer 5

• Labelling Theory = Men often stereotyped as being more violent than women which can lead to a self-fulfilling prophecy on how they should behave. Men are labelled as providers for the family and may turn to crime to do this
  EVALUATION = Not all men are criminal
  Symmetrical family – men are no longer seen as the sole providers
  Women in the world of work
• Opportunity = Men have more opportunity to commit crime both blue collar and white-collar crime. Men are more likely to be in situations that can lead to violent action and have access to commit white collar crime
  EVALUATION = Doesn’t explain why men commit the crimes they do and not all men commit crime
• Masculinity Theory = Messerschmidt – men commit crime to show their masculinity and prove that they’re men
• Social Control = Boys are less controlled than girls – more freedom
  Dominate public spaces

Question 6

Who suggested that women commit less crime than men due to lack of opportunity?

Answer 6

Chivalry

Question 7

Which sociologist is associated with masculinity theory?

Answer 7

Messerschmidt

Question 8

What did Walklate mean by secondary victimisation?

Answer 8

additional harm or trauma that v of crime may experience

Question 9

What types of crime are not included in OCR

Answer 9

dark figure of crime

Question 10

Double Deviancy

Answer 10

women are treated more harshly than men

Question 11

What sort of crimes are associated with female criminals?

Answer 11

fraud, theft etc