SOCY 389 Test

Are men and women getting arrested for different things?

No, Men and women are getting arrested for similar things!
- There top 9 is just in different orders
- (surprisingly prostitution is not high for women)

Are men or women arrested more?

Many more men are arrested than women (typically 3x the amount per year)

Biggest criminal offending gap

Violent crimes (aggregated assault, homicide, arson, burglary)

Smallest criminal offending gap

Non-violent crimes (fraud, etc.)

Total volume of crime is

astronomically higher for men

Many more men are arrested each year than women.

Longer criminal careers is more likely for

Men

Overall volume of crime is higher in which country

America

The strongest correlation of crime is

gender and crime

Over time, the gender gap in crime has

NARROWED

From 1998 to 2021, we see a

steep decline in crime

Slight increase in 2019 (prior to the pandemic)

Violent crime severity index is

starting to increase (especially after 2020)

Violent crimes rates remain

fairly steady

Crime severity is higher in

the territories than big-city-provinces (e.g. Ontario)

In the summer, crime rates...

INCREASE

E.g. harder to pull off crime in a snow storm, people are out of school, unsupervised, available

In rural areas, crimes rates are...

HIGHER

Why did sexual assault change in the 80s?

Laws in the 80s changed from rape to sexual assault More access to justice, resources, awareness, etc.

Rates rose again during the pandemic

Breaking, entering and theft are

on the decline

Harrasing and threatning behaviours are

rising since 2017

Fraud is

Increasing since 2015

Is there now more homicide or attempted murder?

Homicide

Are youth committing more violent or non-violent crime now, unlike before?

Violent crime

Which city has the highest crime-severity index?

Lethbridge

Which city has the highest violent crime-severity index?

Thunder Bay

Big cities are all low

Has the difference of men and women offending changed at all?

No, it has remained the same

There is a steep decline of

men committing crime, but they are still way above average

women are way below the average

Who is committing the majority of crime?

Young men

Steep decline in crime as men age

Who is more likely to be in custody?

Men

Is there a gender difference in sentencing?

Yes

Observational research is when

A researcher hangs-out looking for drug dealers or prostitution

Pros of observational research

- researcher is seeing the crime while it happens
- Describes real behaviour in natural setting
- Shows how behavior unfolds over time

Cons of observational research

- they are only going to see small crimes and follows vulnerable populations who cannot conceal their crimes
- there are ethical issues (not reporting to police and following vulnerable groups)

Unified Crime Report (UCR) is

- Police Generated Data
- one of the largest datasets on crime in the United States.
- Gives us a general understanding of the extent of crime in the United States and are often viewed as the most accurate assessment of crime.

Pros of UCR

- they gather crime from across the nation
- there is lots of official data
- Starting to collect data on victim, location, and relationship status

Cons of UCR

- we only know about the crime that is getting reported
- because when crime happens in clusters, on the most serious gets reported
- because it is aggregated, not clean pairing between offence and offender
- because we are not given a lot of context
- may depend on how the cops handled the event

Victimization Data

- Described as helping to fill the dark figure of crime
- National surveys, often conducted via telephone, asking have you been a victim of crime in the last year?

Pros of Victimization Data

- Numbers rise dramatically because hidden crime comes to life
- we gain information on relationship and "private" crime

Cons of Victimization Data

- because people may not report accurately (60-70% of crimes are not reported to police)

Offender Surveys

Surveys with inmates in prison, and Commonly used with high school students (typically common forms of delinquency)

PRO high validity with lesser offences

Cons of offender surveys

Data is more accurate when dealing with lesser offences
-Tend not to report serious offences
-Under reporting here
- may depend on how the guys perceived the event

Self-Report Survey

- General population, not those incarcerated
- Typically with youth
- Similar to offender surveys

Ethnographies

- Similar to observational , but much more anthropology based
- Immersing into a criminal subculture, spending time with them for multiple years, and then writing a book

Pros of ethnographies

- there is no filter
- they are high on validity

Con of ethnography

-you are only getting information from one group (VERY SPECIFIC)

Equality liberation hypothesis/Emancipation/Convergence Hypothesis

- asserts that as women gain social power and freedoms, they are subject to fewer informal controls and should have more opportunities to commit crime and violence (just like more opportunities in the labor market)
- the 60s was a period of civil rights and/or liberation of women
- Becoming more violent
- FOCUSES ON BEHAVIOUR

Economic marginalization hypothesis

- The economic circumstances in the 80s and 90s became much worse (recession and high rates of poverty)
- Economic circumstances were MUCH WORSE for women than men (Especially single mothers, lower-class women)
- See a rise in welfare fraud, check fraud, theft
- FOCUSES ON BEHAVIOUR

Changing criminal justice practices hypothesis

- strides toward gender equality, combined with the public's reduced tolerance for violence, have led police to see female offending as a growing problem.
- Criminal justice system, following civil rights, started to operate differently
- Police are more inclined to charge women as accomplices to crime, and "charge up" offences that might have earlier been treated as lesser offences when committed by women.
- Focused heavily on domestic violence, may arrest both parties until they know who the aggressor is

Civility hypothesis

- Women were going into higher education and in places that they were not before, more likely to be out at night
- Women's presence in these public spaces had a civilizing effect (E.g. men not as likely to get into fights)
- Males are less violent in public
- NOT women partaking in more crimes

Rita Simon and Freda Adler (Liberation Hypothesis 1970s)

- They argued there was a new female dangerous offender (reported that women's rates of crime and violence were increasing at a faster rate than those of men)
- Adler (1975) argued that as women became less enamored with traditional gender roles, they would be more likely to offend. In contrast, Simon (1975) saw that female involvement in crime would increase as a result of changes to options outside of the home, such as education and occupational opportunities.

Critique of Simon and Adler

- rates of male violent crime also increased
- True, more women are engaged in crime. However, given the low number of female offenders in general, small increases in the number of crimes can create a large percentage increase, which can be misinterpreted and exaggerated.
- the emancipation of women created increased opportunities and freedoms to engage in crime, this does not necessarily mean that women were more compelled to engage in crime

The Renfrew Case

- Basil Borutski met Nathalie Warmerdam, a hospice nurse who was caring for his ailing father, and he moved into her farmhouse.
- The relationship ended the following year; Borutski was arrested and charged with threatening to strangle Warmerdam's son, threatening to kill a family animal, and damaging property.
- Basil killed Carol, Anastasia, and Nathalie
- It involved dozens of police officers, the locking down of a courthouse. There were fears that he had other victims in his sights. At 2:30 in the afternoon in a field in Renfrew County, near Basil Borutski's family hunting cabin, he was arrested uneventfully.
- . In that statement, he admitted to killing the three victims. He justified it by saying they were not innocent. That only killing something innocent was murder

Gender Gap

The difference between men and women in areas such as social, political, and economic attainment; a persistent finding in criminology is that men commit more crime than women.

Generalization Problem

The question of whether it is possible to explain female criminality with mainstream theories of crime that were originally developed to explain male criminality.

Why did the crime gender gap narrow?

Could be a mix of all four, but not exactly the liberation hypothesis (NO NEW FEMALE OFFENDER). more consistent with the economic marginalization hypothesis.

Overall they find female offending is declining

Is Kingston affected by the ongoing opioid crisis in Canada?

Yes, MORE SO than the rest of Ontario and Canada
A real issue in the Kingston area

Addiction and Mental Health Services Kingston (AMHS KFLA) programs include:

- opioid related services
- 24/7 crisis line
- Addiction services
- Motherwise
- Youth addiction services
- Housing/residential services
- Assertative community treatment teams
- Court/Justice services
- Problem gambling/gaming
- Support groups

Travis Hirschi's social bond theory

focused on four criteria, or bonds, that prevent people from acting on potential criminological impulses or desires.

1) Attachment
2) Commitment
3) Belief
4) Involvement

A Hirschi posited that people refrain from criminal behavior as a result of these attachments because they do not want to disappoint people in their lives.

considered a macro-level perspective on criminal behavior

Attachment bond

attachment refers to the bond that people have with family, friends, and social institutions (such as government, education, and religion) that may serve as an informal control against criminality.

Commitment bond

commitment, refers to the investment that an individual has in the normative values of society. In many ways, the concept of commitment embodies the spirit of rational choice perspectives.

Involvement bond

Involvement refers to the level at which one might participate in conventional activities such as studying or playing sports. The idea behind involvement is that youth who are more involved in these sorts of activities are less likely to engage in delinquent activities.

Belief bond

belief refers to a general acceptance of the rules of society—"the less a person believes he should obey the rules, the more likely he is to violate them

For Hirschi, one of the strongest inhibitors of delinquency is

Families

Usually stronger for girls than boys

elements of self-control (Travis Hirschi and Michael Gottfredson)

Gottfredson and Hirschi focus on self-control as the single explanative factor for delinquent and criminal behavior.

According to the general theory of crime, those individuals with high levels of self-control will remain law abiding, while those with low self-control will be more likely to engage in deviant and criminal activities

Micro-level

At what age do people learn self-control?

Early on people learn self-control and how to self-regulate Learnt by age 7 or 8

Elements of low self-control

Urge for instant gratification
They cannot be diligent in a course of action E.g. saving
Tend to lack commitment E.g. intimate partner, staying with job, or children
Lack of skills or ability to plan
Inclination towards addiction

Critiques of Travis Hirschi and Michael Gottfredson

suggests that early intervention efforts are the only effective tool to deter individuals from crime.

From their perspective, variables such as gender, race, and class are irrelevant because everything comes down to self-control

these findings demonstrate that the general theory of crime can explain the delinquency of boys but fails in its explanation for girls

Central argument of power control theory

The presence of power and the absence of control create conditions that permit common/different forms of delinquency

Power Control Theory (John Hagan, A.R. Gillis & John Simpson)

power control theory starts with the premise that women and girls are socialized in different ways from men and boys.

assesses how patriarchy can influence gender-role socialization and, in turn, how this process impacts rates of delinquency.

Power Control Theory findings

1. parents in upper-middle classes give their children more freedom, not as hard on punishment (they mimic the workplace)

2. Lower-class families were more punitive and controlling

3. People of various social classes interact with their children differently

4. Gender directly impacts delinquency

5. girls are more impacted by instrumental controls

Instrument and object relationship work to

Structure family relationships

Mother's are the main source of disciplinarians, more than fathers, Actively involved

Mother's \= instrument
Daughters \= objects

Girls are more restricted in hours of being out, style, who they are with, etc.

In equal mom/dad households, boys and girls may be equally involved in crime

Gender and relational control are

LINKED

Form of control because you grow a bond, want to be like your parents, do not want to let them down

E.g. They ask about your feelings, friends, who you are as a person

Gender and risk-taking preference has a

Direct impact

Girls are LESS likely to have preferences towards risk than males

This link is also shaped by instrumental and rational control

Under power control theory, social class shapes

control (instrumental & Relational) and parenting/styles

Upper class children are more free to engage with stuff

Under power control theory, Risk-taking Preference shapes

Perceived Sanction Risks

People who think they won't get caught Love risk but also feel invincible

Under power control theory, Perceived Sanction Risks & Risk-taking Preferences shapes

Delinquency

Those who think they are invincible will increasingly take part in delinquency

Those who love risk, but also think they could get caught, will still increasingly take part in delinquency just because they love risk so much

What are some criticisms of Power Control Theory?

- focuses on the two-parent family, patriarchal structure
- critiqued for putting a lot of the blame on mother's
- Not an overwhelming support for social class
- Problematic for feminist scholars (We should look at father's engagement in control systems and mother's in the work force)
- Nurturance is more important than control

How has power control theory been extended?

1. Gender schema
2. Improved Measures
3. Interesting twist

Life course theory

There are different social attachments throughout the life span

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E.g. people are less involved with crime when they marry and have children

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People tend to engage less with crime out of adolescence

Also an event, like serving in war, will disengage people with crime

1. Gender schema

Intact family \= Original family
- Look at control from fathers and mothers separately (maybe father has more control later in life...)

Gendered-Activity Schemas
Think the families culture Idea that there may be different value systems in families for men and women

How conservative/traditional/patriarchal are the values VS egalitarian

2 Improved Measures

Took original questions, "who are you with?", "where are you?", and applied it to both moms and dads

Developed more elaborate scales of risk-taking

3. Interesting Twist

Found that in families where there is less control on girls, mother's have more control in the labour market, and rely on external care

+

Daughters got into more delinquency

=

Girls are more likely to play sports, do well academically, and pursue later education

Maria Antunes et al. (2020) Power-Control theory (gender difference in exposure to community violence). What are the main findings?

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Contrary to expectations, none of the variables derived from power-control theory had significant direct effects on youth ETV-C, while certain types of family management strategies and peer relations, particularly measures of restrictiveness and unstructured socializing, significantly predicted ETV-C.

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Our results highlight the gendered nature of parental practices and reinforce the idea that parents enact greater protections outside the home over their daughters compared with their sons

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* These results suggest that restrictiveness is being mediated by the attachment, risk, and peer relations variables, which prior research has also shown


* neither maternal nor paternal attachment were predictive of girls' exposure to violence, and maternal attachment had only marginal influence on boys' exposure.
* Our findings further show that the risks associated with less restrictive parents and deviant peer relationships are also gendered
* Although measures of patriarchy vary significantly in the power-control theory literature, this finding does align with prior research suggesting measures of patriarchal prestige/authority may not tell the whole story of how parental control and super-vision varies by children's gender.

Adolescent limited (Terrie Moffit)

Idea that most people who drift into delinquency, only do it for a short period of time

Life-course persistent (Terrie Moffit)

Small group who engage in delinquency and then become career criminals

Disportionaly responsible for a huge share of crime

Temperament is different than the rest
Poor ability to express yourself
Low self-control
Difficult temperament

Crime prone

weaker emotionality & weaker constraint (Avshalom Caspi et al.)
People have specific genes that make them more likely to pursue crime

Weaker constraints: More volatile, Cannot delay gratification, Spontaneous

Gene-environment interactions (Guang Guo) twin hypothesis

Idea that genes determine human traits and behaviour

Propensities may be seeded genetically and cultivated (or tempered) socially.

Guo's gene findings

- Genetic effects are NOT deterministic
- Social or environmental factors are very important
- They could have these genes, but lived in a very caring family, they could learn self-control and how to self-regulate
- Suggests girls have lower levels of delinquency

Policy implications of Guo's findings

- Families who met and had one meal together per day, it reduces the delinquency Its an opportunity to check-in and communicate, showing interest, expressing concern

- If it is genetically determined, than we could say someone is not responsible for their crimes Could be used as a defense or offence
OR they can never be rehabilitated or released

- Guo actually suggests propensities may be seeded genetically and cultivated (or tempered) socially.

- Delinquency does not play out if family is supportive
Families make a BIG difference

- Genetically propensity INFLUENCES but does NOT PERDICT

Where do victims of crime first arive?

Hospital rooms

E.g. domestic violence, shooting, stabbings, sexual assault

Roles of social Workers at hospitals

Assist patients and families at hospitals and outpatient care
Advocates for patients
Power of attorney for personal care
Brief counseling
Facilitate family meetings and help with family meetings
Sometimes come into contact with inmates Hospital rooms become prison room with guards

KGH is ranked....

one of Canada's top research hospitals

What do early works tend to claim about girls' delinquency?

All early works focus on biology and female sexuality makes girls deviant

None do an adequate role of addressing gender

They tend to be a bit stereotypical E.g. female delinquency is sexual, male behaviour is biologically more aggressive

Caesar Lombroso, Female Offender

- Emphasized sexuality in female delinquency
- The female offender is very 'child-like'
- Said they would have particular attributes (e.g. abnormally shaped craniums, girls would have excessive hair or wrinkles)
- Looked at physical factors and emphasized female sexuality

W. I. Thomas, The Unadjusted Girl

Males are katabolic --\> Makes them more aggressive and destructive

Females are anabolic \---\> Makes them more conservative, calmer disposition

Said social class and goals play a role

Often takes a male to bring girls into delinquency

Otto Pollak, The Criminality of Women

Key biological events for girls can trigger deviant behaviour

Menstruation is related to theft, arson, and homicide

Female delinquency is more secretive and about distrust

Clyde Vedder & Dora Somerville, The Delinquent Girl

(1) 'The Runaway'
(2) 'The incorrigible girl' \= Difficult, boisterous, hard to control
(3) 'The sex delinquent girl' \= Engages in prostitution, has lots of partners, engages in sex early

Girls who fall into one of these categories often come from hard lives

George Grosser & gender roles

MAIN: Girls delinquency tends to be relational \---\> within groups

- Suggested it is about how we regulate girls differently because of sexuality, biology, etc.

- Success of girls is often attributed to males (e.g. encouraged to marry well)

- Using sex in retaliation

- More encouragement for male delinquency, "boys will be boys"

- There isn't this community or support for girls to engage in delinquent acts

Ruth Morris & gender roles

MAIN: Lack of subculture for girls delinquency and more judgement when they do engage

- Female socialization is key to understand female and male delinquency

- Girls do not have the delinquent opportunities

- They have more judgement against them when they do

Edwin Sutherland

THROWS OUT biological arguments \----\> It is all about social groups

DEVIANCE IS LEARNED

differential association theory

the influence of how relationships lead to crime, in particular, the influence of peer relationships on delinquent behavior

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We learn rationalization when we hangout with delinquent peers: Direct reinforcement, Precarious reinforcement, Seeing others getting into fights or gain status

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Frequency is important and you have to admire them, long duration of time together, intimate peer relationship

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Higher rate among crime for boys for one reason: Boys are more free to participate in crime because girls are more heavily supervised

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Girls are given a code of behaviour with higher frequency and care

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Nurtured to have certain gender roles

Darrell Steffensmeier and Emilie Allan: contemporary approach to gender roles & crime

Argue that

1. Women still exist in a culture of sexism

2. Stereotypes still influences socializations (e.g. a lot of women see marriage as central to their identity)

3. For men, the route to delinquency is less bumpy

4. Ethics of care

5. Suggest inequalities, and that is not a good thing \---\> Girls way of being in anesthetically to criminal behaviors

6. Shifting towards socialization processes that suppress girls \-----\> Girls need more opportunities