Gender, Crime, and Justice Test 1

Gender as a social construction

refers to the idea that gender is not an inherent, biological trait but rather a system of meanings, expectations, and roles that society creates and maintains

Gender/Sex

gender/sex is falsely dimorphic

• 1 out of 20 children do not have XX or XY

• everyone expresses gender more complexly

• some people have gender identities that do not match their genitals

• many societies have 3 genders

Gender Stratification

men as a group have more status and power than women as a group. women are treated as “other” compared to men

Gender Structure

gender divides work in the home and economic production.

it legitimates those in authority and organizes sexuality and emotional life

Gender as an achieved status

children learn to walk, talk, and gesture in concert with their status.

indeed we can tell the differenceby such social markers

Work

• an activity that creates good and services for one’s own use for exchange or pay

• there is paid work (market), coerced work (slavery), and domestic work

Industrialization

reduced work to pay

• industrialization transformed the nature of work, shifting its primary purpose to earning wages rather than being a more holistic, skill-based, or community centered activity

Gender and work

our conception of gender affects work by:

• products created for different tasks

• expectations for different jobs

• value for the tasks done: for ex. it is truly more valuable to work outside than inside

• gender displays both men and women create to control the workplace

Critical Feminist Theory

• the capitalist system creates patriarchy, which oppresses women

• explains gender bias, violence against women and repression

• gender inequality, oppression, and patriarchy - important factors

Capitalist system and patriarch

the capitalist system creates patriarchy, which oppresses women

Power control theory

• girls are controlled more closely in male-dominated homes. there is gender equity in contemporary egalitarian homes

• parent-son and parent-daughter relationships in male-dominated households

• leads to more risk taking and freedom for males, increasing the likelihood of delinquincy

• girls are at a reduced rate by seek role exist behaviors such as running away, contemplating suicide

egalitarian families

• “equal” families

• husband and wife share similar positions of power in the home and workplace

• daughter gains freedom, but now they have/run the higher risk of delinquency

• strengths of this theory: explains gender differences in the crime rate as a function of class and gender conflict

Intimate partner violence

violence between people in a relationship, those who are dating, etc.

Guns and intimate partner violence

• guns are the strongest risk factors when it comes to IPV related homicide (most deaths involve guns)

• 2/3 of women who own guns, get them for protection - some are turned back on them

• handguns are most likely to be used

• gun violence has gone up

Why intimate partner violence occurs

arguments are the number one reason IPV occurs and why people are killed

Strangers and female homicide

females are LESS likely to be killed by a stranger or someone they do NOT know

who is most likely to kill women

women are most likely to be killed by someone they know

age and race of women and IPV

• 40.6 is the average age of female homicide victims

• black women are 3x as high as white women to be killed

• native americans and alaska natives are more likely to be victims than white women (were also higher than white women)

• asians and pacific islanders are least likely to be victims

black women and IPV

• represent 14% of populations

• represent 32.7% of female homicide victims

• 87.8% of black women know their attacker

• murdered by a gun has gone up to 78% in 2022 from 51% in 2011

What can be done about IPV

• restricting gun access

• protective orders and legal aid

• stronger law enforcement response

• emergecny shelters and housing programs

• hotlines and support services

stalking

• 20 stalking victimization per 1,000 (women)

• 7 stalking victimizations per 1,000 (men)

• 1 in 10 people are stalked by a stranger

• 3 out of 4 are stalked by someone they know

• 21.5% of stalkers are roommates or friends; 14.6% are neighbors