Gender, Crime And Justice Flashcards
Most crimes appears to be committed by males or females?
MALES
Give 2 official statistics facts that show that men commit crime more than women.
-4/5 convicted offenders in England & Wales are male.
-men are 15 times more likely to be convicted of homicide
-a higher proportion of males are convicted of violent + sexual offences.
-by the age of 40, 9% of females have a criminal record compared to 32% of males
-males are more likely to be repeat offenders, have longer criminal careers + commit more serious crime
in 2023 / 2024, what percentage of the prison population in England and Wales were male and what percentage were female?
96% male
4% female
what are the 3 main questions sociologists ask regarding gender, crime and official statistics?
1) do women really commit so few crimes?
2) how can we explain why those women who do offend commit crimes?
3) why do males commit more crime than females?
NAME the 2 main arguments relating to the claim that women are underrepresented in the official crime statistics in Britain
1) The types of crime that women commit
2) The Chivalry Thesis
explain the argument regarding the types of crime that women commit as an explanation for female underrepresentation in official crime statistics
-typical female crimes are far less likely to be reported - like shoplifting and prostitution.
-because the typical female crimes are seen as less serious in their nature, they are far less likely to be reported than serious crimes of men. Meaning that women are committing crime, but they do not end up in the official statistics
Name a sociologist associated with the Chivalry Thesis
OTTO POLLACK
what is the Chivalry Thesis?
Women are underrepresented in official crime stats due to the paternalistic attitudes of men towards women. Police are less likely to record female crimes, and the judiciary is less likely to hand down custodial sentences to women. Society perceives women to be good + there are assumptions that women’s’ criminality is harmless.
explain an example (subjective) of the Chivalry Thesis
-Oxford medical student Lavinia Woodward stabbed her boyfriend in the leg, and was found to have a history of drug + alcohol abuse.
-She was spared jail. The Judge praised her determination to overcome addiction, and her promising medical career
Give 2 pieces of evidence that support the Chivalry Thesis
•official stats: females are more likely than males to be released on bail rather than remanded in custody.
•Hood: study of over 3000 defendants found women were about 1/3 less likely to be jailed in similar cases
Give at least 2 pieces of evidence against / which disproves the Chivalry Thesis
Carlen: when women are jailed, it is less for the seriousness of their crimes, and more according to the courts assessment of them as wives, mothers + daughters.
Heidensohn: the courts treat females more harshly when they deviate from gender roles.
Walklate: in rape cases, the victim is on trial more than the defendant as she has to prove her respectability in order to have her evidence accepted
NAME the 4 sociological explanations/theories that explain gender differences in crime and why women so few women commit crime.
1) Sex Role Theory ( functionalist )
2) Control Theory (feminist)
3) Liberation Theory (feminist)
4) Control Theory: class/gender deals
Who is the key theorist of the Sex Role theory?
Parsons (1955)
Summarise Parsons’s Sex Role Theory as an explanation as to why so few women commit crime
-based on the socialisation process
-men play instrumental role outside family unit, whereas women play expressive role inside family unit, looking after kids. Provides girls with female role model in the home, but not boys.
-this pushes boys towards all male delinquent subcultures as a source of masculine identity- more opportunity to commit crime than girls
Give a criticism of Parsons’s sex role theory explanation
-based on 1 key assumption: just because women have the biological capacity to have children, they should automatically take on the expressive role inside the home
-outdated argument (1955)
Who is the key theorist of the Control Theory explanation as to why so few women commit crime?
HEIDENSOHN (1985)
Summarise Heidensohn’s Control Theory as an explanation as to why so few women commit crime
-women are more likely to conform as they are highly controlled / monitored by patriarchal society:
-home: domestic labour, domestic abuse, control of husband
-public: fear of sexual violence, fear of bad reputation
-work: monitored by managers, in subordinate positions
Patriarchal restrictions on women mean they have fewer opportunities to commit crime.
Give a criticism of Heidensohn’s Control Theory explanation
-women now have greater opportunities outside the home, and face less control (liberation theory)
-modern relationships are now more equal (theory is outdated)
Who is the key theorist for the Liberation Thesis?
Alder (1975)
Summarise Alder’s Liberation Thesis as an explanation as to why some women commit crime
-as women become liberated from patriarchy it gives them more opportunity to commit crime.
-face less control by men + take on more masculine roles at home + at work. Increased independence and assertiveness.
-also more opportunity for female white collar crime: more women now in higher positions
Give a criticism of Alder’s Liberation Thesis
-female crime rates began rising in the 1950s, long before women’s liberation began (1970s)
-most female criminals are working class who largely still take on traditional roles
Who is the key theorist of Control Theory: Class + Gender Deals ?
CARLEN (1988)
Summarise Carlen’s Control theory: class/gender deals as an explanation as to why some women commit crime
-study of (39) 15-46 yr old working class women - unstructured interviews. all had been convicted of crimes including theft, prostitution etc. We conform to social norms as we are offered a deal: if we conform there’ll be rewards.
-working class women face 2 deals:
1.Class: women who work will be offered material rewards
2.Gender: patriarchal ideology promises women material/emotional rewards from family life
If these arent worth the effort: crime
Give a criticism if Carlen’s Control Theory: class + gender deals
-sees women’s behaviour as being controlled by external forces: lack of societies ability to deliver rewards
-takes away importance of free will and choice!
-Carlen’s sample is unrepresentative.
Small sample / class bias
According to Hand and Dodd (2009), between ____ and _____, police statistics rose by ___% each year in relation to female arrests for ______.
2000 and 2008
17%
violence
How do some sociologists reject the idea that rates of female crime and particularly female violence have risen?
-Steffensmeier & Schwartz: in reality theres been no change in female violent crime, just a rise in arrests and prosecuting for less serious forms of violence. Media portrayals of women caused a moral panic and caused professionals in the CJS to have stereotypes of violent women
-self fulfilling prophecy + deviance amplification spiral
Summarise the case study on Britain’s toughest girl gangs
-sell drugs, commit robberies, operate in violence, suffer from sexual abuse
-the girls are criminals, but also victims from the men they are under control of
NAME the 2 explanations as to what it is about being male that leads men to offend
-‘Masculinity’
-‘Postmodernity and Masculinity’
Explain Messerschmidt’s Masculinity explanation as to what leads men to offend
-masculinity is a social construct + an accomplishment that men must construct. 2 types of masculinity:
1.Hegemonic- alpha male, subordination of women, heterosexism etc
2.Subordinate- less macho, gay men, lower class, some ethnic minorities who lack resources to be hegemonic.
-Crime is a resource men may use for accomplishing masculinity
Give a criticism of Messerschmidt’s Masculinity explanation
-argued masculinity is not an explanation of male crime, just a description of male offenders
-is this a circular argument?
Who is the key theorist of the Masculinity explanation as to why men offend?
Messerschmidt 1993
Who is the key theorist of the Postmodernity & Masculinity explanation as to why men offend?
Winlow 2001
Explain Winlow’s Postmodernity & Masculinity explanation as to why men offend
-modern society allowed males to express masculinity in manual jobs but in postmodern society theres a loss of manual jobs. Rise of jobs in the night time economy NTE
-males now express their masculinity through illegal activities in legal employment. Eg bouncers. based on a study in Sunderland. men use their bodily capital.
Give a criticism of Winlow’s Postmodernity and Masculinity explanation
-not all men have access to legal employment with illegal opportunities. what about unemployed men?
-Winlow’s sample is unrepresentative
NAME the 3 separate takes on male crime, including offending for pleasure.
Katz - The Seductions of Crime
Lyng - Edgework
Hobbs - The NTE
Summarise Katz’s The Seductions of Crime explanation
most men commit crime due to the pleasure it gives them. crime is enjoyable, and a lot of petty crimes offer a quick sneaky thrill. whereas more serious crimes provide pleasure in achieving status + control over the victim
Summarise Lyng’s Edgework explanation
pleasure comes from risk taking. young males gain their thrill from acting in ways that are on the ‘edge’ between security + danger eg joy riding, violence. Edgework is also a way of expressing masculinity!
Summarise Hobbs’s the NTE explanation
Hobbs studied the growth of the NTE. Huge growth of this sector since the 1980s. Provides opportunity for young males to commit crime. The NTE sees young people in a narrow time band searching for pleasure. Violence, drug taking etc
What gender patterns are evident in homicide victims?
About 70% are male. Female victims are more likely to know their killer, and in 60% of these cases, this was an partner or an ex-partner. Males are more likely to be killed by a friend/acquaintance
Who has greater fear of being a victim of crime?
Research shows women have a greater fear of crime, but the CSEW shows they are at less risk of victimisation. However some local victim surveys have found that women are in fact at greater risk. Sometimes female victims refuse interviews
What gender patterns are evident in victims of violence?
Fewer women than men are victims of violence. But, more woken than men were victims of intimate violence (domestic abuse, sexual assault, stalking) during their adult lives.
