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.
Homicide Rate for Aboriginal Women
In 2014, the rate of homicide for Aboriginal females was six times higher than for their non-Aboriginal counterparts (3.64 per 100, 000 versus 0.65)
From1980to2014, police services across Canada reported6,849homicides involving female victims. For that same period, Aboriginal female victims accounted for16% (1,073) of all female victims of homicide.
Violence Victimization of Aboriginal Women
2014 GSS shows violent victimization rates were especially high among Aboriginal females.
They recorded a sexual assault rate of 115 per 1, 000 pop., much higher than rate of 35 per 1, 000 recorded by non-Aboriginal women
Male Aggression against Females - Acquanintance Rape
Females are victims in more than 8 out of 10 sexual assaults, including acquaintance rape (i.e., sexual assaults committed by someone known to victim)
Canadian study reported more than fifth of female postsecondary students indicated they were victims of acquaintance rape
Male Aggression against Females - Majority of Serious Acts of Agression
The great majority of serious acts of aggression between males and females are committed by males against females
Male Aggression against Females - Male Physical Power
Men’s greater physical power is more likely to be used to commit acts of aggression only when norms justify male domination and when men have much more social power than women
Male Aggression against Females - Equal Socially
When females and males are more equal socially, and norms justify gender equality, the rate of male aggression against females is lower; this point is evident with both sexual assault and sexual harassment
Male Aggression against Women - Naturalness & Rightness
Naturalness and rightness of male aggression reflected in daily patterns of gender domination that are built into norms related to courtship, sex, family, and work
Male Aggression against Women - Male Dominance
While not all men support male dominance, our culture still legitimizes it through frequent and routine reinforcements of male authority (e.g., pornography, “dumb blonde” jokes, leering)
- Leads some men to believe they have right to assault women physically and/or sexually
- Demonstrates connection between male aggression and gender inequality
Factors in Sexual Assault - Principal Motives
Principal motives in all forms of sexual assault involve domination and humiliation
Factors in Sexual Assault - Rate of Aggression
Rate of aggression increases with certain social situations, such as:
- War
- Overly macho male fraternities
- Participation in athletics, particularly combative contact sports (notably football)
Factors in Sexual Assault - Arises from
Can arise from early childhood experiences, including
(i) physical and sexual abuse;
(ii) perception of mother as either potentially hostile or object for male gratification; and
(iii) subjection to emotionally cold and distant fathers
Factors in Sexual Assault - Rate of Aggression - War
In war, conquering soldiers often feel justified humiliating the vanquished, who are powerless to stop them
Rape often is used for this purpose
Factors in Sexual Assault - Rate of Aggression - Overly Macho Male Fraternities
The relationship between male dominance and sexual aggression also is evident in research on American fraternities, many of which tend to emphasize male dominance and aggression as part of their culture
Factors in Sexual Assault - Rate of Aggression - Participation in Athletics
While the overwhelming majority of athletes are not rapists, there are proportionately more rapists among men who participate in athletics than among non-athletes
That is because many sports embody a particular vision of masculinity in North American culture: competitive, aggressive, and domineering
As well, male athletes who engage in contact sports are more prone to be rapists; there are proportionately more rapists among athletes involved in collision and combative sports, notably football
Factors in Sexual Assault - Common Characteristics
Psychological disorders and misinterpretation of signals account for only a minority of sexual assault cases
Some offenders, victimized by physical or sexual abuse in their youth, develop need to feel powerful as psychological compensation for their early powerless
Others are men who, as children, saw their mothers as potentially hostile figures who needed to be controlled, or as mere objects available for male gratification
They saw their fathers as emotionally cold and distant
Raised in such an atmosphere, rapists learn not to empathize with women, and instead, learn to want to dominate them
Unwanted Sexual Behaviour in Public - Women
The most common type of unwanted behaviour women experienced in public was unwanted sexual attention, such as comments, gestures, body language, whistles, or calls.
More than 3.8million women, or 25% of those 15years of age and older, stated that they had experienced this type of behaviour in public in the past 12months.
Unwanted Sexual Behaviour in Public - Men
For men, unwanted physical contact, unwanted comments about their sex or gender, and unwanted sexual attention were the most common (each 6%), though the prevalence was lower than that among women.
Unwanted Sexual Behaviour - Male vs. Female
Women (4%) and men (4%) were equally likely to have experienced unwanted and inappropriate comments about their sexual orientation or assumed sexual orientation
Male Perpetrators
A male stranger acting alone most often responsible for unwanted sexual behaviour in public.
Male Perpetrators Act Alone
Women were slightly more likely than men to state that only one person was responsible (81% versus 74%).
Male Perpetrators
Nine in ten (88%) women said that, when it came to the most serious instance they experienced, a man was the person responsible.
Though to a lesser degree, men who experienced inappropriate sexual behaviour in a public place also most commonly stated that a male was responsible for the most serious incident (62%).
Sexual Assault on University Campuses - Sexually Assault in Postsecondary Setting
About1in10(11%) students who identify as women at Canadian postsecondary schools were sexually assaulted in a postsecondary setting in2019, compared with4% of students who identify as men.
Sexual Assault on University Campuses - Men vs. Women
More women (45%) than men (32%) personally experienced these kinds of behaviours, which include inappropriate verbal or non-verbal communication, sexually explicit materials, and physical contact or suggested sexual relations.
Sexual Assault on University Campuses - Compared to General Population
These were higher proportions than the general population
Sexual Assault on University Campuses Prevalence
The majority (71%) of students witnessed or experienced unwanted sexualized behaviours—either on or off campus, or in an online situation that involved students or other people associated with the school.
Sexual Assault on University Campuses - Forms of Sexual Assault
In2019, sexual assaults in a postsecondary setting most often took the form of unwanted sexual touching (86% of women and83% of men sexual assault victims).
Sexual Assault on University Campuses - Fellow Student
The majority of sexual assaults were perpetrated by fellow students.
- This was the case for similar proportions of women (60%) and men (61%) who had been sexually assaulted.
- While relatively few students indicated that a person in authority—such as a professor—was responsible, it was more common for women (5%) than men (2%) who had experienced unwanted sexualized behaviours.
Sexual Assault on University Campuses - Largest Gaps Between Men and Women
The largest gaps between women and men were with unwanted sexual attention such as whistles and “catcalls” (experienced by27% of women and6% of men) and unwelcome physical contact or getting too close (21% of women versus7% of men).
Myths about Rapists - Abnormal or Sick
“Rapists are abnormal or sick”
It is a behaviour NOT confined to few ‘sick’ serial rapists. In fact, it is a learned behaviour perpetrated by persons from all realms of society.
Myths about Rapists - Produce of Sexual Desires & Needs
Rape is “produce of sexual desires & needs”
Besides being primarily a crime of violence, research suggests rapists engage in act for variety of reasons; however, three themes arise: power, anger and sexuality.
Myths about Rapists - Regular Everyday Citizens
While there are certainly serial rapists who prey on innocent victims, research does show that many rapists are often married or dating, hold down jobs, and to all outward appearances look like decent, law-abiding citizens…
Prostitution Laws - 19th Century
Prostitution had largely gone unchanged since the early 19th century despite frequent commissions, studies and constitutional challenges
Prostitution Laws - 2013
On Dec. 20, 2013, the Supreme Court of Canada found 3 laws unconstitutional: prohibiting brothels, public communication for the purposes of communication and living off the profits of prostitution
Prostitution Laws - 2010
In 2010, a Toronto judge essentially struck down Canada’s prostitution laws by finding that the provisions meant to protect women and residential neighbourhoods were endangering sex workers’ lives
Changes to Canada’s Prositution Laws
The Supreme Court of Canada strikes down country’s laws prohibiting brothels, street walking and living off the avails of prostitutions.
Prostration Laws - Sale of Sex by Prostitutes
Legislation places emphasis on sale of sex by prostitutes – a sex worker can advertise their individual services, but companies like escort agencies cannot
Critics say this forces sex workers to go onto streets to sell services and/or into seedier areas
Differential Treatment between Genders
Statistics have often suggested both a gender and role imbalance in prosecution and sentencing with women receiving higher conviction rates and harsher sentences than male workers, clients or third parties
Are Sex Workers in Danger?
A study in the American Journal of Epidemiology found that the “workplace homicide rate for prostitutes” was 50X greater than then next most perilous situation for women, working in a liquour store
