Adler

Who is Freda Adler?

• Until the late 1960s, criminology was perceived to be malestream - that is men studying men

• With social changes in the late 1960s and the rise of second wave feminism, there was a growth in female criminology

• Adler's liberation thesis was one of the first to explore rising female criminality

What is the liberation thesis?

• Traditionally, women had been restricted to the domestic sphere

• This limited both their legitimate and illegitimate opportunities

What is the liberation thesis?

• Traditionally, women had been restricted to the domestic sphere

• This limited both their legitimate and illegitimate opportunities

• Social changes meant women had more access to employment opportunities

• More opportunity to be involved in illegitimate means - i.e. crime

• Empowerment of women increased self-confidence to challenge feminine stereotypes

• Increased strain to become providers for themselves and their families

• Socialisation of girls into being more assertive and a greater focus on being financially independent

What is the rising female criminality?

• This is evidenced by the rising number of females involved in crime

• Movement from traditional criminality into masculine areas of crime, such as violence, fraud and even white-collar and corporate crime

• In the 1950s, 1 in 7 crimes in the UK was committed by women - now 1 in 4

What is a contemporary application?

• Moral panics about girl gangs in the early part of the 21st century

• Media creation of 'ladette' in the 1990s - displaying masculine behaviours

• Increased focus on female criminality in the media

What is the evaluation?

• Female crime rose before the impacts of second-wave feminism, despite the strong correlation between crime and second-wave feminism

• Laidler and Hunt (2001) - traditional gender roles of girls in
  gangs

• The impact of second-wave feminism was mostly on the middle class with traditional gender roles still present in the working class