Gender and Crime

Question 1

What are the official statistics which show the crime-gender gap?

Answer 1

In England and Wales in 2014, men accounted for:
- 3/4 of all convictions
- 85% of convictions for serious (indictable) offences
- 95% of prisoners
- Men are more likely to be repeat offenders, commit more serious offences, and more likely to be found guilty.

Question 2

Reasons for lower female crime

Why do females have less detectable offences?

Answer 2

• Women tend to commit more offences which are less likely to be detected or reported, e.g shoplifting.
• Women tend to steal smaller, less detectable items than men.

Question 3

Reasons for lower female crime

Why do women commit less crime according to the sex role theory and socialisation?

Answer 3

PARSONS:
- Argues women adopt expressive roles in the family involving caring, cleaning and housework —> provides positive, non-criminal role models for girls.

• Socialisation also encourages women to adopt feminine characteristics e.g less aggressive.
• Women’s roles and socialisation combine to make many women avoid the risk taking involved in crime.
• It also results in less opportunities for crime as women have less time due to domestic responsibilities.

Question 4

Reasons for lower female crime

Why do females commit less crime according to the gender deal and the class deal?

Answer 4

CARLEN:
- Suggested women are encouraged to conform by the gender deal and the class deal
The class deal: women who work can afford material rewards such as consumer goods.
The gender deal: women who conform to the expressive role have emotional rewards from family life.

Question 5

Reasons for lower female crime

Why did Carlen find that the gender deal and class deal was unachievable for some women?

Answer 5

CARLEN:
- The class and gender deal rewards were unavailable for some women due to for example, poverty.
- He found that many working class women had been denied opportunities of paid work but also had turbulent family lives.
- As a result these women had little to lose by committing crime as they couldn’t achieve the class or gender deal.

Question 6

Reasons for lower female crime

What role does Carlen argue females are socialised into?

Answer 6

CARLEN:
- Argues women are socialised into a role as guardians of domestic morality and they risk social disapproval if they fail to uphold this morality.
- Women therefore can be condemned for being a criminal and being unfeminine.

Question 7

Reasons for lower female crime

Why do females commit less female crime according to the social control?

Answer 7

HEIDENSOHN:
Argues there are different spheres: men dominate the public (where most crimes are committed), females dominate the private.

Question 8

Reasons for lower female crime

What does Heidensohn say happens in the private sphere which results in lower female crime?

Answer 8

1.) In the private sphere (E.g. home):
- Patriarchal control leads to women having domestic labour and childcare.
- Women do a triple shift (housework, paid work and emotional care of the family).
- Adolescent females are more closely supervised by parents as well than adolescent males resulting in a private bedroom culture for females where they socialise with friends at home rather than in public.

Question 9

Reasons for lower female crime

What does Heidensohn say happens in the public sphere which results in lower female crime?

Answer 9

2.) In the public sphere (E.g. the streets):
- Women face patriarchal control in the form of fear of physical or
sexual violence if they go out alone at night.
- This means they are less likely to be able to commit crime in the public sphere.

Question 10

Reasons for lower female crime

What does Heidensohn say happens in the workplace which results in lower female crime?

Answer 10

3.) In the workplace:
- Women face a glass ceiling at work, as well as sexual harassment and increased supervision at work.
- This prevents opportunities and job roles where they could
commit white collar crime.

Question 11

Reasons for lower female crime

Why do females commit less female crime according to the chivalry thesis?

Answer 11

POLLAK:
- Suggested the male dominated criminal justice system takes a more protective view of female offending.
- This means women offenders are seen as vulnerable and in need of
protection.
- As a result are treated more leniently.

Question 12

Reasons for lower female crime

What do the statistics from the ministry of justice show in regards to the chivalry thesis being a reason for lower female crime?

Answer 12

Statistics from the Ministry of Justice show:
- Women are more likely to receive suspended or community sentences.
- Women are more likely to receive shorter sentences if they are imprisoned.
Females are also more likely to be cautioned or warned by the police as they are seen as less of a threat than men.

Question 13

Reasons for lower female crime

What is the evidence against the chivalry thesis being a cause of lower female crime?

Answer 13

• Many feminists argue women who are seen as not confirming to traditional femininity are treated much worse by the CJS than men. - This is double deviance where women are seen as deviant for committing crime but also for not keeping to feminine norms.
• This is also seen as outdated as many women now work in the CJS so it is not male dominated.

Question 14

Reasons for lower female crime

Why are police stereotypes suggested to be a cause of lower female crime?

Answer 14

• Labelling theorists suggest police stereotypes mean women who commit crimes are less likely to be watched, caught and labelled as a criminal.

Question 15

Reasons for higher male crime

Why do men commit more crime according to sex role theory and socialisation?

Answer 15

• Men’s traditional roles, lack of responsibilities at home and lack of social control all give men more independence than women and therefore more opportunities to commit crime.
• Females adopt the expressive role at home, meaning boys reject feminine models of behaviour that express tenderness and gentleness and engage in compensatory compulsory masculinity through aggression and anti-social behaviour –> This is to demonstrate they are not feminine.

Question 16

Reasons for higher male crime

Why do men commit more crime according to the assertion of masculinity?

Answer 16

• Hegemonic masculinity: independence, toughness, aggression and risk taking.
  MESSERSCHMIDT:
• Suggests men sometimes turn to crime as a means of asserting their masculinity when legitimate means of doing this are blocked.
• Men search for new ways of asserting their masculinity e.g. fights —> more likely to be men from deprived backgrounds.

Question 17

Reasons for higher male crime

From Messerschmidts study, what was the conclusion that came from it about the relationship between class and ethnic differences and crime to demonstrate masculinity?

Answer 17

• White middle class male youths: have to be subordinate to teachers in order to achieve —> leading to an accommodating masculinity in school.
• Outside of school they adopt oppositional masculinity, e.g. drinking, vandalism.
  1.) White working class male youths: have less chance of educational success so adopt oppositional masculinity in and out of school. This links with Willis’ working class lads.
  2.) Black lower working class male youths: may have few expectations of a reasonable job and may use gang membership and violence to express their masculinity or turn to property crime to achieve material success.

Question 18

Reasons for higher male crime

What does Lyng say about the assertion of masculinity in regards to crime?

Answer 18

LYNG:
- The assertion of masculinity could also be a reason why men get involved in edgework, as outlined by Lyng.
- It would also explain why middle class men get involved in white collar and corporate crime through risk taking and thrill seeking in business.

Question 19

Reasons for higher male crime

What are the criticisms of assertion of masculinity being a cause in higher male crime?

Answer 19

• Doesn’t explain why all men who don’t have legitimate means of asserting their masculinity don’t turn to crime.
• Not all male crime can be interpreted as an expression of masculinity.

Question 20

Reasons for higher male crime

What are the reasons for changes in the economy being a cause in higher male crime?

Answer 20

• Globalisation has led to a loss of manual, working class, male jobs.
• At the same time, there has been an expansion in the service sector, including the night time leisure economy, e.g. clubs and bars –> Provided w/c men with a combination of legal employment, criminal opportunities and a way of expressing their masculinity.
  WINSLOW:
• Studied bouncers in Sunderland and found this type of work provided young men with paid work, an opportunity for illegal business, e.g. drug dealing, as well as the opportunity to express their masculinity through violence.
• Maintain reputation and employability through bodily capital, like body building –> maintaining their sign value, discouraging people to go against them.

Question 21

Reasons for higher male crime

What are the reasons for police stereotyping being a cause in higher male crime?

Answer 21

Because of official statistics, the police are more likely to see men as potential offenders and therefore are more likely to stop and search them, arrest them and prosecute them.

Question 22

Reasons for higher male crime

What are the reasons for control theory, rational choice and opportunity being a cause in higher male crime?

Answer 22

• Men dominate the public sphere where most crime is committed and they face less constraints than women.
• They also have less to lose in terms of reputation. Indeed, for some
  men, crime may enhance their reputation, particularly amongst their peer group.

Question 23

Reasons for growing female criminality

What are the reasons for the liberation thesis being a cause in rising female crime?

Answer 23

ADLER:
- Puts forward the liberation thesis which suggests growing female crime may be due to increasing liberation from patriarchy.
- Women in Britain now have more independence and some of the traditional forms of social control are weakening.
- This means women adopt traditionally male roles in legitimate activity (work) and illegitimate activity (crime).
–> For example, women now have greater opportunities in the workplace and this means they can now commit white collar crimes.

Question 24

Reasons for growing female criminality

What are the criticisms for the liberation thesis being a cause in rising female crime?

Answer 24

• The highest levels of crime amongst women are of working class women. This group are least likely to have been affected by liberation.
• Radical feminists would argue the triple shift shows women are not fully liberated.

Question 25

Reasons for growing female criminality

What are the reasons for the ladette culture being a cause in rising female crime?

Answer 25

DENSCOMBE:
- Found there is much more of a ladette culture in which young women adopt behaviour traditionally associated with young men, e.g. binge drinking and risk taking.
- This is due to changing gender norms in society.

Question 26

Reasons for growing female criminality

What are the reasons for the net widening being a cause in rising female crime?

Answer 26

SHARPE AND GELSTHORPE:
- Argued that women aren’t becoming more involved in crime, it is
just that the justice system is ‘widening the net’ and arresting and prosecuting females for less serious forms of violence than previously.
- There is a growing trend towards prosecuting females for low level physical disagreements.
WORRALL:
- Argues that in the past, girls’ misbehaviour was likely to be seen as a welfare issue whereas now it has been relabelled as criminality.

Question 27

Reasons for growing female criminality

What are the reasons for moral panics being a cause in rising female crime?

Answer 27

SHARPE:
- Found judges, probation officers and police were influenced by media stereotypes of violent ladettes and many believed that girls’ behaviour was rapidly getting worse.
- This means police and courts may take a tougher stance on female crime resulting in more convictions (deviancy amplification).

Question 28

Reasons for growing female criminality

What are the reasons for the feminisation of poverty being a cause in rising female crime?

Answer 28

• Women are more likely to live in poverty than men.
• 45% of single parents are living in poverty. 90% of single parents are women.
• This is likely to cause women to turn to crime as a result of strain and deprivation.