gender, crime and justice

Question 1

gender patterns AO2 trends 3/__ offenders in England and Wales are ___

Answer 1

3/4 are male

Question 2

the chivalry thesis Ao1

Answer 2

most criminal justice agents are (e.g police) are men and have been socialised to act in a ‘chivalrous’ way towards women

CJS is more lenient with women so their crimes are less likely to end up in official statistics

Question 3

chivalry thesis Ao2

Answer 3

men were over 2x more likely to admit to committing an offence but statistics show 4x more likely

females more likely than males to be released on bail

Question 4

chivalry thesis Ao3 - under-reporting

Answer 4

ignores the fact that many male crimes don’t get reported
e.g in 2012 8% of females who had been victims of sexual assault reported it

Question 5

chivalry thesis Ao3 - less serious

Answer 5

may appear to be treated more leniently because their crimes are less serious and so less likely to go to trial

women are more likely to show remorse

Question 6

bias against women Ao1

Answer 6

CJS is biased against women - treat females more harshly when they deviate from gender norms

double standards - courts punish girls not boys for promiscuous activity

Carlen - women are jailed less for the seriousness of the crime, more for assessment of them as wives

Question 7

bias against women AO2

Answer 7

carlen

judges are more likely to jail women whose children
are in care than women who they saw as good mothers

Question 8

bias against women Ao3 - feminists

Answer 8

feminists argue double standards exist because the CJS is patriarchal

Question 9

bias against women Ao3 - women in CJS

Answer 9

however, there are an increasing number of women working in the CJS which disregard this thesis

Question 10

functionalists sex role theory AO1

Answer 10

differences in crime is because of different gender roles
because women socialise kids - girls have access to a role model
boys reject this ‘feminine’ model and distance themselves through anti-social behaviour
also men have much less of a socialising role

Question 11

functionalist sex role theory Ao2

Answer 11

lack of male role model means means boys are more likely to turn to male street gangs

Question 12

functionalist sex role theory Ao3 - biological assumptions

Answer 12

Walklate criticses theory for biological assumptions

it assumes that just because women have the biological capacity to bear children, they re best suited to the expressive role

Question 13

functionalist sex role theory AO3 - feminism

Answer 13

feminist put forward an alternative explanation - the patriarchal nature of society and women’s subordinate position in it

Question 14

patriarchal control Ao1

Answer 14

Heidensohn
patriarchal society places greater control over women = reduces opportunities to offend

control at home:
women’s domestic role with constant housework and childcare impose restrictions on their time and little opportunity to commit crime

control in public:
controlled by the threat or fear of male violence against them

Question 15

patriarchal control Ao2

Answer 15

many violent attacks result from mens dissatisfaction with their wives domestic job performance
= hard to reject the domestic role

control in public: 54% of women avoid going out at night out of fear o fbeing victims of crime - 14% of men

Question 16

patriarchal control Ao3 - pushed into crime

Answer 16

patriarchy can push women into crime
women are more likely to be poor (gender inequality in jobs and pay) so may turn to theft or prostitution to earn a wage

Question 17

patriarchal control Ao3 - equal

Answer 17

there are an increasing more equal opportunities for women
equal pay act
discrimination act
which means they’re becoming equal to men

Question 18

Carlen - class and gender deals Ao1

Answer 18

study of working class women convicted for theft, fraud, violence
version of control theory
humans are controlled by being offered a deal in return to conforming to social norms

WC led to conform by 2 rewards
class deal = women who work will be offered material rewards, decent standard of living
gender deal = patriarchal ideology promises material and emotional rewards from family life

if these rewards aren’t available or worth the effort = crime more likely

Question 19

Carlen - class and gender deals Ao2

Answer 19

links to lack of class deal -

32/39 women studied had been in poverty

Question 20

Carlen - class and gender deals Ao3 - external forces

Answer 20

can be accused of seeing women’s behaviour as determine day external forces such as patriarchy or class and gender deals
= underplays the importance of free will and choice in offending

Question 21

Carlen - class and gender deals Ao3 - sample size

Answer 21

sample size was small so may be unrepresentative - as it largely consisted of working class and serious offenders

Question 22

liberation thesis Ao1

Answer 22

Adler
as women become liberated from patriarchy crimes will become as frequent as mens

given more opportunities in work and education = can adopt traditionally male roles = commit ‘male’ crime

women’s greater self-confidence

Question 23

liberation thesis Ao2

Answer 23

recently there’s been a media talk of ‘girl gangs’
females as likely as males to engage in risk-taking behaviour

Question 24

liberation thesis Ao3 - support

Answer 24

number of females arrested for violence rose by 17% each year (2000-2008)

Question 25

liberation thesis Ao3 - overestimate

Answer 25

overestimates the extent to which women have become liberated and the extent to which they’re able to engage in serious violent crime.

Question 26

masculinity and crime Ao1

Answer 26

Messerschmidt
masculinity explains mens offending
masculinity is a social construct and accomplishment

different masculinities
e.g hegemonic masculinity - dominant form, men wish to accomplish. earnt through paid-labour market
but subordinated masculinities (gay men) don’t desire to accomplish

crime and deviance is a way to achieve masculinity

Question 27

masculinity and crime Ao2

Answer 27

white middle class youths
have to obey teacher sin school to gain MC status and masculinity

outside school - drinking, vandalism gains masculinity

Question 28

masculinity and crime Ao3 - not all men

Answer 28

it doesn’t explain why not all men use crime to accomplish masculinity

Question 29

masculinity and crime Ao3 - over-works

Answer 29

overworks the concept of masculinity to explain virtually all male crimes from joy riding to embezzlement

Question 30

male offending - winlow Ao1

Answer 30

globalisation meant the loss of many traditional manual jobs - through which WC men were able to express masculinity

expansion of service sector including night time leisure means young WC men have been provided employment and criminal opportunities

Question 31

male offending - winlow Ao2

Answer 31

Winslow’s study of bouncers shows that in this job it provided them with both paid work and the opportunity for illegal business in drugs as well as opportunity to demonstrate their masculinity

Question 32

male offending - winlow Ao3

Answer 32

could be considered a description of offenders rather than explanation

not all men commit crime to accomplish masculinity