Paper 3 Section B: Gender & Crime

Question 1

Control theory

Answer 1

Women are controlled more in the public and private sphere

Question 2

Klein (1973)

Answer 2

Chivalry is classist and racist and only applicable to white middle class women as they are seen as ‘ladies’

Question 3

Heidensohn (1986)

Answer 3

Women who conform to feminine behaviour (crying/maternal love) are treated more leniently, but those who don’t are treated more severely

Question 4

Carlen (1983)

Answer 4

A female’s role of a mother is also taken into account more than a male’s role as a father in sentencing. Moreover, women who commit crime are the ones where crime does not outweigh the benefits of women, as they do not conform. They are usually brought up in a situation that does not reinforce gender roles

Question 5

Lombroso (1898)

Answer 5

Criminals were biological. He stated that women show natural passivity, not possessing enough intelligence or initiative to break the law. He said women who are ‘born criminal’ show masculine traits and lack maternal instinct.

Question 6

Sutherland (1949)

Answer 6

Girls are more supervised and taught to be domesticated and passive, while boys are encouraged to take risks and be tough. If women do become deviant, this may be because of the way they have been socialised, such as being tomboys or having many brothers

Question 7

Parsons (1955)

Answer 7

Fathers perform the ‘instrumental’ role (provider), whilst mothers perform the ‘expressive’ role (emotional support & socialising children). Girls have access to their role model, as the mother tends to be at home, whereas boys have less access as the father tends to be at work most of the time. This leads young males to experience ‘status anxiety’ and cannot identify with the correct sex, leading to exaggerated masculine behaviour delinquency

Question 8

Chivalry thesis

Answer 8

In reality, women do commit as much crime as men, however they avoid facing punishment due to their position as women. Women are seen as accessories to men, but this may not be the case. Women are the primary care givers; therefore, they can escape punishment.

Question 9

Pollak

Answer 9

Women are compelled to commit certain crimes due to their hormones, causing emotional disturbance. He believes women are biologically more deviant as they can conceal menstruation & easily fake orgasms. Women use their home environment to conceal crimes and have professions like maids, nurses, and teachers so that they can engage in undetectable domestic crime. They manipulate men to commit crime for them.

Question 10

Speed and Burrows (2006)

Answer 10

Found in shoplifting cases male offenders are twice as likely to receive a sentence than a female (30% to 15%)

Question 11

Thomas (1907)

Answer 11

Men and women have different personality traits. Men are more active, and women are more passive. He said women require more social approval and affection than men. The way they get this is through domestic roles, so middle class women choose to accept this. However, poor females lack socialisation and morality, refuse to take on the submissive role and use their sexuality for emotional gain.

Question 12

Hedderman and Gunby (2013)

Answer 12

Interviewed judges and magistrates involved in sentencing, and found that there was an awareness that female offenders often have more complex problems. They stated much female crime is related to domestic abuse and single parenthood and these factors being taken into account may be completely appropriate and not ‘chivalry’ at all.

Question 13

Chesney-Lind (1989)

Answer 13

Argues that female deviance tends to be ‘sexualised’. She found more girls than boys were sent to ‘training schools’ and charged with ‘immorality’. Poor women in the USA are more likely to be criminals than ‘liberated’ middle class women. Showing that it is more down to economic and social situations than liberation of women.

Question 14

Smart (1976)

Answer 14

Girls have controls on how often they can go out, plus fears about safety. This leads to girls being ‘prisoners in their own home’. For men, crime can be seen as ‘role-expressive’. It is an extension of the male role of protector and dominant aggressor. For women, it is ‘role distorting’, as it goes against their expected role of nurturer and carer. A female deviant is seen as ‘doubly deviant’ as they have more to lose. Not only do they risk prosecution, but they also risk disapproval and being seen as ‘unfeminine;’

Question 15

Adler

Answer 15

There has been a change in expected female behaviour. Many are seen to show ‘laddish’ behaviour and are adopting male values. Crime rates for men are significantly higher in both the US and UK. Home Office stats show men accounted for 83% of arrests in 2013.

Question 16

James and Thornton (1980)

Answer 16

Women prisoners were more likely to come from poverty and uneducated backgrounds and they knew nothing about female liberation

Question 17

Gelsthorpe (2006)

Answer 17

The increase of women in prisons could be down to a shift in sentencing policy and may be more of a decline in ‘chivalry’ and the way society perceive women, rather than how they see themselves.

Question 18

Messerschmidt (1993)

Answer 18

Looked at hegemonic masculinity. Competition, aggression, violence, authority and control. Young males commit crime to show masculinity. They do it through gang reputation, sexual conquests, drinking and pranks

Question 19

Mosher (1991)

Answer 19

‘Hypermasculinity’ dangerous and accepting of violence. Poor, jobless youth may display this masculinity through sexism, gangs and carrying a gun. Many youths often show versions of masculinity they experienced when they were growing up.

Question 20

Winlow (2001)

Answer 20

Did a study on working class males in Sunderland. Found mass unemployment left men without status and violence became more significant. Furthermore, criminal activity became a way of making money (e.g., drug dealing)

Question 21

Crisis of masculinity

Answer 21

Occurred through loss of industrial jobs. Led working class men towards violent behaviour – breadwinner role had been taken away.