Gender, Crime & Justice Flashcards
By age 40, what percentage of men and women have had a criminal conviction?
9% of women
32% of men
How can it be argued that the justice system is lenient towards women? How does this show their crimes are less likely to be on official stats?
Pollack
Criminal justice agents such as police officers, judges are socialised to act in a chivalrous way towards women
Men hate to accuse women and send them to their punishment, police officers are reluctant to arrest women
Criminal justice system is more lenient with women so their crimes are less likely to be in official stats
How can the chivalry thesis be criticised?
It ignores that many male crimes do not get reported, for example in 2012, only 8% of victims of serious sexual assault reported it to the police
Yearnshire — women typically suffer 35 assaults before reporting domestic violence
How do courts treat women more harshly than men?
Heidensohn
Argues that women are treated harshly by courts when they deviate from gender norms
Women who do not conform to accepted standard of monogamous heterosexuality and motherhood are subjected to harsher punishments
Magistrates perceptions of women as ere based on stereotypical gender roles
How is the criminal justice system biased against women?
Carlen
When a women is jailed, it is less for the seriousness of her crime and is more according to the courts assessment of them as wives, mothers and daughters
Found that Scottish judges were more likely to jail mothers whose children were not in their care then women who they viewed as good mothers
How does patriarchal control explain why women commit less crime than men?
A patriarchal society produces conformist women, men hold greater control over women at home, work and in public
Women have less opportunities to engage in criminal acts
How are women controlled at work?
Heidensohn
The workplace is dominated by male supervisors and managers, equally women are less likely to progress to senior positions where there is greater opportunity to commit crimes such as fraud
How are women controlled at home?
Heidensohn
Women are confined to housework and childcare all day, giving them less opportunities to offend
Women are also controlled through domestic abuse and this may include financial control
Daughters develop a bedroom culture socialising at home with friends rather than going out
How are women controlled in public?
Heidensohn
Women are controlled through the threat of male violence against them
For examples sensationalist stories about rape make women feel the typical rapist is a stranger
Women fear they may gain a reputation if they act in a certain way in public, dress in a certain way or go to locations such as clubs
What supports the fact that women are controlled in public?
Islington crime survey
Found that 54% of women avoid going out at night for fear of being victims of crime compared to 14% of men
How does the functionalist sex theory explain why women commit less crime than men?
Parsons
- Socialisation of men and women is different
- Boys are socialised to be tough, risk taking and masculine
- typical of conventional gender roles
- mother takes on an expressive role in the family where her responsibility is for the house and the family
- father takes on an instrumental role of the breadwinner
In what two ways are working class women led to conform?
Carlen
2 deals
The class deal: working will provide material possessions and better standards of living
The gender deal: patriarchy offers material and emotional rewards in the form of a traditional domestic gender role
How does the failure of patriarchal society to deliver on promised deals remove the controls that women have to prevent them offending?
In terms of the class deal, these women had failed to find a legitimate way of earning a decent living, 32 of them had also been in poverty
In terms of the gender deal, many had disadvantages in family life, some had been abused sexually by their fathers or subjected to domestic abuse by their partners
How does the liberation thesis explain the rise in female crime?
Alder
Society is becoming less patriarchal, this means women are becoming liberated from men as control and discrimination has decreased
Women have become more equal to men, women have become more confident and assertive resulting in the rise of female crime
Who criticises the liberation thesis?
Laider & Hunt
Female gang members in the USA were still expected to conform to the conventional gender roles in same way as non deviant girls
Who found that female crime has increased between what years?
Steffensmier & Schwartz
Found that female share of arrests for violence has increased from 1/5 to 1/3 between 1980 and 2005
What is meant by net widening?
S&S
No change in women’s involvement in violent crime, they argue that rise in arrests is due to the justice system ‘widening the net’ arresting and prosecuting women for less serious forms of violence then previously
Who supports the view of net widening?
Chesney-Lind
Policy of mandatory arrests for domestic violence has led to a rise in female crime stats in the USA, when a couple fights, both are likely to be arrested
2 examples of how women are not committing more crime and instead there is a moral panic
Sharpe - professionals such as judges, police officers were influenced by media depictions and stereotypes of violent ‘laddettes’ and many believed girls behaviour was getting worse
Crime survey for England & Wales, what % of murder victims are male?
70%
How much more women reported being sexually assaulted then men?
x10 more women
On average, how many assaults does a woman suffer before reporting it to the police, according to who?
Yearnshire - 35 assaults
From theories you already know, why do men commit more crime?
Cohen - status frustration, unable to achieve through legitimate means
Murray - lone parent families/lack of male role model
How does masculinity cause crime?
Messerschmidt
- masculinity is a social construct, or ‘accomplishment’ and men have to constantly work at constructing and presenting it to others
