Violence & Intersections of Gender Flashcards
Gender & Crime Rates
Rates of criminality between men and women have remained consistent over decades
Males account for over 80% of those adults accused of criminal offence
- Particularly true when considering violent crimes; adult males make up 90 percent of accusations for homicide, sexual assault, and robbery
- Shoplifting and prostitution-related crimes only area where any parity between genders is evident
Predictor of Criminality
“gender…is the best single predictor of criminality”
Gender & Crime Rates - Female Criminality
Important to note the rate of female criminality, especially in terms of property crimes, has increased significantly in Canada since 1960s
Serious theft, fraud, minor theft since 1968 shows women have become twice as involved in these offences in 2000s
Gender & Crime Rates - Feminization of Poverty
Some criminologists cite role convergence (adaptation of role of women to more closely resemble that of men).
Others see it as manifestation of ‘feminization of poverty’ ⇒increase in number of poor, female single parents leads to increased marginalization
Gender & Homicide Rates in Canada
Data on male-female rates of violent crime shows a degree of regularity over time
Gender & Homicide Rates in Canada - Social-Psychological Explanation
Men kill out of need to control; women kill because they have lost control over themselves
Women, as group, more controlled than men, especially in terms of their experience and expression of anger
Women therefore commit homicide only when driven “past the brink”
- Spontaneous not planned
- Killing of intimates and usually occur in the home
Gender & Homicide Rates - Overemphasis on a Women’s Looks
A consequence of culture’s overemphasis on a woman’s looks rather than on her performance, theory says, women internalize a self-image on the basis of appearance rather than substance of character which result is low self-esteem and low-confidence.
Mainstream View of Female Criminality - Low Rates of Female Criminality
Traditional arguments used to explain low rates of female criminality has tended to emphasize:
- Cultural factors, including early socialization
- Role expectations
- Reluctance among criminal justice officials to arrest and prosecute women
- Biological propensity toward crime and aggression among men is lacking in women
Feminist Criminology
“Women have been virtually invisible in criminological analysis until recently…”
“Criminological theory assumes a women is like a man.”
Theory aims to redirect thinking of mainstream scholarship to include gender awareness
Feminist Criminality - Emphasis on Patriarchy
Theory aims to redirect thinking of mainstream scholarship to include gender awareness
“set of social relations of power in which the male gender appropriates the labour power of women and control their sexuality.”
Feminist Criminality - Crime as Aggression
act crime seen as an act of agggression, for example, contributes to perpetuation of male-centered criminology in which men are characterized as having aggressive nature that needs to be chanelled and controlled.
Society’s acceptance of the belief of men are predisposed to aggression led to socialization of women as passive actors, which excludes them from criminological debates and makes them vulnerable to continued acts of male violence.
Early Feminist Scholarship
Freda Adler (1975) & Rita Simon (1975) attempted to explain existing differences in crime rates b/w men/women as due primarily to socialization rather than biology
- Claim women taught to believe in personal limitations, face reduced socio-economic opportunities, and thus, suffer from lower aspirations.
- Believed that as gender equality increased, male/female criminality would take on similar characteristics
- Hypothesis has not been supported by data
Kathleen Daly & Meda Chesney-Lind
Contemporary scholars who point out that “gender differences in crime suggests that crime may not be so normal after all.”
Kathleen Daly & Meda Chesney-Lind - 5 Key Elements of Feminist Thought
Identify 5 key elements of feminist thought
- Gender and gender relations order social life and social institutions in fundamental ways.
5 Key Elements of Feminist Thought - Complex, Social, Historical & Cultural Product
- Gender is not a natural fact but a complex social, historical, and cultural product; it is related to, but not simply derived from, biological sex differences and differing reproductive capabilities.
5 Key Elements of Feminist Thought - Social Life & Social Institutions
- Gender and gender relations order social life and social institutions in fundamental ways.
5 Key Elements of Feminist Thought - Masculinity & Femininity are Not Symmetrical
- Gender relations and constructs of masculinity and femininity are not symmetrical but are based on organizing principles of men’s superiority and their socio-and political-economic dominance over women.
5 Key Elements of Feminist Thought - Production of Knowledge is Gendered
- Systems of knowledge reflect men’s views of the natural and social world; the production of knowledge is gendered.
5 Key Elements of Feminist Thought - Women should be at the Centre
- Women should be at the centre, not the periphery, of intellectual inquiry; they should not be invisible or treated as appendages to men.
Hagan’s Power-Control Theory
theory suggests family class structure shapes the social reproduction of gender relations, and in turn the social distribution of delinquency.
Hagan’s Power-Control Theory - Hypothesis of Evelyn Sommers
Support of this hypothesis seen in study by Evelyn Sommers who interviewed 14 female inmates in Canadian medium-security institution; identified 4 common themes which explains criminality
Evelyn Sommers - 4 Common Themes which Explain Criminality
- Economic and financial need
- Drug involvement
- Personal anger rooted in sexual and physical abuse or a sense of loss
- Fear
Evelyn Sommers - Two Underlying Issues of Women’s Criminality
Fact majority of women identified ‘need’ as cause of lawbreaking behaviour, Sommers concludes women’s criminality based on two underlying issues:
- Effort to maintain connections within relationships (such as between mother and child)
- Personal quest for empowerment (ability to provide for themselves and children)
Intersectionality
Intersectionality explicitly recognizes the complexity of women’s lives and the ways in which they are shaped not only by gender but also, simultaneously, by other systems of power – most notably race and class.
