Gender, Crime and Justice

Heidensohn and Silvestri

• Four out of five convicted offenders in England and Wales are male.

• By the age of 40, 9% of women have a conviction compared to 32% of men.

• Females are more likely to be convicted for property offences, whereas males are more likely to be convicted of violent or sexual crimes.

• Males are more likely to be repeat offenders, have longer criminal careers and commit more serious crimes.

Pollack: Chivalry Thesis

1. Female crimes are less likely to be reported and will go un-noticed compared to male crimes.

2. Women are more likely to get off with lighter sentences for committing crimes.

Graham and Bowling

self report studies say that men are twice as likely to commit crime as women, official statistics say men are four times more likely to commit crime as women. Men are more likely to offend, but the difference is smaller than official statistics suggest

Hood

out of 3,000 defendants, women are less likely to be jailed for similar offences

Farrington and Morris

in 408 cases of theft women were not sentenced more favourably

Buckle and Farrington

observed that more men taking part in shoplifting

Yearnshire

women typically experience 35 counts of domestic violence before going to the police

Heidensohn

When women are convicted of sexual crimes or crimes against children - crimes that break from gender roles - they are treated more harshly than men for similar crimes → Myra Hindley & Ian Brady, Hindley was demonised more in the media and courts. Carla Homolka and Paul Bernardo (Ken and Barbie killers) Carla demonised more in media (not in courts though) despite Paul instigating.

A patriarchal society produces conformist women. Men exercise greater control over women at home (curfews), work (lower positions) and in public (fear of sexual violence). As such, women have less opportunities to engage in criminal acts.

Lombroso

Argues that ‘normal’ women have a disposition that repels them from deviant and criminal behaviour - criminality is innate and women are less likely to be born criminals. Origins in Victorian ideas.

Parsons

he socialisation of men and women is different. Boys are socialised to be tough, masculine and risk taking.

Walklate: based on biological assumptions on sex (bad).

Carlen

Working class females are more likely to commit crime. Humans act rationally and are controlled by deals or rewards for conforming to social norms. If the rewards aren’t great then they will be less likely to commit conform. This is also the case if rewards for crime are seen to be greater than the risks.

Adler

Society is becoming less patriarchal, meaning women are becoming liberated from men as controls, expectation and discrimination has decreased. Women have become more equal to men. As a result women have become more confident and assertive, resulting in a rise in women’s crime.

Sharpe and Gelsthorpe

between 2002-6 recorded crime by young women rose by 39% and by young men rose by 7%

growing trend of arresting and prosecuting women for low-level physical altercations.

Young

men & women both conform to police definitions of gangs but men see themselves more as gang members

Steffensmeier and Shwartz

victims didn’t report a rise in crimes by women but police did, now police are more likely to arrest women. The police are widening the net of who they arrest.

Chesney-Lind

mandatory arrests for domestic violence now include men and women.

Burman and Bachelor

media depictions creating a moral panic about girls being ‘drunk and disorderly, out of control and looking for fights’ - as an extension of policing traditional gender roles.

Sharpe

police officers, judges and probation officers are influenced by moral panic about violent drunk young women and treat girls differently because of this.

Lea and Young

some victim surveys show women are more likely to victims of crime than men are.

Messerschmidt

Crime as a means of expressing masculinity:

• White middle class: Have to listen to teachers in order to achieve middle-class status, leading to an accommodating masculinity in school. Outside of school, their masculinity takes an oppositional form: drinking, vandalism, pranks, sexual harassment of women.

• White working class: Have less chance of educational success, so oppositional in and outside of school. Constructed around sexist attitudes, being tough and opposing teachers’ authority → EG Willis lads study.

• Black working class: Few expectations of a reasonable job, use gang membership and violence to express their masculinity or turn to serious property crime to achieve material success.