gender and crime Flashcards
1
Q
gender prison statistics
A
- 3,952 females were in prison at the end of june 2017
- july 2017: prison population in england and wales was 84,746 (men 80,794)
- number of women is growing much faster than men despite their crimes often being less serious
- when women are convicted 94% is for minor offences, compared to 74% males - crimes of the powerless
- official statistics show men are more likely to commit crimes
- women are less likely to be prosecuted
2
Q
what is the chivalry thesis?
A
- the idea that women are less likely to be prosecuted for their crimes
- men who work in the CJS are more protective towards women
3
Q
POLLAK - protective attitudes
A
- men have protective attitudes towards women, so they are less likely to be arrested and prosecuted, so females are unrepresented in the crime statistics
- problem: these ideas are out of date
- self report studies suggest that this may be true as females report less convictions
- females are also more likely to receive a caution
4
Q
HOOD - study of defendants
A
study of 3000 defendants found that women are 1/3 less likely to be jailed in similar cases to men
5
Q
points against the chivalry thesis
A
- shop lifting is a crime that women are more likely than men to be prosecuted for, despite similar offending levels
- many male crimes such as rape go unreported
6
Q
feminists against the chivalry thesis
FARRINGTON AND MORRIS - lenient sentences
A
- found women are not sentenced more leniently for serious crimes.
- feminists argue the CJS is bias against certain women
7
Q
feminists against the chivalry thesis
HEIDENSOHN - double standards
A
- females are treated harshly when they don’t conform to female norms
- double standards: teen girls often end up in care for underage sex whereas boys receive no punishment
8
Q
feminists against the chivalry thesis
CARLEN - children in care
A
females in scotland were more likely to be given custodial sentences if their children were in care - seen as not good mothers
9
Q
feminists against the chivalry thesis
WALKLATE - victim on trial
A
in many rape trials the victim seems to be the one on trial as their testimonies are often doubted.
10
Q
what are the three theories used to explain the low female offending rate?
A
- sex role theory
- control theory
- liberation theory
11
Q
FUNCTIONALIST SEX ROLE THEORY
TALCOTT PARSONS - gender roles
A
- females take the expressive role in caring and socializing children
- boys engage in ‘compensatory compulsory masculinity’ - risk taking and aggression
- men take the instrumental role, performed outside the house and this makes socialization difficult for boys
12
Q
FUNCTIONALIST SEX ROLE THEORY
ALBERT COHEN - male role models
A
- without a male role model boys get anxious about their masculinity and identity - look for all male peer groups and street gangs
- right realists also support this argument blaming single parent families for high levels of crime
13
Q
FEMINISM CONTROL THEORY
HEIDENSOHN - women are strictly supervised
A
- women commit fewer crimes than men because patriarchal society imposes greater control over women
- in the home women still have primary responsibility to raise children which involves commitment to conformity (dual burden/triple shift)
- men are able to impose this rule on women e.g. through the threat of domestic violence / financial power
- girls are strictly supervised and socialised into the role of housewife
- girls are more likely to develop a bedroom culture as teens - socialising at home rather than going out with friends
- expected to help around the house
14
Q
FEMINISM CONTROL THEORY
control in work for girls
A
- women’s subordinate place in the workplace limits their opportunity to commit crime
- the ‘glass ceiling’ prevents women from rising to senior positions where there are more opportunities for white collar crime
15
Q
FEMINISM CONTROL THEORY
control over girls in public spaces
(+LEES)
A
- fearful of male sexual violence
- media frightens women into staying home
- fear of being defined as not respectable (dress, makeup, behavior)
- don’t want a bad reputation
- women don’t go into pubs alone - fear of being seen as ‘loose’
- LEES found that boys maintain control over girls in schools with verbalised sexual abuse
16
Q
FEMINISM CONTROL THEORY
CARLEN - class and gender roles unstructured interviews
A
- 39 unstructured interviews - female offenders aged 15-49
- convicted of a wide range of offences from theft to prostitution
- majority from WC backgrounds
- 32 had lived in poverty
- had problems finding employment - poor disrupted education
- experienced humiliation claiming benefits
- many had suffered from sexual/physical abuse from both parents and partners
- been in care or homeless
- broken family bonds
17
Q
HIRSCHI - control theory and rewards
A
- CARLEN uses HIRSCHI’s control theory to explain female crime
- HIRSCHI argues that humans act rationally, and are controlled by being offered a ‘deal’: rewards in return for conforming to norms
- people commit crimes if they don’t believe they will get the rewards, or if the rewards of the crime appear greater than the risks
18
Q
CARLEN - the two deal promise
A
argues that working class women are led to conform through the promise of two deals
- THE CLASS DEAL: women who work will get a decent standard of living
- THE GENDER DEAL women who conform to the conventional domestic gender role will gain the material and emotional rewards of family life
19
Q
the women in CARLEN’s study and the class deal
A
- failed in terms of the class deal
- failed in terms of the gender deal
- as they had gained nothing from either deal, they felt they had nothing else to loose by using crime to escape poverty
20
Q
evaluation of control theory (criticisms)
A
- see women’s behavior as controlled by external forces
- patriarchal controls that prevent women from deviating - HIEDENSOHN
- failure to deliver the promised ‘deals’ to some women removes the controls that prevents offending
- ignores the importance of free will and choice in offending
- CARLEN’s sample was very small - unrepresentative, only consisting of WC women and serious offences
21
Q
ALDER - liberation from patriarchy
A
- if women are becoming liberated from patriarchy, then their crime rates will be similar to males
- female crime is on the increase
- this links to changing roles and identities for women
- women have adopted traditional male roles both in work and in offending behaviour
- women no longer commit traditional female crimes such as prostitution and shoplifting - high status in employment so more chance for white collar crime
22
Q
DENSCOMBE - girls taking risks
A
- women are now involved in more violent crimes
- growth in girl gangs
- DENSCOMBE - girls are just as likely to take risks. be in control and try to ‘look hard’
23
Q
CHESNEY-LIND - criticisms of liberational theories
A
- female crime rate began to rise in the 1950s, yet female liberation started in the 1960s
- CHESNEY-LIND: most female criminals are WC, yet MC females are more likely to be influenced by female liberation
- CHESNEY-LIND: found that most female involvement in drug crime was related to prositiution - very unliberated female crime
24
Q
females and violent crime
ADLER
STEFFENSMEIR AND SCHWARTZ
WORRAL
A
- women have higher levels of violent crime up by 17% each year - supports ALDERs liberation theory, although this has not been matched in victim surveys and self-report studies (slightly more valid)
- STEFFENSMEIR AND SCHWARTZ - in the usa this increase is due to ‘widening the net’ and arresting and charging more women
- in the uk, statistics show an increase in women arrested for violence - tends to be minor offences such as playground fights etc
- WORRAL - in the past female crime was seen as a welfare issue, whereas now it has been relabeled as criminality
25
Q
moral panic about girls (SHARPE)
A
- increase in women’s convictions may be down to the media-inspired moral panic about women being out of control
- SHARPE - CJS professionals were influenced by media stereotypes of violent ladies
- amplification spiral - police and courts take a tougher stance, resulting in more convictions, producing more media coverage
26
Q
gender and victimisation (CSEW results)
A
- CSEW victim survey - yearly structured interviews
- males more likely to be victims of crime - violent street crime
- women more likely to be victimised by an acquaintance - men usually a stranger
- women more likely to be victims of domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking than men
- only 8% of sexual assaults on women get reported to the police - many claim the police can’t help
27
Q
JAMES MESSERSCHMIDT - what are the three types of masculinity he names?
A
- argues masculinity is an accomplishment - men have to constantly work for and present to others
- hegemonic masculinity
- subordinated masculinities
- black lower working-class youths
28
Q
MESSERSCHMIDT - hegemonic masculinity
A
- dominant and ideal form
- paid work, subordination of women, hetero sexism, uncontrollable sexuality of men
- some men unable to or do not want to achieve this, so develop subordinated masculinity
- gay men no desire to achieve this
- males from lower class and ethnic minorities have fewer resources, so may turn to crime and deviance
29
Q
MESSERSCHMIDT - subordinated masculinities
A
- white MC youths subordinate themselves to teachers in school to achieve MC status
- outside school, masculinity is oppositional and achieved by pranks and drinking
- white WC youths less successful in education, so masculinity is oppositional both inside and outside school
- masculinity constructed through physical aggression (WILLIS - the lads study)
30
Q
MESSERSCHMIDT - black lower working class youths
A
have few expectations of a reasonable job so may use gang membership or violence to express their masculinity, or turn to property crime to achieve material success
31
Q
criticisms of MESSERSCHMIDT
A
- fails to explain why not all men use crime to accomplish masculinity
- he over-works the concept of masculinity to explain all crimes
32
Q
masculinity and crime in postmodern societies
A
- crisis of masculinity
- decline in traditional male employment
- can no longer accomplish masculinity by hard labour and providing for families
- no prospect of getting a job
- not suitable marriage material
- some respond by creating subcultures which glorify exaggerated forms of masculinity, toughness and sexual prowess
33
Q
WINSLOW - bouncers study
A
- increase in the nighttime leisure economy which has provided opportunities for males
- study of ‘bouncers’ in sunderland
- compares this to a criminal subculture
- this job offers males a paid job, opportunity for illegal business ventures and allows them to demonstrate their masculinity through violence
34
Q
body capital (bouncers)
A
- organised criminal subculture developed in nighttime economy
- ability to use violence, not just about displaying masculinity, also a commodity with which to earn a living
- many bouncers turn to body building to develop their physical assets - they have to ‘look the part’
- signs of masculinity (big muscles) takes on a reality of its own - independent of the thing its supposed to represent
