Gender and Crime Flashcards
1
Q
Pollak
Women getting away with crime
A
- Males commit more crime= myth, caused by differences in type of crime committed
- Biological element= women are compelled to commit certain crime due to hormones/menstrual cycle, causing emotional disturbance and low self- esteem (women= bio devious)
- Women use environment to conceal crime, manipulate men to commit crime for them, chivalry thesis= women treated leniently
2
Q
Chivalry thesis
A
- Criminal justice system has a paternalistic/induglent attitude towards women (seen as vulnerable, child-like)
- Male police officers let women off with cautions/warnings
3
Q
Speed and Burrows
Chivalry thesis
A
- 2004-5 review found male offenders were 2x likely to receive custodial sentence for shoplifting than women
4
Q
Klein
Chivalry thesis
A
- Chivalry thesis is racist/classist- only applicable to white, middle class women
5
Q
Heidensohn
Chivalry thesis
A
- Female offenders who conform to traditional feminine stereotypes/ behaviour may be treated more leniently
6
Q
Carlen
Chivalry thesis
A
- Female role as a mother is accounted for much more than a male’s role as a father in sentencing
7
Q
Farrington and Morris
Chivalry thesis
A
- Found evidence that women received less severe punishment and that female offenders are more likely to be first time offenders, to plead guilty, and to have committed a less serious form of the offence
8
Q
Headerman and Gunby
Chivalry thesis
A
- Found awareness that female offenders have more complex problems
- Much female crime is related to relationships with men (DV), which act as mitigating factors
9
Q
Procek
Challenge chivalry thesis
A
- Criminal justice system’s approach to understanding and dealing with female criminals is psychological, i.e. sees depression as a more acceptable explanation than aggression
10
Q
Chesney-Lind
Challenge chivalry thesis
A
- Female deviance is sexualised (due to lack of morality, women are seen as: easy, out of control)
- Found many more girls were sent to training schools and charged with ‘waywardness’/’immorality’
11
Q
Role of media in female crime
Challenge chivalry thesis
A
- Evil woman theory
- Serious female offences have gone against female stereotypes, so the criminal is demonised by the media and portrayed as devoid of female traits
- I.e. Myra Hindley media portrayal- worse than her male accomplice
12
Q
Lombroso
Bio explanations
A
- Bio anomalies are a more significant indicator than social conditions
- Habitual criminality= halfway between the lunatic and the savage
- Most women are genetically less inclined towards crime- natural passivity and lack of intelligence/ initiative to break the law
13
Q
Thomas
Bio explanations
A
- Men and women possess different personality traits
- Men= active, women= passive
- In later work, women require more social approval/affection (social acceptable way to achieve is via domesticity)
- Poor womenmay refuse submissive role and use sexuality for emotional gain
14
Q
Sutherland
Sex role theory (bio explanations)
A
- There are clear gender distinctions in terms of socialisation
- Girls= supervised- passive, domesticated, controlled
- Boys= encouraged to take risks, ambitious, extroverted, tough, aggressive- so more opportunity/inclination to commit crime
15
Q
Parsons
Sex role theory (bio explanations)
A
- Gender distinctions in the nuclear family
- Father= instrumental role- leader, provider
- Mother= expressive role- emotional support, socialises children
- Boys= ‘status anxiety’ occurs due to difficulty identifying with the correct sex, causing exaggerated masculinity and ultimately criminality
16
Q
Smart
Feminist explanations
A
- Girls face stricter social control/socialisation
- How often and where girls go out is caused by exaggerated parental fears about safety- prisoners in their own homes
- Stranger sexual attacks are rare
- Boys are more likely to be victims of physical attacks
- Male crime= role-expressive (extension of the male role- protector, provider, dominant aggressor)
- Female crime= role-distorting (goes against expectations of feminine role= nurturer/carer)
17
Q
Heidensohn
Feminist explanations
A
- Women experience 4 forms of social control
1) At home (expectation to be the housewife/mother)
2) In public (linked to notions of reputation)
3) At work (dual burden- Oakley)
4) In social policy (welfare/benefits reinforce women’s role as primary carers)
18
Q
Carlen
Feminist explantions
A
- Challenges control theory
- Cost of crime outweighs the benefits for women
- Most likely female offenders are those brought up outside the ideology which reinforces the generally deal, and marginalised women)
19
Q
Adler
Changes in female crime
A
- ‘Liberation’= main cause for increase in female crime
- Equality means women possess more masculine behaviours
- As women leave the domestic sphere, they have more opportunity to commit crime
20
Q
Jackson
Changes in female crime
A
- More prevelance and acceptance of ‘laddish behaviour’ amongst girls
- Rise of the ‘ladettes’ (smoke, drink, swear, being loud)
21
Q
Denscombe
Changes in female crime
A
- Teenage girls adopt traditionally ‘male values’, such as control and risk taking
22
Q
Criticism of Adler’s ‘Liberation thesis
Changes in female crime
A
- Her stat evidence= challenged
- As female crime rates were low, even small rises in female crime would appear a large percentage increase
- Home Office Crime Stats for England and Wales= prosecutions and convictions fell for both genders between 2009-2013= males accounted for 82% arrests and 75% convictions
23
Q
Chesney-Lind
Changes in female crime
A
- Poor/marginalised women are more likely to be criminals
24
Q
James and Thornton
Changes in female crime
A
- Female prisoners are more likely to be from impoverished and uneducated backgrounds
25
Q
Gelsthorpe
Changes in female crime
A
- 150% rise in female prisoners between 1994-2004
- Only partly due to an increase in female crime
- Largely due to shifts in sentencing policy
26
Q
Messershcmidt
Male crime
A
- Hegemonic masculinity (competitive individualism, aggression, violence)
- Youth crime is a means of ‘doing masculinity’
- Younger males may do this through: gaining a violent reputation, sexual conquests, being hard, taking part in dares/pranks
27
Q
Mosher
Male crime
A
- Hypermasculinity (dangerousness, acceptance of violence)
- Young men display masculinity, and thus enhance his status, i.e. carrying gun, sexist banter, wearing gang-style clothing
28
Q
Baird
Male crime
A
- Young males tend to reproduce existing versions of masculinity they are exposed to growing up
- Violence/gangs= dependent on family support, ability to form ‘socialisation spaces’, avoid ‘gang male role model system’
29
Q
Winlow
Male crime
A
- W/c masculinity in Sunderland
- 1980s mass unemployment left many young males without breadwinner status, and violence became more a significant way of expressing masculinity
- New masculine careers (drug dealing, protection rackets)= criminality has become an entrepreneurial concern (money-making)
