Gender Crime And Justice Flashcards
Gender patterns and crime- stats
4/5 convicted offenders are male.
Women commit more property crime
Men commit more violent and sexual crime
Do women commit less??
Female crimes less likely to be reported
Less likely to be prosecuted
Chivalry thesis
CJS is more lenient to women because it is male dominated and men are socialised to act chivalrously towards women.
Pollack- men have a protective attitude over women.
Evidence for and against chivalry thesis
Against- Farringdon and Morris- women were not sentenced more leniently for comparable offences
Twice as many men shoplift, less are prosecuted.
Self report studies-men commit more
Many male crimes are not reported eg rape
For- women were more likely to be cautioned than prosecuted
Females are more likely to receive a fine.
Bias against women
Feminists- CJS are biased against women , heidenshon- double standards of court pushing girls for sexual activity but not men.
Carlen- Scottish courts more likely to jail women whose children are in care
Walk late- rape cases victims are on trial, have to prove respectability.
Functionalist sex role theory
Parsons
Women perform expressive role, giving girls adult role model. Boys reject, distance and get involved in compensatory masculine behaviour- risk-taking and anti social behaviour
Instrumental role-outside of home , lack of role model. Cohen- boys are more likely to turn to street gangs and delinquency.
Patriarchal control - heidenshon
Women commit less crimes because patriarchal control gives them less opportunity to do so.
Home- domestic role confines to home, less opportunity. Men keep them here through threat of domestic violence, bedroom culture, reduced opportunity
Public- threat of violence, frighten women to stay indoors. Stereotypes eg slut- women avoid places like pubs where crime often takes place.
Work- glass ceiling barrier to success higher up, avoids white collar crime.
Class and gender deals
Carlen
Most convicted females are working class
People commit if they cannot get rewards or crime seems more.
Class deal- women who work get a better living
Gender- women who conform will gain material and emotional rewards
As working class women gain nothing from either deal, they used crime to escape poverty.
Liberation thesis
Adler- When women are liberated from patriarchy, they will commit more crime. Women have begun to break glass ceiling, more opportunity to commit white collar crime.
Females and violent crime
No change in womens involvement
Net widening- females are being prosecuted for less serious violence than previously.
Worral- past girls misbehaviour would have been seen as welfare issues, mow seen is criminality.
Due to media moral panic about how young women are ‘out of control’
Creates amplification spiral.
Gender and victimisation stats
Men men are victims of violence but more women are victim of intimate violence
Ten times more women are sexually assualted
Women have greater fear but are at less risk.
Why do men commit crime
Masculinity is an accomplishment.
Hegemonic- domain t form, through paid work and ability to subordinate women.
Subordinated masculinities- lack resources to accomplish hegemonic masculinity- turn to crime
