gender, crime & justice T8 Flashcards
lack of female offending OCS response
functionalists & radical feminists accept OCS and believe females are less criminally inclined than men
functionalist sex role theory theorists
parsons
Cohen
feminist control theory theorists
Abbott & Wallace
Heidersohn
functionalist sex role theory
- females socialised into expressive role e.g. caring and nurturing
- males are socialised to be more tough, risk taking etc so crime more likely to occur
Cohen - sex role theory
males socialised into masculinity and may use street subcultures as a source of expressing this.
status earned through toughness, risk taking and delinquency
theoretical evaluation of sex role theory
New Right supports Cohen. Absence of male role models in single parent families lead boys to turn to criminal street gangs for status and identity
feminist control theory
- females have less opportunity to commit crime due to being more controlled in society
- if females’ roles are at home as mother/housewife there is less opportunity
other reasons women don’t commit crime
less likely to be in delinquent subculture so less peer pressure
empirical evaluation on why women don’t commit crime
media research into violent women suggests female crime is significant and growing (girl gangs & female domestic abusers)
e.g. 2018- 1,509 knife crime offences (73% increase in 5 years). validity of rad feminists should be questioned
OCS response to underrepresentation
Social constructionists reject
social constructionist - types of crime
men & women more likely to commit different types of crime - women less serious so less likely to be reported (shoplifting) = underrepresentation in OCS
chivalry thesis theorist
Pollak
chivalry thesis
traditional chivalry socialisation means police/judges might be more lenient on women as more protective of women
women also show more remorse
positive empirical evaluation of underrepresentation of females
- Ministry of Justice found females more likely to receive police cautions
- Hedderman & Hough claim far lord likely to receive custodial sentence for all serious offences
= validity
negative empirical evaluation for underrepresentation of females
- Farrington & Morris - magistrates treat women the same for theft
- Walklate - patriarchal CJS = biased against women e.g. rape victims feel like they are on trial
explaining female criminality
- liberation thesis
- rejection of class & gender deals
Carlen
rejection of class and gender deals (feminist control theory)
rejection of class and gender deals
- some w/c have been let down by society e.g. job offering low / domestic violence in family unit = these women in ‘pink collar ghetto’ turn to crime and reject these deals as a way out for powerless women
positive theoretical evaluation for rejection of class and gender deals
Pomo Naffine - rime is linked to poverty as changes in global economies has given rise to a ‘pink-collar ghetto’ of insecure, low wage, part time jobs. crime is an economic necessity
Adler
liberation thesis
liberation thesis (Pomo)
- women now more liberated in society e.g. Cherrie Blair unable to become top judge 100 years ago
- rise in employment = white collar crime
- shift in gender roles = more aggressive
- more freedoms to commit crime
positive empirical evaluation of liberation thesis
Tara Young research into girl gangs - whilst girl gangs equal to males are rare, there are plenty of groups which engage in wide range of deviant behaviour
negative empirical evaluation of liberation thesis
Chesney-Lind - most criminals w/c (least likely to be influenced by liberation)
why do men commit crime?
Messerschmidt (PoMo) - expression of masculinity
white w/c youth
oppositional masculinity in and out of school (toughness, sexism, anti-school)
black w/c youth
gang violence to express masculinity - street robbery to achieve subordinated masculinity
white m/c youth
accommodating/conformist masculinity in schools, oppositional outside (drinking, vandalism)
turn to white collar crime as adults for hegemonic masculinity
evaluation of Messerschmidt
doesn’t explain why not all men use crime to accomplish masculinity
globalisation increasing male crime
rise to de-industrialisation and unemployment = turn to street gangs for masculinity
Winlow
night time economy (Sunderland bouncers)
expansion of night time economy
- gives bouncers opportunity to demonstrate masculinity through violence
- have paid work & opportunity for illegal business ventures in drugs, duty-free tobacco etc
- use ‘bodily capital’ to maintain reputation
left realist evaluation of masculinity & crime
underlying structural causes of male crime ignored - marginalisation, relative deprivation & subcultures
biological evaluation of masculinity & crime
reject social explanations and favour hormonal explanations like high levels of testosterone
Katz
emotional thrill that causes men to commit crime
Lyng
young males seek pleasure through risk taking aspect pf deviant behaviour (‘edge work’)
problems with domestic violence stats
- underestimate size of problem
- victim fear to report
- police & CPS don’t want tp involve inn family life - women can leave
- underestimate male victims
- males less likely to report as embarrassed
domestic violence stats
- 99% of violence against women committed by men
- 1/4 women assaulted by a partner at some point
- most victims w/c, live in rented accommodation & poor
- violence common against children and elders
Kelly
- risk of SA and domestic violence is result of patriarchy
- product of male power & control
- women who challenge authority/don’t carry out duties = victims
positive empirical evaluation of Kelly
Debase & Dobash - domestic violence triggered by perception wife is challenging authority so product of patriarchal marriage relationships
negative empirical evaluation of Kelly
Wilkinson - domestic violence os result of stresses that go with social inequality not patriarchy (low income & overcrowded housing)
