Chapter 4 - Theories on Female Offending - Key Terms

Key terms from Stacy L Mallicoat's Women and Crime: The Essentials

Adler, Freda

One of the most famous female criminologists, known for her specific study and pioneering of feminist criminology.

Attachment

The emotional and social bonds an individual has with conventional, prosocial figures like family or peers.

Belief

An individual’s internalization of and conviction in societal norms, values, and laws.

Commitment

The ‘rational investment’ an individual makes in conventional society, such as building a career, education, or reputation.

Cycle of victimization and offending

A well-established phenomenon in criminology where individuals who experience victimization are significantly more likely to later commit crimes, and offenders frequently report histories of being victimized themselves.

Differential association theory

Criminal behavior is learned through social interactions with others, primarily within intimate peer and family groups.

Emancipation/liberation theory

As women gain greater equality, their crime rates will similarly increase.

Emotional abuse

Non-physical behaviors that are meant to control, isolate, or frighten the victim.

Hagan, John

A criminologist who has researched with a wide network of scholars, from war crimes and human rights to the field of law.

Hirschi, Travus

A dual sociologist and criminologist who is known for the development of social bond theory and self-control theory.

Involvement

1. In terms of crime, the degree to which an individual participates in criminal activity.

2. In terms of social control theory, one of four social bonds that explain why people conform to societal norms rather than social deviance.

Laub, John

A criminologist known for his research on how and why offenders stop offending.

Life course theory

A theory examining how and why criminal behavior evolves over a person’s lifespan.

Lombroso, Cesare, and William Ferrero

Co-authors of the controversial 1890 book ‘The Female Offender’, also known as ‘Criminal Woman, The Prostitute, and The Normal Woman’, which applies anthropological and biological theories to female criminals. However, many of these theories have been discredited over time.

Masked criminality of women

A mid-20th century criminological concept proposing that the real rate of female criminality is much higher than official statistics indicate, but is concealed by women’s ‘deceitful nature’ and a lenient, paternalistic criminal justice system.

Pollak, Otto

A criminologist who is often depicted as a starting point for women’s criminology, as well as a contributor to the theory of masked criminology of women.

Power control theory

A sociological and criminological framework developed in the 1980s by John Hagan, explaining that gender differences in delinquency can be linked to family power structures in socialization.

Sampson, Robert

A criminologist researcher who popularized the concept of ‘collective efficiency’, a community’s ability to maintain order and prevent crime.

Simon, Rita

A sociologist writer who has published an excess of 200 articles on various societal topics from the justice system to women and crime.

Social bond theory

Individuals are more likely to engage in deviant or criminal behavior when their ties to society and conventional institutions are weakened, broken, or nonexistent.

Sutherland, Edwin

A sociologist and criminologist who helped define white collar crime and differential association theory.

White-collar crime

Financially motivated, non-violent offenses committed by individuals, businesses, or government professionals.