gender and crime Flashcards
Polack - men commiting more crime is a myth
- biological factors influence female crime
- women more devious than men due to need to conceal menstuation
- women more likely to commit domestic crimes in roles like maids
- women manipulate men into commiting crimes for them
Chivalry thesis
- women treated more leniantly
- may be let off with warnings
Speed and Burrows - found that men are twice as likely to recieve custodial sensences for shoplifting compared to women
Klein
critisism of chivalry thesis
chivalry is racist and classist as middle class white women are most likely to benefit
Heidensohn
critisism of chivalry thesis
women who confrom to traditional gender roles may be treated more leniantly (home, public, work, social policy)
Carlen
critisism of chivalry thesis
womens roles as mothers is considered in sentencing, unlike mes roles as fathers, appearance of leniancy
factors affecting sentencing
- mitigating factors (first time offender, guilty plea, personal circumstances) can reduce them
- aggravating factors (lack of remorse) can increase them
Farrington and Morris
found that women recieve less severe sentences but were more likely to be first time offenders
Hedderman and Gunby
female offenders often face more complex issues (single parenthood), which may be considered in sentencing rather than chivalry
Chesney-lind
Female deviance is often sexualised, with girls being labelled as ‘easy’ or ‘out of control’, whereas similar behaviours in boys is seen as ‘high spirits’.
Historically, girls were more likely to be sent to finishing schools for ‘waywardness’ or ‘imorality’, showing harsher controls on female behaviour
media representation of female crimes
- women commiting violent crimes defy gender norms and are often portrayed by the media as ‘monsters’
- eg Myra Hindley is percieved as more evil than her partner Ian Brady
biological explanations - Lombroso
Female criminals have biological abnormalities, making them more like ‘savages’. Women are less criminal due to passivity.
Biological explanations - Thomas
Women need more social approval, leading them to conform, but poor women may turn to deviance for emotional gain
functionalist explanation of gender and crime
socialisation leads boys to be more delinquant, as they are raised to be risk takers, while girls are supervised and controled
Sutherland - functionalist
girls are raised to be more passive and law abiding, while boys are encouraged to be tough and aggressive. So if women are deviant it is bevause they were socialised in more masculine ways
Parsons - funcionalist
nuclear family roles reinforce these patters (fathers=instrumental, mothers = expressive)
- young male child experience ‘status anxiety’ and has difficulty identifying with the correct sex
- lead to exaggerated masculine behaviour and frustration
- deviance
feminist explanations
focus on patriarchal control limiting female opportunities for crime
Smart
Girls experience stricter socialisation, leading to fewer criminal oportunities
women face greater consequences for crime due to double deviance, breaking both legal and gender norms
role-expressive and role-distorting
Carlen - control theory
- women conform due to a ‘class deal’ (material rewards) and a ‘gender deal’ (respectable womanhood)
- marginalised women lack access to these deals and are more likely to turn to crime
recent changes in female criminality
- with female liberation and increased opportunities, crime rates among women are rising
- traditional controls over female behaviour are weakening, leading to more female participation in crime
Adler
there has been a change in acceptable behaviour for young females today
Liberation theory –> free to excert more masculine behaviour and commit crime
Jackson - support for Adler
there seems to be more prevelance and acceptance of ‘laddish’ behaviour from girls
Denscombe - support for Adler
Teenage girls were adopting traditionally ‘male’ values, such as being hard, being in control and risk taking
