Gender and Offending

What did Newburn’s Self-Report studies find about trends of Gender and Crime?

• Men were more likely to commit crime

• Men more likely to commit several offences

• differences in the types of crime they are victims of

Who are more likely to be Victims of Crime?

Men

Who are more likely to Commit Crimes?

Men - against other men

What does the Crime Survey of 2013 statistics show about victims of Personal Crimes?

• men: 5%

• women: 4.7%

What does the Crime Survey of 2013 statistics show about victims of Violent Crimes?

• men: 2.3%

• women: 2.4%

What does the Crime Survey of 2013 statistics show about victims of Homoicides?

30% of homicides are female victims

Who are more likely to be victims of domestic violence and sexual assault?

women

Why might victimisation statistics about domestic violence and sexual assault be inaccurate?

most commonly unreported crimes

• unable to grasp full picture

What do Trends and Statistics show about Men and Crime?

Men are more likely to commit crimes and be victims of crime as well

Which theories believe the perspective that: Women do not commit more crime

• Sex-role theory

• Radical Feminism

Which theories believe the perspective that: Women do commit more crime - they just get away with it

• Chivary Thesis

• Liberationist Perspective

Which theories believe the perspective that: When women commit crime they are harshly punished

• Double Deviance

• Socialist Feminism

Which theories believe the perspective that: Men commit more crime

• Normative Masculinity

• Postmodernism

Does the Criminal Justice System have Gender Bias? - Chivalry Thesis Perspective

Yes

• Female crimes are underrepresented in official crime statistics - CJS is more lenient on them

Does the Criminal Justice System have Gender Bias? - Double Deviance Perspective

Yes

• When women do commit crime the CJS is harsher on them - societal expectations of women

What does the Chivalry Thesis argue?

CJP is more lenient towards women

Which perspective does Pollak take?

Chivalry Thesis

What does Pollak argue about CJS?

women appear less often in official crime statistics - CJS is ‘chivalrous’ towards them

• police, judges, and magistrates are more likely to treat women leniently

According to Pollak, why is the CJS more ‘chivalrous’ towards women?

system’s protective attitude towards women reflects traditional gender roles and stereotypes of women as passive, weak, and needing protecting

• female offending: under-reported and under-recorded

What evidence did Haralambos and Holborn find to support the Chivalry Thesis?

• women are more likely to receive a caution instead of being prosecution

• more likely to be given a pre-court sanction (rather than being taken to court)

• less likely then men to be sent to prison

What evidence did Self-Report studies find to support the Chivalry Thesis?

female suspects were more likely to be cautioned compared to men

What evidence did Hood find to support the Chivalry Thesis?

compared the sentencing of men and women in court - men were more likely to be given custodial sentences compared to women

What is the main criticism by Farrington and Morris about the Chivalry Thesis?

Sentencing guidelines are up to judges discretion

• mitigating factors: age, first offence, impact on victim, caring responsibilities

• although men appear to have more harsh sentences, these differences disappeared when the severity of offences were taken into account

• severe cases = not much of a difference

What does the idea of Double Deviance argue?

CJS far from chivalrous - double standards for women who commit crimes

What evidence does Walklate use to support the argument of Double Deviance?

Rape trails - women complaints are often not taken seriously

• female victims often have to persuade the court that they are ‘respectable’ women

What does Heidensohn argument about Double Deviance?

there are double standards in the CJS for women who commit crime - double deviant

• deviant for breaking the norms of society

• deviant for breaking norms of femininity and how women should behave

women are divided into virgins or whore, witches or wives

What evidence does Heidensohn use to support the idea of Double Deviance?

Sexually promiscuous girls are more likely than promiscuous boys to be taken into care

• women are divided into virgins or whore, witches or wives - treated differently

How does Carlen support Heidensohn’s argument about Double Deviance?

women are jailed not for the seriousness of their crimes - rather the courts assessment of them as wives, mothers and daughters

Does Hedderman believe that the CJS being a gendered system is right?

Yes - men and women are different and should be punished differently

• women are more likely to have caring responsibilities - should be punished with a community approach

Which perspective does Heidensohn take?

Double Deviance

Why do some sociologists believe that there is a Female Conformity which makes them commit less crime?

men and women are inherently different

• women have a natural desire to be caring and nurturing

• ‘normal’ women do not have a desire to commit crime

Who created the Sex-Role Theory?

Parsons

How does Parson’s Sex-Role Theory explain Female Conformity?

women are less likely than men to commit crime - core element of the female role that limit their ability and opportunity to do so

Why does Parson’s Sex-Role Theory suggest that there is Female Conformity?

boys and girls are socialised differently - hold different values

• women are socialised into an expressive role - taught to be nurturing preventing them from committing crime

Who created the idea of Compensatory Mascunlinity?

Cohen

What does Cohen’s idea of Compensatory Masculinity explain?

many boys who grow up without the presence of a male role model who is performing the instrumental role - socalised in a female dominated environment

• over-compensate for this by displaying exaggerated masculine traits - joining delinquent subcultures

What do Radical Feminists suggest as the explanation for differences between Gender and Offending Rates?

women are too tightly controlled - unable to commit crimes

What do Socialist Feminists suggest as the explanation for differences between Gender and Offending Rates?

working class women experience more oppression - commit more crime compared to middle class women

Which type of feminism does sociologists Heidensohn follow?

Radical Feminism

What does Heidensohn argue about differences in Gender and Offending Rates?

patriarchal societies control women far more than men - making it more difficult for them to break the law

What are the 3 ways that Heidensohn suggests women are controlled in?

• home

• work

• public

How does Toor support Heidensohn’s perspective on patriarchal control?

explained extremely low levels of criminality among British Asian Women

Which type of feminism does sociologists Carlen follow?

Socialist Feminism

What does Carlen argue about differences in Gender and Offending Rates?

class and gender interact to explain the offending of working-class women

• WC women haven’t enjoyed the benefits of ‘liberation’

What ‘deals’ does Carlen suggest that working class women must follow to be seen as respectable?

• Class Deal - work hard in exchange for pay, use pay for consumer goods

• Gender Deal - should do domestic labour and give love and companionship to their husbands, in exchange for love and financial support

What does Carlen suggest happens when working-class women ‘deals’ broke down?

WC women were then more likely to commit crimes as rational choice

• less stigma that WC women MUST achieve these deals

Did Carlen believe that these ‘deals’ previously given to working-class women were exploitative?

yes - women exploited in families and exploited by employers

• however, illusion of fairness and respectability about these deals kept women under control

What does the Liberation Thesis propose about Gender and Offending Rates?

increase in women offending - due to women having more freedom to participate in criminal activities (previously dominated by men)

Which perspective does sociologists Adler follow to explain Gender and Offending Rates?

Liberation Thesis

What does Adler suggest as the explanation for an increase of women in offending rates?

women have become more liberated and gain greater equality in society

• their involvement in crime will increase and the types of crime they commit will become more similar to those committed by men

How have women become more liberated to commit crimes according to Adler?

• women have more freedom to participate in activities traditionally dominated by men

• as women break free from traditional roles - can participate in more types of crime

• gender gap in crime will narrow as social restrictions on women lessen

What evidence does Denscombe provide to support Adler’s perspective?

self-image of 15-16 years old - females were adopting what had traditionally been classes as male attitudes

• female crimes are rising at a higher rate than male crimes!

What are the major issues with the Liberation Thesis?

• gender gap between men and women remains large (95% of prison population is still men)

• most female criminality is committed by working class

• Chesney-Lind - women in criminality usually involves prostitution; male control

How evidence does Chesney-Lind use to criticise the Liberation Thesis?

women involved in criminality are likely to be involved in acts such as prostitution - male control

• female criminals are still expected to conform to male hierarchy

How can changes in policing and reporting be an explanation for an increase in female criminality?

increased arrest rates for minor offences may inflate statistics

What evidence does Sharpe and Gelsthorpe use to propose that net-widening policies are responsible for an increase in female crime?

net-widening policies such as prosecuting females for low-level physical alternations - leads to an increase of females in crime statistics

• doesn’t mean they are committing more crimes!

What is Hegemonic Masculinity?

socially constructed, idealised form of masculinity that legitimises men’s dominant position in society and justifies the subordination of women and marginalised men

What does Messerschmidt argue about masculinity?

masculinity is an accomplishment that men have to work at achieving - sometimes involves criminal behaviour

• isn’t fixed - perform through their actions, shaped by society and culture

Why is Hegemonic Masculinity an explanation for why men commit crimes?

men with fewer legitimate opportunities to achieve or display dominate masculinity may turn to crime

• Crime: gain respect, power, or status - when they cannot achieve these through conventional means like employment

How does Social Positions influence different ways to achieve masculinity?

e.g. middle-class men might express masculinity through professional success - whilst working-class men might do so through physical toughness or street crime

How does Jefferson criticise the idea of Hegemonic Masculinity?

men who have already achieved masculinity still commit white collar crimes

• male criminality cannot be explained through the desire to achieve normative masculinity

How is Messerschmidt’s idea of Hegemonic Masculinity?

• ignores other explanations as to why men commit crimes such as capitalism

• ignorers psychological differences between men

What does Post-modernist Winlow suggest about the Decline of Traditional Working-Class Masculinity?

• many traditional working-class jobs have disappeared

• loss affects men’s ability to express masculinity through hard physical hard

Due to the decline of the Traditional Working-Class Masculinity, what capital has been developed according to Winlow?

men now invest their physical strength, appearance, and toughness as a form of “capital” - body capital

How does is the Decline of Traditional Working-Class Masculinity linked to the Night-Time Economy?

men working in areas like bars, clubs, and nightclubs where physical strength is valued

• may use violence and control to maintain status and express masculinity - position as security staff to sell illegal duty free goods such as cigarettes or illegal drugs

What are the New Forms of Masculinity in Postmodern Society?

• Masculinity is still performed, but now through bodily capital rather than industrial work

• Crime and violence become ways to demonstrate masculinity in these new social settings