1.7 - Gender and Crime

• What are the offending rates for gender and crime?

  1. Women are significantly less likely than men to be in trouble with the law
  2. Men are 3 times more likely to be taken to court and convicted
  3. Men are 5 times more likely to be arrested
• What do self report studies show about gender + crime?


  1. Newburn - males are more likely than females to have committed several offences
  2. Roe + Ashe found that self report offending amongst 10-25 year olds found that 17% of females and 26% males committed a crime in the past year
• What is the link between gender and victimisation?


  1. Women are less likely than men to be the victims of personal crimes (5% men and 4.7% women)
  2. Women were 2 times more likely than men to be the victims of domestic violence
  3. Women are 7 times more likely to be victims of sexual abuse
• What does Pollack argue about gender and crime?


  • hidden female offenders - women get away with more unrecorded/undetected crimes than men
  • Argues that OS underestimate female offending because women are naturally more skilled at deceiving people
  • However, Heidensohn claims that this is male bias based on stereotypical view of women
• What is the chivalry thesis?


  • suggests that the CJS are more lenient to women and are more inclined to let women suspects off or punished less severely than men
  • Suggests that men are socialised to be more softer and protective towards women
• Haralambos + Holborn evidence for chivalry thesis -


  1. Women are more likely then men to be given cautions than being prosecuted
  2. Women are slightly more likely than men to be given a pre court sanction rather than taken to court
  3. Women are less likely than men to be sent to prison when convicted
• Evaluation of chivalry thesis - 


  • Kate + Steward - women are held on remand despite having committed less serious offences than men
  • Courts are imposing more severe sentences in women for less serious offences
• Why do feminists argue there is a bias against women?


  • Walklate - argues that in rape trials, women are not taken seriously and rapists are not convicted.
  • Females are questioned about their sexual history but are not taken seriously
  • Believes that there are still problems in getting the authorities to treat this as a serious crime and get involved (domestic violence)
• What is the double deviants theory towards gender and crime?


  • Heidensohn and Smart - argues that the CJS is gendered
  • means that the expectations they have for women are different from the expectations for men
• What does Heidensohn say about double deviance?

  • suggests that there are double standards in the CJS. Women are treated particularly badly when they deviate from the norms of behaviour associated with femininity.
  • Seen as 'double deviants' because the break both societal and gender norms. This leads to more severe treatment of women.
  • EXAMPLE - Sexually promiscuous girls are more likely to taken into care than sexually promiscuous boys
  • Courts are reluctant to send young mothers to prison
  • STEWARD - found that gender played a part in decisions whether to send women to prisons
• Evaluation of double deviant theory -


  • Heddermon - argues that differences should not be seen as bias but affected by certain circumstances
  • EXAMPLE - the impact of a woman with childcare responsibilities is different to a man with no such responsibilities
• What is Parson's sex role theory?


  • Argues women are less likely to commit crime because there are elements of the female role that limit their opportunity to do so
• What is the role of socialisation in the sex role theory?


  • girls are socialised differently from boys as the values girls are brought upon do not lead to crime
  • Parsons argues that a girls clear role model is their mother that emphasises caring/support
  • COHEN - argues that delinquency carried out by males is because they have a lack of a male role model
• Evaluation of sex role theory -


  1. Farrington + Painter - carried out a longitudinal study of female offenders and found they were much more likely to have harsh parenting and poor socialisation
  2. Caddle and Crisp interviewed 1000 women in prison and the most common reason to commit crimes was because of having 'no money'
• What is Heidensohn's control theory?


  • females are less likely to commit crime because they are subjected to closer levels of social control than men
  • radical feminist
  • control at home, control in public, control in workplace
• How are women controlled at home (Heindensohn)?


  • women are partly controlled through lack of time because of their primary responsibility of childcare and housework. This keeps them in the home for more hours, restricting their opportunity to commit crimes outside homes
  • Also be controlled through domestic violence and financial dominance of male partners
  • Girls face more social control than boys (staying out late)
• How are women controlled in public?

  • women may choose not to go in public places because they fear being ridiculed, raped and attacked after dark (Sarah Everard, Sabina Nessa)
  • Heidensohn feels that sexist comments limits the freedom of women, limiting them to go out
• How are women controlled in the workplace?


  • most managers at work are males and exercise control over females
  • trade unions are largely dominated by men and women and various forms of sexual harassment stops female employees from moving up the hierarchy
• Evidence for control theory?

  • TOOR - british asian girls have high social control due to honour and less likely to commit crimes
  • HAGAN - studied child raising patterns in Canada and found high social control than boys
• Evaluation of control theory -


  • Heidensohn's work is outdated as social control of women may not be what it was in the past
  • Women have made stances for greater freedom
• What does Carlen argue about powerless crimes?


  • carried out a study of 39 women (15-46) who had offended. Found women in the working class has restricted freedom and class and gender interlinked in explaining offending
• What does Carlen say about powerless women?


  • argued that women became offenders because they had little reason to conform
  • enjoyed little success in society and turned to crime
  • was encouraged by addiction, excitement and mostly poverty
• What are the deals Carlen proposes?


  1. CLASS DEAL - involves sacrificing personal freedom and working hard in order to gain access to goods and leisure. Women in study were unemployed and had no incentive to conform or keep jobs
  2. GENDER DEAL - involves accepting marriage for a promise of security, happiness and fulfillment
• What does Carlen argue about the gender deal?


  • Carle regards this promise as a form of patriarchal control and is a result of male control of family
  • women in the study had little experience of a happy family life and abused by men in care
• Evaluation of Carlen -


  • Many women now work so are no longer looking for a gender deal
  • 67% of women are in the workforce so do not need to be looked after economically
• What is Adler's liberation theory?


  • increasing rates of female crime are linked to their freedom from traditional forms of social control and acceptance into 'masculine roles'
• What did Denscombe find that supports Adler's theory?


  • research into self images of 15-16 year old in East Midlands.
  • Found females were rapidly adopting male attitudes and this included things like 'looking hard' and risk taking behaviour
• What did Westwood find that supports Adler's theory?


  • women are finding new identities because of the change in patriarchal society, leading to more crime
• Evaluation of liberation theory -


  • Heidensohn shows that female offenders tend to score highly on the psychological tests of 'femininity', indicating they do not take on male roles
  • Heidensohn points out that the ratio of male to female offenders is too high and men account for vast majority of the offenders