Gender and crime Flashcards
Who commits more crime?
Males
Who is more likely to be arrested, prosecuted and convicted of a crime?
Males
What type of crimes are females more likely to commit? and males?
theft offences such as shoplifting and fraud, men are more likely to commit violent offences, sexual offences and possession of weapons
Gender patterns of crime + statistics
Heidensohn and Silvestri (2012) observe that gender differences are the most significant feature of recorded crime.
Men are much more likely to commit crimes than women (although female crime has been rising faster than male crime since the late 20th century).
4 out 5 convicted offenders in England and Wales are male. Men are convicted of 80% of crime, whilst women are only convicted of 20% of crime.
By the age of 40, 32% of males have a criminal conviction in comparison to only 9% of women.
Males are more likely to be repeat offenders, to have longer criminals careers and to commit more serious crimes i.e. men are 15 times more likely to be convicted of murder, and they account for 90% of convicted murders.
Are the statistics accurate?
Sociologists are interested in investigating why these differences in offending occur. As with all such differences, sociologists also ask whether they are real or whether the statistics are misleading due to the way they are produced.
‘Female crimes’ are less likely to be reported. For example, shoplifting is less likely to be noticed or reported, and prostitution is unlikely to be reported by either party.
Even when women’s crimes are reported/detected they are less likely to be prosecuted. If they are prosecuted, they are more likely to receive lenient sentences.
What do sociologists say about why female offending is underestimated?
Typically female crimes such as shoplifting are less likely to be reported. It will go un-noticed compared to sexual or violent crime.
Women are more likely to get let off lightly.
Chivalry thesis
Pollak
Men are socialised to act in a ‘chivalrous’ towards women.
Women are naturally much more secretive and subversive so better at getting away with crime
Women are more likely to get bail
Women are more likely to receive a fine or get community service rather than a prison sentence
Women receive shorter prison sentences
Hood – 1989
Looking at 3,000 defendants, women 1/3 less likely to be jailed in similar cases.
1 in 11 female self-reported offenders had been cautioned, figure for males was 1 in 7 self-reported offenders
Evaluation of the chivalry thesis:
Heidensohn - Women are not always treated “Chivalrously” by the Criminal Justice System – Double Jeopardy
Women are on trial both for the crime they have committed and the extent to which they deviate from femininity.
Walklate 1998 – women on trial as victims in rape case – having to prove they didn’t consent.
Carlen - double deviancy
Sexually promiscuous, neglectful, violent women (particularly against children) are seen by the CJS as far worse than their male counterpart. They are doubly deviant. Their sentencing reflects this rather than the crime.
Farrington and Morris - the more serious the crime the less the difference in sentencing - Crimes that carry a heavier sentence (murder, sexual assault), there is less difference in conviction between men and women
Out of date - more women in the CJS - Pollock was writing in the 1950s, when there were very few women in the criminal justice system, you didn’t have female judges and female, many female police officers, or lawyers and things like that. Whereas now there is much more
equality within the criminal justice system
Evaluation of the chivalry thesis
Evaluation of the chivalry thesis:
Heidensohn - Women are not always treated “Chivalrously” by the Criminal Justice System – Double Jeopardy
Women are on trial both for the crime they have committed and the extent to which they deviate from femininity.
Walklate 1998 – women on trial as victims in rape case – having to prove they didn’t consent.
Carlen - double deviancy
Sexually promiscuous, neglectful, violent women (particularly against children) are seen by the CJS as far worse than their male counterpart. They are doubly deviant. Their sentencing reflects this rather than the crime.
Farrington and Morris - the more serious the crime the less the difference in sentencing - Crimes that carry a heavier sentence (murder, sexual assault), there is less difference in conviction between men and women
Out of date - more women in the CJS - Pollock was writing in the 1950s, when there were very few women in the criminal justice system, you didn’t have female judges and female, many female police officers, or lawyers and things like that. Whereas now there is much more
equality within the criminal justice system
Is the CJS bias?
Many feminists argue that the criminal justice system is far from being biased in favour of women, but instead is biased against women, and is guilty of having double standards.
Heidensohn (1996) argues the courts treat women more harshly when they deviate from gender norms.
Sharpe (2009) – girls receive harsher punishments for promiscuous sexual activity than boys. Out of 55 cases, 7/11 girls were referred to a youth worker in comparison to 0/44 boys.
Stewart (2006) – Magistrates punish women more harshly when they do not conform to gender ideals of monogamous heterosexuality and motherhood.
Carlen (1997) – women are not jailed based on the nature of their crime, but on their ability as wives, mothers and daughters. Girls who were seen as ‘uncontrollable’ by their mothers were more likely to receive custodial sentences than girls who lived ‘conventional’ lives. Mothers whose children were in care were also more likely to be sentenced in comparison to women who had custody of their children.
Walklate (1998) – in rape cases it is the victim on trial, not the perpetrator.
Adler (1987) – women who are deemed to lack ‘respectability’ i.e. single parents, are less likely to have their testimony believed.
