Gender And Crime

Question 1

Introductions to crime and gender

Answer 1

80% of all known crime is committed by men.
Men are more likely to commit violent crimes.
Men have higher rates of recidivision (criminal careers).

Question 2

Why men commit more crimes

Answer 2

• biological explanations
• early socialisation
• social control

Question 3

Explanations for crime

Answer 3

Biological explanation: Girls naturally mature faster than boys and can be more docile (testosterone can lead to aggression).
Early socialisation: Differences in socialisation may steer girls away from crime in later life.
Social control: Pressure and expectations of women in society to be a caretaker and in control of their life are greater for women than for men.

Question 4

Explanations for crime - criticisms

Answer 4

Biological explanations: number of women convicted of violent crimes has tripled in recent years
Early socialisation: evidence to support this cause effect is somewhat questionable

Question 5

Women in the criminal justice system - reasons for conviction

Answer 5

Many women in the system faced violence, abuse, poverty, addiction, mental ill health and homelessness in their lives. In 2018, 13% of females aged 18-24y/o were convicted of revolving door offences.

Question 6

Women in the CJS - abuse

Answer 6

75-90% suffered from domestic abuse from a trusted person or family, 63% of 16-24 y/os experienced rape or domestic violence in intimate partner relationships.
50% of women reported emotional, physical, sexual abuse as a child compared to 27% of men.

Question 7

Women in the CJS - upbringings

Answer 7

School exclusions: girls placed in pupil referral units are more likely to experience sexual harassment. 74% of girls in youth custody are permanently excluded from school.
Being in care: young people aged 16-17 years/o in care are 15x more likely to be criminalised. Almost 2/3 of women aged 16-21 years/o have recently been in statutory care compared to 1/2 of young men.

Question 8

Women in the CJS - racism

Answer 8

Black/mixed race women are 2x more likely to be arrested. 22% of women aged 18-24 y/o in prison are from BAME groups. Women in BAME groups make up 13% of the general population.

Question 9

Women in the CJS - biological needs

Answer 9

Menstruation, pregnancy, birth, menopause.
In the UK, there’s only 6 mother and babies units that accommodate for women in prison.
In the 1990s, there were stories of women in labour chained to their hospital beds.
2019, there were 2 tragedies of babies dying in prison.
600 pregnant women enter the CJS every year.

Question 10

Women in the CJS - women’s complex needs

Answer 10

Many are more offended than offenders. March 2021: self harm rates in women’s prisons were at a 10 year high. Young girls in prison are met with physical force, restraint and isolation.
In prison: 25% of females reported feeling suicidal vs. 12% of males, 40% of females reported mental health issues vs. 25% of males, 25% of females reported drug/alcohol abuse problems vs. 13% of males, 49% of women in prison were diagnosed with anxiety and depression vs. 19% of the overall female population.

Question 11

Women in the CJS - equality

Answer 11

Women serve disproportionately short sentences compared to men (women commit less serious/violent crime).
2021 - 63% of female prison sentences were under 12 months vs. 48% of men,
June 2022 - 19% of women in prison were on remand vs. 16% of men,
9/10 women were on low-med risk and just over half received custodial sentence.
Prisons and prison regimes were designed with the notional male offender in crime - the architecture, security regimes, provision of healthcare, work opportunities and family visiting arrangements.
Feminists since the 1980s rally for gender responsive programs, gender sensitive approaches to incarceration and ‘gender wise’ sentencing.

Question 12

Women in the CJS - women and childcare

Answer 12

Many women in prisons are parents - 60% women vs. 45% men
Usually women are the main child carers, when facing incarceration they’re separated from their children and families - 15 female prisons in the UK, 1 in Scotland and 0 in Wales.

Question 13

Women in the CJS - different pains of imprisonment

Answer 13

The experience is meant to be the same for everyone:
- loss of liberty
- deprivation of goods and services
- deprivation of heterosexual relationships
- deprivation of anatomy
- deprivation of security
Both men and women suffer these pains but not equally.

Question 14

Francis Heidensohn - social control

Answer 14

Women are controlled at home, at work, in public - excessive social control (‘chained to the kitchen sink’, discrimination and sexual harassment at work, sexual assault and rape in public) means women have fewer opportunities to commit crime.
March 2020 - Harvey Weinstein (work social control)
March 2021 - Sarah Everand (public social control)
September 2024 - Mohamed Al Fayed ((former owner of Halfords) work social control)
September 2024 - Gisèle Pelicot ((51) home social control)

Question 15

Francis Heidensohn - criticisms

Answer 15

Fails to explain why women do commit crime.
The domestic life argument is a little outdated, husbands take on childcare and domestic chores too.
Fails to mention male victims of domestic violence and other crimes.
Quite insulting to women - seeing women as trapped, weak and infantilising them.

Question 16

Pat Carlen - women, crime and poverty

Answer 16

Study of 39 women who were convicted of one or more crimes, unstructured, in depth tape recorded interviews with each woman, many who were in prison or youth custody.
Why women don’t commit crime: working class women have been ‘controlled’ by both a class and gender deal.
Class deal- in society we are promised material success
Gender deal- femininity will win attention and affection from men, marriage and family life promise to keep women law abiding.
These women committed crimes because they couldn’t get those deals, and used crime as a way to get those deals, and often came from troubled backgrounds.

Question 17

Pat Carlen - criticisms

Answer 17

Not a clear overview of all women who commit crime - just working class women.
Not a random selection of women, they could’ve been chosen specifically for the most intense and extreme situations and crimes committed.
This is a small study, doesn’t represent every woman in the CJS.
Not every woman is interested in the gender deals.
Unstructured interviews can be biased, getting different information from different women, more open to bias.

Question 18

Sunita Toor - crime and conformity among British Asian girls

Answer 18

Toor investigated crime amongst British Asian girls of Indian, Bangladeshi, Pakistani and East African and Asian descent. British Asian girls are more likely to come in contact with the CJS as victims rather than as offenders, argues this is a result of very strong social control within these groups.
‘Key dynamics in Asian cultures’ effectively persuade females to conform to laws and social expectations rather than break them. In particular, notions of ‘honour’ and ‘shame’ are significant. Dishonour can bring shame to the whole unit, not just the individual, putting huge pressure on girls in particular who must never dishonour their brothers and fathers by becoming too westernised. This can result in girls being ostracised from their family and even the whole community. In more extreme circumstances, girls may suffer violence at the hand of their families.
Case: Nina was found guilty of possessing cannabis with the intention to supply, she was constantly tainted by her siblings, got verbal abuse from her family and slapped by her mother. She felt aggravated that such rules didn’t apply to her brothers.

Question 19

Sunita Toor - criticisms

Answer 19

Interviews are only 5 British Asian girls who had criminal convictions, but Toor does at least see the connection between gender and ethnicity.

Question 20

Hilary Allen - the chivalry factor

Answer 20

Females are more likely to be cautioned, rather than prosecuted, more likely to be granted bail, pending trial, men are more likely to be sent to prison.
Allen found that despite committing the same offence 73% of women were fined vs. 54% of men. This was due to the men receiving prison sentences. There is a clear chivalry factor within the CJS. When pulled over by police, many women exaggerate their femininity to male police officers, leading to them being treated more leniently by them. This leads to women’s crimes being less likely to enter official crime statistics.
2009 - 11% of women vs. 18% of men were sentenced for shoplifting, sent to immediate custody.
12% of women vs 30% of men sentenced for ABH and given immediate custody.
March 2014 - Yasmin Thomas was handed an 18 month suspended sentence for the attack on Ronnie Lee, despite her having 17 previous convictions for violence related offences.

Question 21

Hilary Allen - criticisms

Answer 21

Traffic cameras are used now instead of police officers stopping people - no more bias
Female offenders may be treated more harshly by the CJS due to:
1) sexist boys club in the Scotland police force
2) the CJS is made for men, female offenders in the system may get treated more harshly for a petty crime and seen as doubly deviant (Lucy Letby in 2023).

Question 22

The liberation thesis and the rise of female criminality

Answer 22

Rising female crime rates are a result of increasing liberation of women in western societies. The growing ‘freedoms’ women enjoy are a part of a cultural revolution that has reevaluated women’s roles and led them to being redefined, often using the term gender quake.
2003-2006: recorded crimes committed by females rose by 38% compared to crimes committed by men that rose by 6%.
1999-2008: number of women arrested for violence rose from 37,100 to 88,100.
The numbers of girls in gangs and antisocial behaviour sharply increased over the years (ladette culture).

Question 23

The liberation thesis and the rise of female criminality - criticisms

Answer 23

Little convincing evidence of feminism influencing crime rates amongst women.
Middle class, white women benefitted from feminism the most, not working class women who are more likely to offend.
Girls in gangs count for only 5% of gang members in London.
Girl gangs tend to be loosely organised, just hanging out, no elaborate joining rituals.
Female criminality likely always existed, criminology is just now focusing on them.

Question 24

Tara young - girls and gangs

Answer 24

Studied 25 girls known to be a youth offender in London. They shared negative life experiences, bouts of homelessness, material deprivation, strained family relationships, etc. Criminal behaviour was a temptation many girls didn’t refuse.

Question 25

Tara Young - criticisms

Answer 25

Isn’t clear why some girls are drawn to gangs and others aren’t.
Girls in gangs count for about 5% of London’s gang behaviour.
Can Young’s research help us explain changing patterns of growing crime?

Question 26

Otho Pollak - masked female offenders

Answer 26

Draws upon biological ‘evidence’ claiming that women are experts at telling lies. Their ability to mask the pain of menstruation allows them to easily ‘mask’ their offences. Men aren’t good at telling lies, therefore, they get caught more often.
1989: Anna Reynolds- murdered her mother whilst she slept, received 2 life sentances but conviction was quashed after 2 years due to Reynolds suffering from severe PMS, convicted of manslaughter and detained under the mental health act.

Question 27

Otho Pollak - criticisms

Answer 27

Lack of sufficient evidence to support his views. This biological explanation cannot account for changes in women’s crime rates.

Question 28

Sandra Walklate - female victims in court

Answer 28

Only 3% of rape trials end in conviction, it is evident that there is little chivalry in the CJS. Cross examination can often make the victim feel as though it is she who is on trial.

Question 29

Masculinity and crime - biological explanations

Answer 29

More testosterone = more aggression and assertiveness
Slower development = impulsiveness and extraversion

Question 30

Biological explanations - criticisms

Answer 30

What crimes don’t require these characteristics? How does this make sense of changes in male crime rates over the years? Ignores social factors and cross cultural differences in crime rates.

Question 31

James Messerschmidt - crime and masculinity

Answer 31

Culture, rather biology explains male criminality best.
Normative, hegemonic masculinity: widely recognised, dominate, highly desirable.
Subordinate masculinity: less powerful, undervalued, less widespread.
Crime can be a ‘compensation’ for failing to achieve mainstream hegemonic masculinity.

Question 32

James Messerschmidt - criticisms

Answer 32

Not all criminal behaviour allows for the demonstration of masculinity.

Question 33

Dick Hobbs et al - night time economy

Answer 33

Conducted a 2 year research project focusing on the night time economy, conducting participant observation and interviews with bouncers and the police. The willing use of violence as part of their ‘work’ as well as having access to the world of drug dealing allowed for the accomplishment of hegemonic masculinity.

Question 34

Dick Hobbs et al - criticisms

Answer 34

May not be honest in interviews. May act differently or change behaviour when being watched (Hawthorne effect). Interviewer effect and social desirability effect.

Question 35

Gender and victims

Answer 35

Men are the most likely to be victims of crime.
16-24 y/o especially, mainly from stranger violence.
Women express greatest fear of crime and are most likely to know their attacker, however the media focuses on stranger violence where possible.

Question 36

Germaine Greer - radical feminism

Answer 36

‘Pornography is the theory, rape is the practice’.
Argues that the sexualisation of women in society partly contributes to men’s attitudes towards women.