Heindensohn - gender differences are the most
significant feature of recorded crime: Official
statistics show that: · 4 out of 5 convicted offenders
are male (In England and Wales) · By the age of
40, 9% of females had a criminal conviction, as
against 32% males · A higher proportion of female
offenders are committed of property offences
(except burglary) · A higher proportion of male
offenders are convicted of violence or sexual
offences · Males are more likely to reoffend and
have longer criminal careers · Males are also more
likely to commit more serious offences – for
example, men are about 15 times more likely to be
convicted of homicide
Chivalry thesis - Pollak - men have a protective attitude towards women and
hate to accuse and punish them - judicinal system is more lenient with women
so their crimes are less likely to be recorded in official statistiscs. Flood-Page
et al - 1 in 11 female self report offenders had been cautioned or prosecuted -
1 in 7 males were cautioned or prosecuted. Ministry of Justice - 49% of
females recorded as offending received a caution , compared with 30% of
males. Hoods - women 1/3 less likely to be jailed in similar cases to men.
Heidensohn - courts biased against women, not in favour.
Women treated more harshly than men when they deviate
from gender norms, i.e. promiscuous sexual activity - double
standards. Carlen - when women are jailed its less for the
'seriousness' of their crimes, and more the courts views on
them as mothers, wives and daughters. Walklate - rape
cases - victims has to prove her respectibility in order to
have her evidence accepted.
Judge Bollinger said the
victim had "facilitated" the
crime by getting drunk, and he
worried that criminalizing
intercourse with a sleeping
woman might make many
husbands, in the eyes of the
law, rapists.
Functionalist sex role theory - Parsons - gender differences in
crime are rooted in gender roles in nuclear family. Men take
breadwinner role, women perform expressive role. Men have
smaller amount of socialising than women so socialisation for men
perhaps more difficult. As a result boys seek to distance
themselves from feminine behaviour, by being aggressive and anti
social.
Heidensohn - patriachal control - women commit less crime because of
control - control at home - women are stuck with domestic role, little time
for deviance. Men exercise control over women in the home, i.e. domestic
violence, financial power or threats. Daughters less likely to be allowed out
than boys, develop a 'bedroom culture'. Control in public - by threat or fear
of male violence, also for frear of not beind defined as respectable -
dress, language, make up etc can be defined as innapropriate or give a
woman a reputation. Control at work - controlled by male supervisors and
managers, sexual harassment widespread and keeps women in their
place. Subordinate position in workplace reduces opportunities such as
fraud. Heidensohn- patriachy may push some women towards crime as it
means they are more likely to be poor and turn to theft or prostitution as a
decent standard of living.
Carlen - class and
gender deal - working
class women led to
conform through
promise of two deals:
class deal - women who
work will be rewarded
with a decent standard
of living and leisure
opportunities - gender
deal - patriachal
ideology promises
material and emotional
rewards from family life
by conforming to norms
of domestic gender
roles.
Liberation thesis - Adler - women are
becoming more liberated from patriachy
and as result commit more crime - they
begin to adopt male roles in both
legitimate and illegitimate activities. As
result women can also commit violent or
white collar crimes.
Messerschmidt: masculinity and crime - Hegemonic
masculinity – masculinity defined through paid work,
subordination of women and desire for women. It is the
dominant form of masculinity that males wish to accomplish
· Subordinated masculinity – no desire for hegemonic
masculinity and may lack resources to achieve it. This
includes homosexual, working-class or ethnic minority
males