Crime

• STATISTICS:

  • Women make up only 4% of the prison population and are significantly less likely to be arrested for all crimes than men
  • Buckle & Farrington - found that 2.8% of males shoplifted compared to 1.4% of females.
  • Burman - concluded that 10% of girls described themselves as “violent” and 10% reported having committed seven or more different types of violent acts. The figures for boys are around 35%.
• Labelling from the police who view men as more criminal than women leads to self-fulfilling prophecies according to Becker
• Becker claims that more men are in prisons because of what?

  The police labelling boys as criminals leads to a self-fulfilling prophecy
• Name all the studies that give reasons for why there are more men in prisons:

  1. Messerschmitt + (Mac An Ghail) -- subordinated masculinities
  2. Heidensohn -- women are kept in the "private sphere"
  3. Becker -- The labelling theory
  4. Cohen -- "status frustration"
  5. Pollack -- "chivalry theory"
• Women make up only 4% of the prison population and are significantly less likely to be arrested for all crimes than men
• Buckle & Farrington - found that 2.8% of males shoplifted compared to 1.4% of females.
• Burman - concluded that 10% of girls described themselves as “violent” and 10% reported having committed seven or more different types of violent acts. The figures for boys are around 35%.
• Which sociologists found out that found that 2.8% of males shoplifted compared to 1.4% of females?

  Buckle & Farrington
• Who concluded that 10% of girls described themselves as “violent” and 10% reported having committed seven or more different types of violent acts. The figures for boys are around 35%?

  Burman
• Messerschmitt

  • Argues that men are expected to be breadwinners and conform to hegemonic masculinity. But some men have subordinated masculinity (eg being gay or working class) and this therefore causes them to assert their masculinity through violence
• Messerschmitt's his theory links with Mac An Ghail’s concept of a crisis of masculinity where men feel the need to perform the breadwinner role and may turn to crime if they cannot.
• What reason does Messerschmitt give for why men commit more crime?

  Some men have subordinated masculinities - this causes them to try to assert masculinity through violence to make up for it
• Which sociologist talks about the inability of conforming to hegemonic masculinities leading to crime?

  Messerschmitt
• What reason does Heidensohn give for why men commit more crime?

  Women have tighter patriarchal control - and are kept in the “private sphere”. This means they have fewer opportunities to commit crimes.
• Which sociologist claimed that the gendered difference in crime rates were due to patriarchal control forcing women to remain home?

  Heidensohn
• Heidensohn

  • women commit less crime because they are subjected to much tighter patriarchal control - they are kept in the “private sphere” - which is their homes. This means they have fewer opportunities to commit crimes in comparison to men who are not subjected to control
• Which sociologist claims that boys commit more crime because they experience "status frustration" leading them to join delinquent subcultures?

  Cohen
• Cohen

  • Young working-class males often experience “status frustration” believing they do not gain respect from society, resulting in them joining delinquent subcultures to gain respect from peers.
• Which sociologist claimed that men aren't actually more criminal than women but the differences in crime rates were due to the "chivalry thesis"?

  Pollack
• What is Pollack's "chivalry thesis"?

  the idea that the police and courts treat women more leniently than men and are therefore more likely to let women off with a warning or a fine as opposed to a prison sentence.
• The "chivalry thesis" is backed up by the fact that males had a higher average custodial sentence lengthens than women.
• Pollack

  • the idea that men are more criminal than women is false. Instead, the crime rates are different because of the “chivalry theory”. This is the idea that the police and courts treat women more leniently than men and are therefore more likely to let women off with a warning or a fine as opposed to a prison sentence.