Gender And Crime

Question 0

Pollak (1950) talked about the idea of the ‘masked’ female offender, arguing that..

Answer 0

• Official statistics seriously underestimate female criminality
• Argues that many crimes predominantly committed by females went unreported and unrecorded (e.g. Shoplifting & prostitution)

Question 1

Official statistics show that..

Answer 1

• 5 times as many crimes are committed by men as by women, with considerable variation between types of crime
• just over half of offences committed by women were thefts, but thefts only accounted for 1/3 of men’s offences

Question 2

Heidensohn (1985) criticises Pollak’s work by regarding it as..

Answer 2

Based on an inaccurate and stereotypical image of women. His work has little credibility today

Question 3

Leniency towards women; the ‘Chivalry’ thesis suggests that..

Answer 3

• Differential treatment by police & courts
• chivalry factor leads to leniency towards women (e.g. More likely to caution than charge)
• could be seen as reflecting the assumption - by men - that females involved in crime are likely to have been “led on” by a male companion

Question 4

Heidensohn suggests there are double standards because..

Answer 4

• Women are treated more harshly when they deviate from the norms of female sexuality
• There may be leniency for less offences but harsher treatment when gender role expectations are broken

Question 5

Heidensohn proposes that the reasons for the ‘Invisibility of women in the study of crime’ are that..

Answer 5

• Academics/researchers predominantly are men
• There is less female crime to study as there is a low female crime rate. The nature of their crimes is often less trivial and invisible (less detectable) itself

Question 6

Heidensohn also argues that women, being subject to greater social control..

Answer 6

Have fewer opportunities for crime;

• They are less likely to be in occupations where white-collar crime is possible
• Women are expected to be at home (domestic responsibilities)

Question 7

Feminism has made several contributions to the study of crime..

Answer 7

• A new focus on different types of victimisation (I.e. Power & Control relationships)
• Considers many areas on female criminology
• Breaks down the notion that women are simply victims of crime

Question 8

Carol Smart suggested the following reasons for the neglect of women in criminology. These are..

Answer 8

1. Women tend to commit fewer crimes than men
2. Most of their crimes are of a comparatively trivial nature
3. Sociology+criminology male dominated
4. Traditional criminology motivated by desire to control problem behaviour. As women’s behaviour is less of problem than men’s, it has received less attention