Men and Crime Flashcards
Overarching theme…
Men are much more likely to commit crimes than women (although female crime has been rising faster than male crime since the late 20th century). Men and women also appear to commit different types of crimes (men are much more likely to commit violent crimes, for instance, accounting for 90% of murderers). Therefore, sociologists are interested in investigating why these differences in offending occur. As with all such differences, sociologists also ask whether they are real or whether the statistics are misleading due to the way they are produced.
Sex role theory…
Whether one takes a sociological approach and considers physical/genetic differences between the sexes, or prefer to emphasise gender socialisation, the suggestion is that “normal” masculinity is far more open to criminality than “normal” femininity.
Socialisation to be tough, dominant, etc. is more prone to criminality than socialisation to be nurturing and compliant. Of course, this could be a very outdated view, but it has some support from both functionalist and feminist perspectives (although functionalists would be more likely to suggest it was masculinity in the context of a particular subculture rather than masculinity in general that was likely to be deviant – e.g.Walter Miller’s focal concerns).
Walter and Miller’s focal concerns…
Miller suggested that working-class boys were socialised into a number of distinct values that together meant they were more likely than others to engage in delinquent or deviant behaviour. Miller described these values as “focal concerns”.
Concerns and explanations…
Concern
> Excitement
Explanation
> They seek out excitement (particularly when not at work)
Concern
> Toughness
Explanation
> They wish to prove that they are tough / hard
Concern
> Smartness
Explanation
> They use wit (which might include ‘smart’ remarks)
Concern
> Trouble
Explanation
> Linked to excitement and toughness, they might find themselves in trouble
Concern
> Autonomy
Explanation
> They wish to be independent and not reliant on others
Concern
> Fate
Explanation
> They believe that their future is already decided, so what they do won’t influence it
Do these factors cause crime?…
None of these values on their own mean that crime is inevitable (many “lower-class boys” are also socialised with these focal concerns and stay out of trouble) but they do make crime more likely.
Seeking excitement might lead to non-utilitarian crime.
Toughness, smartness and trouble might result in fighting.
Autonomy might lead people to take matters into their own hands rather than asking for help.
fatalism might mean that they do not consider the consequences of their actions as the future is already written.
Evaluation of Walter and Miller’s focal concerns…
Does Millers “lower class” really have distinct norms and values from the rest of society? Indeed, the argument that they might rather contradict the classic functionalist idea that the various institutions in society ensure social solidarity and value consensus.
Again, Miller just talks about boys without really considering gender. Some feminist critics have pointed out that these focal concerns might be masculine values rather than lower-class ones!
However, an alternative view is that many of these “concerns” are also those of working-class girls, and therefore might be features of “lower-class” values or indeed of youth in general. Indeed, as suggested by David Matza, perhaps we all share such “deviant” values but learn not to act on them.
Marginalisation and opportunity…
Marginalisation: some feminist sociologists suggest that the marginal position of women in a patriarchal society means that they commit fewer crimes than men. They have fewer opportunities to commit crimes because of marginalisation, as opposed to men who can commit occupational crime as well as their having a greater opportunity to form criminal subcultures because they are not confined to a domestic role.
Men just have more opportunity !!!
Control theory…
According to Frances Heidensohn, girls are controlled by fathers and other relatives until they are married when they are controlled by their husbands. The fact that boys and young men spend more time away from older or otherwise authoritative figures could account for their higher levels of criminality, especially anti-social behaviour.
Some would suggest that this is an outdated theory and that young women are much more independent today than in the past. However, this change could account for the significant increase in female criminality in recent decades.
Normative masculinity…
Normative masculinity’ is the socially approved ideal of what a ‘real man’ is. This involves being successful in terms of money and sexual conquests, being in control/exercising power. Messerschmitt argues that high levels of male crime are simply down to men trying to prove they are ‘real men’.
This goes some way to explaining white collar crime (mainly male) – it’s about status and competition. It might also explain domestic violence and working class street violence – these are the means men with low status use to act out their masculinity when they lack power in mainstream society.
Radical feminism…
Men might commit more crime than women to ‘prove they are in control of women’.
From a radical feminist perspective this is largely what explains domestic violence which happens across all class groups.
Heidensohn suggests that domestic violence is just one criminal way men express control in in private – it also happens in public through ‘harassment’ on the streets.
This is further perpetuated by ‘the male gaze’ and the objectification of women in the media, especially porn, all of which are interwoven in a network of patriarchal control over women.
However, men don’t necessarily just use sexual violence to control women, they also use it to control other men – male rape has been used against captured combatants in the DRC for example, and it can also be used in prisons where ‘situational homosexuality’ can be used as a means some men use to express their power over others.
Strain theory…
Men might commit more crime than women because they believe that they need to be financially successful to prove they are a ‘real man’. The most obvious way a man can ‘act out’ this ‘traditional breadwinner’ aspect of his masculinity is to get a well-paid job.
However, according to Merton’s Strain Theory, not all men can achieve this goal through the legitimate means of getting a high paid job, as there are relatively few of these available, and as a result some will turn to crime in order ‘show they are successful’.
For some men this may ‘simply’ mean earning money by criminal means – by dealing drugs or doing ‘moped thefts’ for example – all of which seem to be mainly male pursuits.
Other men who lack the opportunity or ‘smartness’ to do utilitarian crime may just get frustrated and seek to prove their status and toughness through violence, as Winlow found with mainly working class men in Newcastle.
However, it isn’t just working class men who turn to crime to prove status: within companies some highly paid men turn to fraud to make even more money than their male peers.
Labelling…
Interactionists argue that people do not become criminals because of their social background, but rather argue that crime emerges because of labelling by authorities. They see crime as the product of micro-level interactions between certain individuals and the police, rather than the result of external social forces such as socialisation or blocked opportunity structures.
Labelling process…
The individual is publicly labelled as a deviant, which may lead to rejection from several social groups. For example, if someone is labelled a junkie they may be rejected by their family.
This may encourage further deviance. For example, drug addicts may turn to crime to finance their habit.
The official treatment of deviance may have similar effects, e.g. convicted criminals find it difficult to find jobs.
A deviant career may emerge. The deviant career is completed when individuals join an organised deviant group. This is the stage when an individual confirms and accepts their deviant identity.
This is the stage at which the label may become a master status, overriding all other forms of relationship outside the deviant group.
This occurs in male youth subcultures, men are far more likely to undergo this process than women.
