Exam #2

Lombroso and Ferrero

Created the idea of the “atavistic female offender”. This idea says that women who are criminals are less evolved than men and humans in general, and have masculine traits. They measured craniums, heights, moles, and even genitalia to identify "atavism".

They are also credited with creating the "Madonna/Whore duality,” which categorized women as either bad/primitive or law-abiding/feminine.

Sigmund Freud

Said that women commit crimes due to “penis envy” as well as a rebellion against their “natural feminine roles.”

Otto Pollak

Created the idea of “masked criminality” and suggested that women are inherently deceitful and receive more lenient treatment.

He argued women’s deceit was biologically rooted in their ability to fake sexual responses and hide menstruation. He also claimed women were more likely to be "instigators" rather than the actual perpetrators of crime.

General Strain Theory (GST)

The idea that stress and strain lead to negative emotions. These negative emotions lead to criminal behavior.

Robert Agnew

Creator of General Strain Theory (GST)

Broidy and Agnew (1997) - Women’s experience with strain

Women experience more strain but this manifests as depression and guilt, which does not lead to crime.

Broidy and Agnew (1997) - Men’s experience with strain

Men often respond to strain with anger which leads to crime.

Travis Hirschi

Created Social Bond Theory (1969)

Social Bond Theory

Looks at why people don’t commit crimes based on their social ties to society. Looks at attachment, commitment, involvement, and belief.

Studies of Turkish youth, research found that for girls, family bonds have a stronger protective effect. For boys, attachment to school and teachers is a stronger influence.

John Hagan

Created Power-Control Theory

Power-Control Theory

Looks at crime rates through a lens of family structure. Says that men have higher rates of crime due to the freedom they are given when they are growing up. Says that women have lower rates of crime due to the strict rules they have growing up.

Feminist Pathways Perspective

Focuses on the life story of women. Says the early victimization and trauma lead to survival based deviance. Examples: running away, substance abuse, and prostitution.

Parens Patriae

The legal doctrine that instructs the state to act as a parent to insure the “best interests of the child".

Status Offenses

Acts that are only illegal for minors. Examples: truancy, running away, and drinking.

The Double Standard

Historically girls are send to court more than boys for status offenses. Often in an effort to encourage them to follow “gender roles.”

Upcharging

Turning status offenses into misdemeanor charges to allow formal processing.

Bootstrapping

Uses technical probation violations (that would not be a crime if committed by an adult) to justify incarceration. Disproportionally affects girls. Example: running away from a placement.

Chivalry Hypothesis of Bias

The idea that women receive more lenient treatment due to perceived weakness.

This is extended primarily to White, middle-class, cisgender women, while being denied to women of color and transgender women.

Often only occurs at specific stages of the justice process, such as charge reduction, rather than being consistent throughout.

Evil Women Hypothesis of Bias

The idea that women are treated more harshly than men when they violate traditional gender role expectations.

Typicality Hypothesis of Bias

Women are only treated to leniency when their offenses fit traditional gender stereotypes. Example: women who are charged with shoplifting are treated more leniently than women who are charged with a violent crime.

Sentencing Factors: Focal Concerns

Judges base decisions on:

Blameworthiness: Moral guilt, seriousness of offense, and harm caused

Community Protection: Risk of recidivism

Practical Constraints: Probation caseloads, prison capacity, and social costs of sentencing

Sentencing Factors: Motherhood

Often reduces the severity of a criminal offense due to the social cost of removing children from a home.

Sentencing Factors: War on Drugs

Mandatory minimums and "tough-on-crime" laws have had a disproportionately detrimental effect on women.

Perceptions of Girls Gaarder et al. (2004): Common Stereotypes

Juvenile probation officers often view girls as whiny, manipulative, and sexually promiscuous.

Perceptions of Girls Gaarder et al. (2004):Disconnect

There is a large gap between the perception of girls and their reality. Their reality often includes sexual abuse, teen motherhood, and extreme poverty.

Perceptions of Girls Gaarder et al. (2004): Programmatic Failure

Officers lack access to and knowledge of culturally and gender-responsive programming due to the systems being designed for men. This leads to reliance on counseling and locked detention.

Perceptions of Girls Gaarder et al. (2004): Intersections

Officers often interpret behaviors differently based on race. POC’s acts are viewed as stemming from negative internal attributes, while white juveniles' acts are attributed to external factors.

Racial Bias: School-to-Prison Pipeline

The policies and practices that push our POC children out of classrooms and into criminal systems. This pipeline reflects the prioritization of incarceration over education.

Racial Bias: Subjective Infractions

Black girls are 5x more likely to be suspended than white girls. Often for subjective things like disobedience, defiance, or attitude.

Racial Bias Wun (2016): Captive Objects

Black girls are subject to constant surveillance. Their personal traumas and injuries are not taken into consideration by the system.

Racial Bias Wun (2016): The Afterlife of Slavery

Policies view Black girls' survival strategies as defiance rather than responses to structural violence or trauma.

Examples:

Carla: A 15-year-old arrested at school for remaining silent after witnessing a theft.

Monica: Labeled "disobedient" and "tardy" despite being the

Stacy: Her "anger" and "disobedience" came from experiencing domestic violence and homelessness.

Charmaine: Stopped attending school after being kidnapped and forced into prostitution. Labeled as "defiant".

Myth About Rape Culture

Rape is committed by a "bad man" stranger in an alley.

Reality of Rape Culture

The majority of rapes are committed by people known to the victim.

Reporting Rape

Only about 23.6% to 33.9% of sexual assaults are reported to the police.

False Rape Reports

False reports are very rare, estimated at only 2% to 10%.

Rape Culture

A set of intersubjective myths, discourses, and practices that normalize sexual violence to reinforce power structures.

Winston and Kinsman Case

Kinsman accused Winston of rape. Winston was a college quarterback. Winston was not charged due to insufficient evidence (he was an important football player in a town where that mattered). Kinsman was vilified as a false accuser.

At the Heart of Gold Documentary

Highlights the systemic failures of major institutions (MSU, USA Gymnastics) to protect athletes from Larry Nassar's long-term abuse.

Gender Gap Convergence

The gender gap in crime is narrowing, a phenomenon called convergence.

Gender Gap Convergence: The Liberation Hypothesis

Created by Freda Adler. Argues that as women gain equality in socialization and opportunity, they will also achieve equality in crime. Says that women and men offenders commit crime for the same reasons.

The Child-Saving Movement

A Progressive Era movement led by middle- and upper-class White citizens who sought to rescue children but often ended up institutionalizing the poor.

Gender Gap Convergence: The Economic Marginalization Hypothesis

Suggests the gap narrows because women are experiencing increased economic hardship relative to men.

Gender Gap Convergence: Police Use of Force

Between 1999 and 2020, the estimated number of women experiencing the threat or use of force by police rose by 488%.

Gender Gap Convergence: Scaling Up Factor

This refers to the difference between self-reported acts and official arrests. For every one conviction, boys commit roughly 22 acts of delinquency, while girls commit only 5.

Gottfredson & Hirschi

Created the Low Self-Control Theory, which says that impulsivity and short-sightedness predispose individuals to crime.

Counter: This theory often fails to explain female delinquency.

Edwin Sutherland

Created Differential Association Theory in 1939.

Differential Association Theory

Says that criminal behavior is learned through social interaction with others, rather than inherited. People become delinquents when they have an excess of such influences over conforming ones.

The time spent with peers is the biggest predictor of violent behavior for white girls.

The strength of the relationship is more significant for Hispanic girls.

Routes of Entry (Mary E. Gilfus)

A specific study on 20 incarcerated women that identified 3 patterns of entry into street crime:

Survival strategies

Adultification

Relational patterns (entering crime via older romantic partners)

Judges’ Use of Stereotypes

Due to a lack of time and information, stereotypes of race, age, and gender are often used to assess a defendant's character.

"Pink Collar Crack"

A term used to describe methamphetamine due to its high usage among women, often linked to economic survival and weight control.

There was a 300% increase in sentence lengths for women between 1996 and 2006.

Net Widening

Where diversion programs intended to keep youth out of the system actually result in more youth being placed under court supervision. It occurs when lower-risk offenders are subjected to new, intermediate sanctions rather than receiving lighter penalties or being diverted entirely.

The Age-of-Consent Campaign

A historical movement to protect girls from "vicious men" by raising the age of consent.

This ironically resulted in the punishment of girls' sexuality by placing them in reformatories for "moral violations".

New York House of Refuge (1825)

The first reformatory for juveniles. It utilized the parens patriae doctrine to institutionalize the poor and Black children for longer periods than their White counterparts.

The Attrition Pyramid of Rape Convictions

Only 50.8% of reported rapes lead to arrest. Of those, only 80% lead to prosecution, and only 58% of those to conviction.

SANE

Stands for Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner.

Specialized nurses trained to conduct forensic

medical exams (rape kits) while minimizing

emotional trauma.