gender, class and ethnicity on crime

by the age of 40, 1 in how many men and women have committed a crime

one in 3 men and one in 10 women

how many times more likely are men to commit a sexual offence than women

60

how many times more likely are men to commit a violent offence than women

8

what does research within sociology generally suggest about gender and crime

most research done into male criminality so suggests that women commit no crime or less crime

what is the most common crime for a man to commit and what is the most common crime for a woman to commit

men- drunk and disorderly, women- shoplifting

what do functionalists say about gender and crime *mention the sociologist

Parsons- gendered roles of expressive and instrumental exist in society to maximise efficiency of socialisation, women are the expressive and are taught to conform so will not commit as much crime as men who are instrumental and have more qualities that allows them to commit crime

what do feminists say about gender and crime

research should focus on both genders opportunity to commit crime, women have limited opportunity to commit crime hence the smaller statistic

explain the three spheres heidensohn said women are controlled within

private domestic where they have domestic responsibilities, closer supervision of daughters and less opportunity

public where women have fears of sexual harassment, are more likely to have male bosses etc

reputation where labels threaten women i.e slag or slut

what did feminist heidensohn say about female control

argued control theory where women are more closely controlled in the family through ‘bedroom culture’ where they had to stay home more ad had less freedom, boys are controlled more freely and are encouraged to go out. control by fathers continued to control by husbands reinforcing patriarchy

what did Pollak argue

men and women commit a similar number of crimes but the crimes women commit i.e shoplifting are easily concealed so are under-reported

give examples for how women can be controlled in three spheres

home- diffreent forms of abuse, have to conform to gender roles, girls not allowed to go out late, bedroom culture

public- fear of going out at night, higher likelihood of being a harassment victim

work- managers are most likely males, more likely to be harassed at work

outline the liberation thesis

there has been more women working since the 1960s and more laws have been put in place to make them more equal to men i.e sex discrimination (1975) or equal pay (1970),women now have the social position to commit crim just as much as men

outline the chivalry thesis

ideology that legal system treats women more favourably than men and police are less suspicious of women, male police officers may treat women with more sympathy as they may have been ‘lead down the wrong path’

what is some evidence for the chivalry thesis

first female offenders are half as likely to receive prison sentencing than first male offenders, female offenders are seen as less of a threat to police and have more informal prosecution e.g warnings and cautions

what is some evidence against the chivalry thesis *include any sociologists

Heidensohn- double deviance theory where women are actually more likely to be prosecuted more harshly as they commit a crime against the law and against femininity

Morris- more serious crimes such as murder receive less of a difference in sentencing

women have more mitigating factors that they display such as remorse, guilt, and apologising in court which means they are less likely to be sentenced whereas men have more aggravating factors such as anger which drives them to harsher sentencing

argument that the chivalry thesis is now outdated as there are more women in the CJS

explain masculinity and crime

crime is a mechanism where men can demonstrate their masculinity

what are the two types of masculinity and their features

normative (man is the provider, high competitiveness, initiative taking, tough), hegemonic (heterosexual, aggressive, risk taking, stoic)

what subcultures demonstrate the features of masculinity the most according to Miller

lower working class subcultures

who talked about asserting masculinity, explain it

messerschmitt, idea that men commit crime in order to demonstrate masculine qualities an prove they are a real man, typically when their legitimate legal means i.e work and school are blocking their access to masculinity

who talked about edgework, explain it

Lyng, there are thrills involved in committing crime and men wanted to be on the edge, risk taking is a masculine quality so crime was a way to demonstrate masculinity

explain labelling in terms of male crimes

if men are labelled to be more/ less masculine due to their actions, they are to change them in accordance to masculinity, for example if a man is seen as not masculine enough as their job does not have high income, they may turn to crime to relieve the label that they are not able to provide for their family and adopt the masculine risk taking label as their master status, they will then continue to commit crime to hold this master status leading to a self-fulfilling prophecy

evaluation of masculinity and crime

more of a description of crime rather than solutions to it, deterministic, change in attitudes such as those towards masculinity have changed perspectives

explain how official statistics link to social class

what do functionalists say is a reason for working class committing more crime

Mertons strain theory- people have strain between goals and means and want to achieve theme illegitimately when their legitimate means are blocked due to inequality, results in anomie and 5 responses (conformity, innovation, ritualism, retreatism and rebellion), poorer communities have less life chances meaning they are more likely to access illegitimate means

social deprivation as a reason for an increase in w/c crime

crime is a result of the economic state, tighter on money means more crime specifically property crime, hardship encourages crime due to strain

property crime

any crime that involves damage or theft of someones property

marginality and social exclusion as a reason for an increase in w/c crime

w/c are pushed to the edge of society by poverty and other factors resulting in exclusion from participation in society through education and work, agents of socialisation are less likely to be effective at adequately socialising people into mainstream society, attitudes towards crime become positive and the benefits of crime outweigh the costs

who thought of the status frustration theory

cohen

status frustration and subcultures as a reason for an increase in w/c crime

people are frustrated that they are on the lower end of society and are denied status, youth gain status other ways (crime)

what did Cloward and ohlin say about criminal subcultures

criminal subcultures arise as a result of blocked legitimate means within society

labelling stereotyping and prejudice as a reason for an increase in w/c crime

police and public have stereotypes about w/c that they are more dangerous so therefore will be stopped and searched or called police on more, quicker to be labelled by police as criminal, m/c magistrates see w/c as more criminal so are more likely to be sentenced maybe even for longer

explain the differences between class and types of social control

m/c benefit from more informal social control such a s parents and teachers due to more wealth, w/c experience more formal social control leading to more prosecution and less knowledge and awareness of social norms

detectable offence

offence that is outlined by the law as criminal, w/c commit more detectable offences os are more likely to be prosecuted than m/c committing white collar crime

criticisms on class and crime

doesn’t explain why all w/c don’t turn to crime and why not all m/c don’t turn to crime, doesn't consider dark figure of crime, many examples of upper class crime in society so over-exaggeration of w/c crime, some upper class crimes are dealt with outside the law

deviancy amplification

crime and deviance is increased by the societal reactions towards it

explain deviancy amplification and ethnicity

as police stereotype and marginalise minority ethnic groups they are targeted leading to the public believing these people commit more crime than anyone else

how many times more likely are afro-caribbean people to be in prison

5x

explain prison population with regard to ethnicity

most of the prison population is white but there are more white people as a percentage population, afro-caribbean people are the most overrepresented people in prisons as the population is much higher than the uk population

victimology

study of the victims within crime

who are most likely to be victims of crime

ethnic minorities

what left realists spoke about crime

Lea and Young

what are the three reasons left realists give for ethnicity and crime

marginalisation, subcultures, relative deprivation

why would ethnic minorities commit utilitarian crime

as a response to relative deprivation

why would ethnic minorities commit non-utilitarian crime

as a response to status frustration

link policing and ethnicity on crime

police may be racist and result in unjustified criminalisation of certain groups although if this is true, police would have to be selectively racist as there are differences in statistics of ethnic minorities offending

what is the evaluation of left realist on crime and deviance

views of groups have changed over time such as Asian stereotypes following 911, police still could be racist so it shouldn’t be ruled out

who is the main neo-marxist who speaks on ethnicity and crime

Gilroy

what are the main views neo-marxists have on ethnicity and crime (Gilroy and Hall)

ethnic minorities make a conscious choice to commit more crime due to the stereotype that is presented of them within society, they use crime as a means to rebel against society and see it as a political and revolutionary act against oppressors e.g police

what is an example of repression against the police according to neo-marxists *r

rastafarianism- repress against the police through marijuana use in attempt to reclaim their culture

outline Hall et all’s study

Policing the crisis study- police act on racist stereotypes, migrants came over and were framed for the increase in mugging due to being used as scapegoats to distract from the IRA troubles, moral panic due to ideology that the ‘black mugger‘ existed, lead to an increase in crime amongst this group as a repression against the society turning on them, media had a chance to re-establish dominant hegemonic ideology and diverse focus from economics and politics

what is an evaluation on Gilroys and Hall’s view

most crime is intra-ethnic so cannot express an anti-colonial struggle such as racism, crime is normally romanticised as a revolutionary act

sus law

laws based on assumption and suspicion such as stop and searches

how does ethicity prevent capitalist revolution

corruption of capitalism and economic decline leads society in stress, w/c focused on the ‘black mugger’ as a source of crisis, this lead to divide in society based on racial grounds and prevented collaboration towards capitalist revolution keeping the bourgeoisie in power

basic evaluations and criticisms of ethnicity on crime

police cannot entirely be racist as 90% of crimes are reported by the public, most crime is intra-ethnic, no evidences of moral panics, most immigrants specifically in the 50’s and 60’s were law abiding, over representation of Afro-caribbean is a result of discrimination

canteen culture

racist view are widely spoken about in police spaces such as canteens which influence many of the general policing population to adopt these same views

what is some evidence for institutional racism

the murder of Stephen Lawrence by a group of white men who are still not all yet arrested

what did Bowling and Phillips say about labelling

there are examples of both direct and indirect labelling within society towards ethnic minority groups which leads to a self fulfilling prophecy as minorities class them selves as criminal

indirect labelling examples

mistrust of the police within minority communities, social position such as poor housing and community work

direct labelling examples

stop and searches, institutional racism, arrests and charges increasing amongst groups, sentencing discrimination for ethnic minorities such as longer sentencing, higher disproportionate prison populations

what is the defence for more black people being stopped and searched

there are more people of this group out at night in urban areas which is where most risk and trouble is cawhatused so due to the proportion, they are stopped more

explain ethnicity on types of justice interevention

higher number of cautions and warning issued to white people than to other ethnicities, higher number of formal arrests and convictions of Afro-caribbeans