Gender, Crime and Justice

Who notes that gender differences are the most significant feature of recorded crime?

Heidensohn and Silvestri (2012)

What proportion of convicted offenders in England and Wales are male?

4 out 5

By the age of 40, what percentage of females have a criminal conviction compared to men?

• Females - 9%

• Males - 32%

Which gender is more likely to commit property offences (except burglary)?

Women

Which gender is more likely to be convicted of violent or secual offences?

Men

How much more likely are men to be convicted of homicide?

15 times more likely

What is the chivalry thesis?

The argument that most criminal justice agents are men and men are socialised to act in a chivalrous attitude towards women.

What does Pollak (1950) say about female criminality?

Men have a protective attitude towards women so hate to accuse and punish them → women receive a more lenient treatment from the criminal justice system.

What acts as evidence for the chivalry thesis?

Self-report studies

Who found that when using self-report studies, the difference betweel male and female offenders was smaller?

Graham and Bowling (1995)

What did Graham and Bowling (1995) find in their self-report study?

• Their research showed that although males were more likely to offend, the difference was smaller than that recorded in the official statistics.

• Males were 2.33 times more likely to admit to having commit an offence, whereas official statistics show that males are four times more likely to offend.

What court statistics support the chivalry thesis? [3]

• Females are more likely to be released on bail rather than be kept in custody.

• Females are more likely to receive a fine or a community sentence rather than being sent to prison.

• Only 1 in 9 female offenders receive a prison sentence for shoplifting, compared to 1 in 5 males

What is evidence against the chivalry thesis? [5]

• Farrington and Morris (1983): in their study of sentencing for 408 offences of theft in a magistrates court, women were not sentenced more favourably for comparable offences.

• Buckle and Farrington (1984): in their observational study they witnessed twice as many male shoplifters than female.

  • This suggests that suggests that women shoplifters may actually be more likely to be prosecuted.

• The chivalry thesis also ignores the fact that many male crimes against women are unreported.

• Crimes of the powerful are under-represented in statistics and it is privileged men who are more likely to have committed these crimes.

• Overall, if women are treated more leniently it’s because because their offences are less serious.

  • Female offenders are also more likely to show remorse.

How can self-report studies also be evidence against the chivalry thesis?

• Self report studies also suggest that males do commit more offences.

  • Hales et al (2009): found that men were evidently more likely to have been offenders in all major offence categories.

  • Other studies suggest that as the offences become more serious, the crime gap increases.

Who argues that female offenders are seen as double deviants?

Heidensohn (1996)

What is the double deviance theory?

The fact that women are treat more harshly becasue they go against not one, but two social normsl in society - the law and expectations on how women should behave.

What does Heidensohn (1996) say about the way women are treated in the CJS? [3]

• Women are treated more harshly becasue they devaite from gender norms when committing a crime.

• Women are labelled as double deviants.

• There is a double standard as the courts punish girls but not boys for premature/promiscuous sexual activity.

What evidence did Sharpe (2009) provide that supports the double deviance theory?

Her analysis of 55 youth worker records showed that 7 out of the 11 girls were referred due to their sexual activity but none of the 44 boys.

Who found that the majority of girls had been referred due to their sexual activity, but none of the boys?

Sharpe (2009)

What did Carlen say determined whether women receive custodial sentences?

She argues that women receive custodial sentences, not because of the seriousness of their crime but more because of the courts’ judgements of them as wives, mothers and daughters.

• E.g. Scottish judges were much more likely to jail women who’s children were in care.

Who said that rape cases puts the victim on trial as they have to prove that they have been raped and prove their respectability in order to be taken seriously?

Walklate (1998)

What did Walklate (1998) say about rape cases?

She argues that rape cases puts the victim on trial as they have to prove that they have been raped and prove her respectability in order to have their evidence respected.

Who gave a biological explanation of gender differences in crime?

Lombroso and Ferrero (1893)

How did Lombroso and Ferrero (1893) explain gender differences in crime?

They argued that criminality is innate and there are very few born female criminals.

Who created the sex role theory as an explanation for the differences in crime?

Parsons (1955)

How did Parsons (1955) explain gender differences in offending?

• He links these differences to the gender roles in the nuclear family.

• Men perform the instrumnetal role in the public sphere.

• Women perform the expressive role in the private sphere.

• Boys reject the feminine model of behaviour by performing compensatory compulsory masculinity through agression and anti-social behaviour.

Who said that the lack of male role models → boys turn to male street gangs as a source of masculine identity?

Cohen (1955)

What did Cohen (1995) say was a cause of male crime?

The lack of adult male role models → boys turn to all-male street gangs as a source of masculine identity.

Who criticises the functionalist sex role theory of its biological assumptions?

Walklate (2003)

How does Walklate (2003) criticise the functionalist sex role theory?

She criticises sex role theory for its biological assumptions that women are more suited for child-rearing.

Who argues that women commit less crime due to patriarchal control?

Heidensohn (1996)

How does Heidensohn (1996) explain gender differences in offending?

Women experience patrairchal control in three areas and this reduces their opportunity to commit crime.

What are the three areas in which women may experience patriarchal control?

• The home

• The workplace

• The public

How do women experience patriarchal control at home?

• Women’s domestic role restricts their time and movement, reducing their ability to offend.

• Dobash and Dobash (1979): women who try to reject their domestic role experience domestic violence.

• Men also exercise control financially.

• Daughters experience control as they are less likely to come and go as they please or stay out late.

  • Girls form a bedroom culture.

How do women experience patriarchal control in public?

• The fear and threat of male violence controls women’s behaviour in public.

• Islington Crime Survey: found that 54% of women avoided going out after dark compared to 14% of men.

• Sensationalist media reporting adds to women’s fear.

• Fear of being defined as not respectable control the way women dress, act, speak and where they go in public.

• Lees (1993): this stems from boys’ use of sexual verbal abuse to control girls.

How do women experience patriarchal control at work?

• Women’s behaviour is controlled by male bosses and supervisors.

• Widespread sexual harassment keeps women in their place.

• Women’s subordinate position and the glass ceiling prevents them frmo partaking in criminal activity at work.

How does Heidensohn (1996) evaluate her own work?

She also notes that the patriarchy may push some women into crime.

Who argues that working-class women turn to crime due to the poverty and oppressive family lives they’ve had?

Carlen (1988)

How does Carlen (1988) explain working-class female crime? [4]

• Working-class women are controlled through types of deals:

  • The class deal

  • The gender deal

• However, the class deal had been broken for these women.

  • 32 of them had been in poverty.

  • This meant that they turned to crime to make a living.

• The gender deal had also been broken as many of them had rough family lives, e.g. domestic violence, spending time in care.

• Carlen concludes that poverty and oppressive family lives were the main causes of female criminality.

What research method did Carlen (1988) use?

She used unstructed interviews to study 39 working-class female criminals.

Which other theory did Carlen (1988) draw on when explaining female crime?

Hirschi’s (1969) idea that humans are controlled by being offered a deal which are rewards in return for conforming to social norms.

What is the class deal?

The idea that women who work will be given material rewards and a good standard of living.

What is teh gender deal?

The patriarchal ideology that promises women material and emotional rewards from family life if they conform to gender norms.

How can both Heidenson (1996) and Carlen (1988) be evaluated?

Both their theories are too deterministic and undermine women’s free will.

Who puts forward the liberation thesis?

Adler (1975)

What does the liberation thesis argue?

It suggests that as women become liberated from the patriarchy, their crimes will become as frequent and as serious as men’s?

What is a good example for the liberation thesis?

Michelle Mone, who’s business was found to have been selling unsuitable PPE during the pandemic.

What did Adler (1975) argue about female criminality?

• As women become liberated from the patriarchy, their crimes become as frequent and as serious as men’s/

• The new opportunities for women → women adopting traditionally male roles in both legitimate and illegitimate activity.

What is evidence that supports the liberation thesis?

• Both the rate of female offending and the female share of offences rose during the second half of the 20th century.

  • Between the 1950s and 1990s, the female share of offences rose from 1 in 7 to 1 in 6.

• Adler reports rising levels of female participation in crimes such as embezzlement and armed robbery.

• Media discussion around girl gangs.

• Denscombe (2001): his study of Midlands teenagers found that girls were just as likely to engage in risk-taking behaviour and desire to adopt male stances and appear “hard”.

What are some criticisms of the liberation thesis?

• Adler has been criticised for overestimating the extent to which women have been liberated and are able to engage in serious crime.

• The female crime rate began rising in the 1950s before the women’s liberation movement.

• Most female criminals are working-class, who are the least likely to be influenced by women’s liberation.

• Chesney-Lind (1997): Found that women’s participation in typically male offences were to do with their link with prostitution.

• There is little evidence that illegitimate opportunities in professional crime has opened up to women.

• Laidler and Hunt (2001): found that female gang members were expected to conform to the same gender roles.

What statistic did Hand and Dodd (2009) uncover about female violent crimes?

Between 2000 and 2008, police statistics show that the number of females arrested for violence rose by on average 17% each year.

Who found that the rise in female violence shown in police statistics did not match the findings in self-report studies and victim surveys?

Steffensmeier and Schwartz (2009)

What did Steffensmeier and Schwartz (2009) about the criminalisation of females?

• They found that the rise in female violence found in police statistics did not match the findings of self-report studies and victim surveys.

• So they argue that female behaviour has not changed but rather net-widening has happened.

What is net-widening?

When behaviour hasn’t changed but rather people are being prosecuted for things that wouldn’t have been punished in the past.

Who proposes an explanation for the rise in female arrests for violent crimes?

Chesney-Lind (2006)

How does Chesney-Lind (2006) try to explain the increase in female arrests for violent crimes in the USA?

• They argue that the policy of mandatory arrests for domestic violence in the US → rise in the female violence statistics in the US.

• Often women are arrested even though it is likely that they are just the victim.

Who said that girls’ misbehaviour has gone from being seen as a welfare issue to now being seen as criminal?

Worrall (2004)

What did Worrall (2004) say about the criminalisation of females?

In the past girls’ misbehaviour was often seen as a welfare issue but now it has been re-labelled as criminality.

Who points out that the media has created a moral panic about women’s behaviour, especially at night?

Burman and Batchelor (2009)

Who found that judges and probation officers were influenced by hte media stereotypes of ladettes?

Sharpe (2009)

What did Sharpe (2009) say about the impact of the media’s portrayal of female criminality?

They found that judges and probation offices were influenced by the media stereotypes of violent ladettes.

What percentage of homicide victims are men?

70%

In what percentage of female homicide cases is the perpetrator a partner/ex-partner?

60%

What percentage of men and women are victims of violence?

• Women - 2%

• Men - 4%

How many moer women have reported being sexually assaulted?

Ten times more women than men/

What are criticisms of official statistics on gender and victimisation?

• Sparks et al (1977): female victims of violence are more likely to refuse being part of research.

• Victim surveys don’t always display the frequency and severity of victimisation.

  • Walby and Allen (2004): women are much more likely to be victims of multiple incidents.

  • Ansara and Hindin (2011): female victims experienced more severe violence and control.

What does Cain (1989) say about mainstream criminology?

Men have never been the subject of criminology because, although malestream theories do focus on male crimes, they assume that they’re focusing on all crime.

Who said that men are never the focus on criminology?

Cain (1989)

Who argued that masculinity is a social construct that men have to constantly work at presenting to others?

Messerschmidt (1993)

Who argued that crime and deviance is a way for different men to accomplish masculinity?

Messerschmidt (1993)

What did Messerschmidt (1993) argue? [3]

• They argue that masculinity is a social construct that men have to constantly work at presenting to others.

• There are two types of masculinity: hegemonic masculinity and subordinate masculinity.

• Crime is a way for different men to accomplish masculinity.

According to Messerschmidt (1993) how do different types of men use crime and deviance to achieve masculinty? [5]

• For white middle-class boys they take on an accommodating masculinity in school to achieve middle-class status, but outside of school they take on an oppositional masculinity through deviant behaviour.

• For white working-class boys, they don’t have the chance of educational success, so have an oppositional masculinity both in and out of school.

• For Black working-class boys, the few prospects that they have may lead to them turning to gang violence to express their masculinity.

• Middle-class men may use white-collar crime to accomplish hegemonic masculinity.

• Whereas poorer men may use street robbery to achieve a subordinated masculinity.

How can Messerschmidt (1993) be evaluated? [4]

• His types of masculinty are just descriptions, rather than explanations of crime.

• He creates a circular argument: masculinity explains male crimes like violence because they are crimes committed by males, who are violent.

• He doesn’t explain why not all men use crime to accomplish masculinity.

• He over-uses the concept of masculinity to explain all male crimes.

How has postmoderinty and globalisation led to male crime? [4]

• Globalisation has created a de-industrialised society.

• This has led to the loss of many traditional jobs that allowed w/c men to express their masculinity.

• However, the expansion of the service sector has occurred at the same time.

• This has given working-class men both legitimate and illegitimate opportunities in the night-time leisure economy.

Who’s study was an example of how men’s involvement in the night-time economy has led to crime?

Winlow (2001)

What did Winlow (2001) discover in their study?

• Their study of bouncers in Sunderland is an example of how de-indusrialisation → crime.

• Working as bouncers gave men paid work and the opportunity for illegal opportunities such as drugs, duty-free tobacco and alcohol etc.

• The use of violence on the job was also an opportunity to express their masculinity.

Describe the new criminal subculture that has emerged in postmodern society?

• The new illicit business opportunities created by the night-time economy has led to a new organised criminal subculture.

• In this subculture, violence is both a display of masculinity and a commodity with which they earn a living.

• To maintain their reputation and employability, men must use their bodily capital.

• This not only allows them to use violence and win fights, but also discourages others from challenging them.

How is the idea of bodily capital proof of our postmodern era?

• This shows that mere signs of masculinity are a commodity in their own right.

• This reflects the idea that in postmodern society, signs take a reality of their own.