Heidensohn: Female Conformity - Crime and Deviance (Feminist)

Question 1

What was Heidensohn’s theory?

Answer 1

That women have a lower rate of officially recorded crime than men and commit fewer serious crimes.

Question 2

What does Heidensohn use?

Answer 2

Control theory.

Question 3

What does control theory emphasise?

Answer 3

• The social bonds between people (between family and friends).
• Social bonds can prevent people from turning to crime and act as an agency of social control.

Question 4

What does Heidensohn examine when studying female criminality?

Answer 4

• Female conformity and the control of women
• Patriarchal society controls women more than men so it is harder for them to break the law.
• Women are controlled at home, in public and at work

Question 5

What does Heidensohn examine when studying female criminality?

Answer 5

• Female conformity and the control of women
• Patriarchal society controls women more than men so it is harder for them to break the law.
• Women are controlled at home, in public and at work
• Domestic life and marriage controls women to ensure that they conform.
• Women’s opportunities to commit crime are limited by their housewife role. Their time is taken up with housework and monitoring others (children) within the home. As a result, women’s role as mothers can constrain their behaviour.
• Women’s behaviour in public is controlled by the fear of male violence. This fear controls their behaviour, for example as managers or supervisors. Sexual harassment is a form of male control and limits women’s freedom in the workplace.

Question 6

What research method does Heidensohn use?

Answer 6

She draws data from her study of delinquent girls. She also draws on a range of secondary sources, including official crime statistic.